Patenting in Electricals

PFC has conducted a study of patent applications related to the electrical engineering filed in India in the last five years from 1997 to 2001. The data for the  patent analysis has been extracted from the Ekaswa –A patent database of PFC. A total of 2202 patent applications have been studied. These applications include patent applications filed in India, the PCT applications which have come into National Phase in which India is one of the designated countries and the PCT applications filed in India itself. The main areas in which most of the applications have been filed include batteries, transformers, transmission, insulation mechanisms, protection devices, generators, motors, rotors, connectors of different types, relays and electrical gadgets. 21.4% of total applications have been filed by Indian companies and individuals and 60% of these applications have been filed by individuals alone.

The year-wise break up of applications from 1997-2001 is given in Table – I.

Table I

 Some of the other highlights of the analysis are presented below for quick review.

A list below in Table II  shows the number of convention applications from various countries.

Table II

USA, Germany and Japan have been the major players, filing most of the convention applications, followed by France, Australia, Great Britain, Korea and  Sweden.

Filing by Indian Companies/Institutes

Total number of applications filed by Indian companies and R&D institutions is 185. Individuals have contributed major part in the Indian filings. Indian companies and institutions filing 2 or more applications are listed in Table III.

Table III

BHEL’s 18 applications mainly relate to circuit breakers, high voltage high energy generator devices, gas insulated hybrid transformers, induction motors, solid oxide fuel cells, inverters for snubberless  operation and couplers for monitoring of electrical discharge. Most of the applications by Larsen and Toubro Ltd are for circuit breakers. These include design of secondary isolating contacts in circuit breakers, way to secure arc chutes in circuit- breakers, design of combination housings for circuit breaks, design of under voltage release for circuit breakers. CSIR has applications for improved super capacitor, lithium cells, batteries, uninterrupted safe power supply for use in hazardous areas, electrolytic cells and solid state pH meters.

Datar Switchgear Ltd also has applications for circuit breakers which include electromechanical combination of earth leakage circuit breakers and miniature circuit breaker, combination of circuit breaker with higher capacity, miniature circuit breaker with trip-on-fault position, permanent magnet relay and earth leakage circuit breaker. Electrex (India) Ltd has filed applications for compact electric portable planer, brushless alternator with shiftless rotor, heavy duty drill, compact marble cutter, heavy duty impact drill and electric and portable orbital sander. Crompoton Greaves has applications for centrifugal pump of   fractional horse power, inexpensive transformer power conversion system, electric ceiling fan suspension shackle and motor having improving controller. Indian Institute of Science has applications for invertors and switched mode power supplies. Exide Industries Ltd has applications for lead acid battery, leak resistant automotive battery, vented type leak resistant motor cycle battery and leak retardant automotive battery. Orient Fans has 2 applications for stator and a speed regulator for use with an electrical load. Phoenix Lamps India Ltd has patent applications for incandescent electric lamp assembly. SPIC Science Foundation has applications for fuel cells and porous electrodes for use in electrochemical cells.

Filing by Indian Individuals

Table IV gives the list of individuals who have filed 2 or more applications.

Table IV

Individuals have filed applications in a variety of areas in the field of electricals. These include safe earth electrode, domestic power controller, electric cycle rickshaw, generation of electric current using ferro electrics, electrostatic current generator, electro dynamic power unit, device for sterilizing water by electrical means, air pressure machine to produce energy from gravity within increased atmospheric pressure, electrical switch with multi-operating facility, wind energy converter, battery operated tri-color torch and many more.

Filing by Foreign Companies

Foreign companies filing 10 or more than 10 applications have been listed in Table V.

Table V

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft has filed  applications in the areas of switched mode mains power supply unit, circuit breakers, electromagnet relays, gas turbine plant, steam power plant, actuators, switching arrangement for voltage polarity, converter systems, encapsulated installation, mains power supply unit, discharge apparatus and others. Asea Brown Boveri has applications for switchgears, transformers, convertor circuit, hydro-generator plant, synchronous compensator plant, rotating electric machine, electrical switching device, magnetic energy  storage, traction motor and drive system, power induction device, wind power plant, protection devices, switching devices, gas-cooled electric machine, rotating electrical machine parts, power circuit breakers, over voltage suppressor and short-circuit resistant IGET module. General Electric Company has applications for relays, discharge lamps, transformers, electronic electricity meter, stator bonding nib, electrical terminal arrangement induction motors, stators, rotors, electric motors, RF body coil, batteries and others.   Schneider Electric Industries SA has applications related to ball actuator, switchgears, protection devices, electromagnetic switching module, circuit breakers and power supplies.  Honda Giken Kabushiki Kaisha has applications for battery charging apparatus, brushless motor, magnetic driving pump, electric motor driven vehicle, vehicle light bulb, engine-operated generator, battery rental apparatus, engine generated unit, turn signal for motor vehicle and power unit for motor cycle.  International Fuel Cells LLC has filed applications in the area of fuel cells alone.  Other companies have also filed few applications in this area.

Table VI shows the area-wise distribution of the applications filed.

Table VI

Areas like motors, batteries, lamps, transformers, switchgears have been dealt with by many companies and individuals.  Then ballasts, regulators, installation devices, fans, fuel cells, meters have been specific to few companies.