Patent Protection For OEMs Using VIASPACE's Fuel Cell Cartridges
Pasadena, CA - VIASPACE Inc., a company that transforms proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions, announced that its subsidiary, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation (DMFCC), has exercised an option and signed two license agreements with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Southern California (USC) for an extensive joint patent portfolio on direct organic fuel cell technology. Organic fuels include methanol, ethanol, formic acid, formaldehyde and others. Methanol is the most common fuel. Together, the two agreements grant DMFCC a worldwide license to 50 issued and 50 pending patents. These licenses should enable VIASPACE/DMFCC to offer patent protection to fuel cell manufacturers and OEMs that partner with DMFCC. In consideration for these licenses, DMFCC has issued 1,056,324 shares in DMFCC to Caltech and 1,056,324 shares to USC, which together represent 12% of the total outstanding equity of DMFCC. In addition, DMFCC has agreed to pay royalties under the licenses to USC and Caltech, as well as to a third party. DMFCC has also agreed to pay certain future patent expenses associated with the prosecution and maintenance of patent rights under the licenses.
The intellectual property portfolio licensed by DMFCC includes patents on the concept of the direct liquid organic fuel cell using a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) (including the direct methanol fuel cell), and on details of its construction, including alternative membranes, catalysts, electrodes, membrane electrode assemblies, fuel cell stacks, systems, water recovery, methanol sensors, methanol filters, and electrolysis of methanol to produce hydrogen. These patents cover much of the underlying technology and improvements related to direct methanol fuel cells, which should be needed by most fuel cell manufacturers and by OEMs that use fuel cells in their portable electronic devices. Patents have been issued in the US, Japan, Korea, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Israel and China. Additional patents are also pending in these countries.
Dr. Carl Kukkonen, CEO of both VIASPACE and DMFCC, commented, "We are delighted to have exercised our option from Caltech and USC to license these extremely valuable patents on fuel cells. We believe these patents will be necessary for any company developing direct methanol fuel cells using a polymer electrolyte membrane, the process being used by all the large commercial global electronic companies. DMFCC plans to work in partnership with fuel cell manufacturers and OEMs to provide them with patent protection under our umbrella, and to provide them with fuel cartridges to power their portable electronic devices."
"Caltech is pleased that the direct methanol fuel cell is moving toward use by the public, and that DMFCC is working to develop the cartridge manufacturing infrastructure necessary for commercialization," stated Larry Gilbert, Senior Director of Technology Transfer at Caltech.
The direct liquid organic fuel cell that uses a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) was jointly invented in 1992, and developed since then, by scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and at USC. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is managed by Caltech for NASA. The JPL inventor team was led by Dr. Subbarao Surampudi and Dr. S. R. Narayanan. The USC team included Nobel Prize winner Professor George A. Olah, and Professor G. K. Surya Prakash.
With features such as cameras, music players and television being integrated into cell phones, and wireless Internet capability in every laptop, energy consumption is increasing, and device operating time becoming shorter. Fuel cells are expected to gain a substantial market share because they offer longer operating time as compared to current lithium ion batteries and may be instantaneously recharged by simply replacing the disposable fuel cartridge. Direct methanol fuel cells are being developed for these applications by companies such as Toshiba, NEC, Hitachi, Panasonic and Sanyo in Japan, and by Samsung and LG in Korea.
DMFCC produces disposable methanol fuel cartridges that provide the energy source for laptop computers and other portable electronic devices that will be powered by direct methanol fuel cells.
SOURCE: VIASPACE