cahier scientifique revue technique luxembourgeoise

Y02E60/00 Technologies with potential or indirect contribution
to GHG emissions mitigation (Energy
storage such as batteries, ultracapacitors, fl ywheels...;
hydrogen technology; fuel cells; etc.)
Y02E70/00 Other energy conversion or management
systems reducing GHG emissions (Synergies
among renewable energies, fuel cells and energy
storage)
Over 500.000 patent documents have already been reclassifi
ed into Y02-class and can be searched in the European
Patent databases on esp@cenet using this classifi cation
code (see further below in this article).
As an example of the types of data that can be extracted
from patent databases, the following chart shows the
number of renewable energy patent applications published
from 2005 to 2009 for Europe, Germany and France.
Figure 1_Evolution of patent application filing in renewable energy sectors;
analysis performed by the Centre de Veille Technologique & Normative (CVT),
a department of CRP Henri Tudor
Most of the patents are fi led in photovoltaic technologies,
followed by wind energy and solar thermal. Patent applications
fi led in biofuel and geothermal technologies do not
show a signifi cant increase.
Where can I get access to patent applications or granted
patents? How much does this cost?
esp@cenet
CAHIER SCIENTIFIQUE | REVUE TECHNIQUE LUXEMBOURGEOISE 2 | 2010
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The European Patent Offi ce maintains the esp@cenet patent
information platform, which provides access to 3 different
databases for free:
1) EP – complete collection including full text of European
published applications
2) Worldwide – full collection of published patent applications
from more than 80 countries (note: over 70 million
patent documents)
3) WIPO – complete collection including full text of PCT
published applications (note: PCT means international
patent applications)
Direct access to the databases as well as to online help
and e-learning assistance for novice users is available on
ep.espacenet.com.
Before starting to perform searches in the databases, it is
advisable to familiarize with patent searching techniques,
for which the following guidelines provide a very good in-