New index tracks cleantech patents

Fuel cell technology, followed by wind and solar power, has topped a new measure of innovation in the US clean energy market.

The Clean Energy Patent Growth Index produced by the Cleantech Group at intellectual property law firm Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti has shown that the largest number of patents granted has been for fuel cell innovations.

Solar and wind energy projects, along with hybrid cars, have also grown in popularity since 2002.

Jeff Rothenberg, managing partner at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti said the index would be a vital tool in tracking growth areas within the booming cleantech industry.

"We are pleased to announce the first edition of the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index which we hope will allow the Clean Energy industry to better track innovation in this vital sector," he said.

The index, which produces five-year and quarterly results, revealed that the number of new patents had dropped in the third quarter of 2007.

However, it showed that since 2002 there had been a steady rise in clean energy innovation overall and that the number of new patents had gone from a low of 105 in the first quarter of 2002 to a high of 254 in early 2005.