IP for Energy and Clean Tech Companies

Mintz Levin’s more than 90 IP attorneys, scientists, engineers and other professionals understand that some of the most significant assets held by an energy and clean tech company are its new ideas.  Whether your company is pioneering new energy sources, or finding ways to make more efficient use of existing resources, protecting your rights to develop and use those ideas is a critical step in bringing new technologies to market and maximizing their value.

That’s why you need legal counsel who know your industry, know your business, and know the issues and opportunities that mean the most to your success—including an experienced, industry-focused intellectual property team. 

Mintz Levin’s IP attorneys have worked with leading companies to develop patent portfolios, execute IP strategies, resolve disputes, and manage related projects.  Our clients range in size from start-ups to multinational corporations, and we have worked with several enterprises from prosecuting their first patents to managing a much broader portfolio.  We also counsel academic researchers, and provide due diligence and other advice to the venture capital firms and other investors who are supporting the industry’s growth.

These energy and clean tech companies are engaged in a wide range of technologies, including these representative examples:

Energy generation

• Next-generation large scale wind-turbine technologies
• Residential wind and solar energy cells
• Advanced turbine designs for hydro and tidal power generation
• Trash-to-energy conversions
• Clean coal

Energy storage

• Battery technologies including Improving battery life/performance
• Fuel cell technology and related testing equipment and disposables
• Other “stealth” energy storage technologies

Energy infrastructure

• Smart grid technologies
• Energy services technologies for commercial and residential applications
• Powerline networks (harnessing existing residential power/electricity lines to create a communications network)

Energy efficiency

• Environmentally friendly compact fluorescent bulbs
• High-efficiency heating/cooling/ventilation systems
• Advanced electronic control systems
• Intelligent energy source and load management systems for commercial and residential applications

Transportation

• Advanced automotive technologies including transmissions and power distribution for electric cars

Water and wastewater 

• Water purification and remediation
• Wastewater treatment

Air and environment 

• Carbon geosequestration
• Atmospheric contaminant removal, including gas-phase and particle-phrase scrubbers
• Recovery of discarded coal for energy production and other industrial uses

Materials

• Green chemistry
• Capturing CO2 emissions and converting to ethanol

Biofuels

• Bacterial cellulose digestion
• Cellulosic ethanol/butanol
• Oil and cellulose extraction from wastewater/sewage
• Algal bio-oil and ethanol production
• Plant biomass enhancement

Manufacturing and commercial products and processes

• Novel printing technology using environmentally friendly inks
• Sustainable design and other energy related software applications
• Atmospheric sensors
• Petrochemical industry sensors
• Biodegradable packaging
• Clean energy production systems

Agriculture

• Smart agriculture
• Plant stabilization technologies (increased biomass, drought tolerance, yield protection)

Recycling and waste

• Biomass waste processing systems
• Solid waste reduction and disposal