DOE awards $36 million in university research
On 3/25/2019, the US Department of Energy selected up to $36 million in research projects that will advance solar energy's role in strengthening the resilience of the nation's electricity grid. The projects will enable grid operators to…
L’Oréal and uBiome are interested in your skin
Earlier this month, L'Oréal had announced its partnership with uBiome, the leader in microbial genomics. Their goal is to conduct new research on the skin's bacterial ecosystem, which serves as an important barrier for the skin. L'Oréal…
Buy vs. Build: The Business of Cannabis
Author: John Selwanes, Patent Analyst Watch the Video on Vimeo A quick assignee search on the USPTO’s web page reveals that Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) does not appear to have filed any patents in the US, Canada or through PCT. There are…
Oil and gas giant invests $180 million in battery technology
Equinor, a Norwegian oil-and-gas giant, announced on 3/26/2019 that it will invest $180 million in Volta Energy Technologies, a fund focused on battery technology. Batteries are often considered the bottleneck of widespread use of…
Medical supply drones now active in the US
UPS has partnered with medical drone startup Matternet to begin the first continuing commercial drone deliveries in the US, having made a short flight carrying a medical sample between North Carolina hospitals on 3/26/2019. Although this…
CurAegis Updating Mobile Application to Integrate with Apple and Polar
CurAegis (formerly Torvec) launched its myCadian app in 2018, which integrates with Fitbit to measure tiredness in real-time and predict fatigue. The myCadian app predicts when alertness will decline throughout the day. In an SEC filing on…
China refusing to be plastic
China may soon be following Europe's lead on banning single-use plastics. Chinese plastics makers, responsible for 29% of the global plastic production, have already started the transition towards using corn, sugar, and other crops to…
Visa seeking a crypto expert
Visa is looking to hire a technical product manager for its "Visa Crypto team." According to the listing, the new full-time employee will be responsible for executing Visa's product strategy within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The new…
McAfee’s support for Microsoft continues to grow
McAfee recently launched its MVISION Cloud for Microsoft Teams, a unified communications platform for workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and more. The cloud-native approach of the security solution enables IT teams to enforce…
johnson controls t10
"The future is being built today, and Johnson Controls is making that future more secure, more productive, and more sustainable. We create intelligent buildings, efficient energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation…
Optimizing your energy usage
Johnson Controls recently released a new version of its SMART Equipment Control Firmware that incorporates Continuous Reset Single Zone Control. The CRSZ Control operates with the minimum fan speed needed to maximize energy savings and…
Boston Scientific showcases potential of its new catheter
On 3/17/2019, Boston Scientific announced positive results from the AF-FICIENT I study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of its LUMINIZE‚Ñ¢ Radiofrequency (RF) Balloon Catheter. This recently acquired single-shot ablation technology…
Japanese sodium-sulfur and lithium batteries used in German grid demonstrator project
(Nov 2, 2018) - Hitachi Chemical, Hitachi Power Solutions, and NGK are supplying batteries, battery control technology, and power grid information technologies to a joint Japanese-German grid demonstrator project. Located in Niedersachsen,…
Hitachi to Buy ABB’s Power Grids Business for $6.4 Billion
Hitachi Ltd.'s planned takeover of ABB Ltd.'s power grid division for about $6.4 billion will be the Japanese conglomerate's biggest-ever deal as it shifts focus from nuclear plants to the higher-growth market for electricity networks.
North Korean visas on sale
A group of North Korean dissidents, called Cheollima Civil Defense, began selling visas to a future free North Korea. They are the ones responsible for the raid on Pyongyang's embassy in Madrid on February 2019, as well as the 2017 rescue…
Renesas Electronics
Renesas Electronics has developed an energy-harvesting embedded controller that can eliminate the need to use batteries in IoT devices. The controller operates at up to 32MHz (64MHz in boost mode) with 20 ŒºA/MHz active current and only…
Delivering blood in Ghana with drones
Zipline International, an American startup that delivers blood and medical supplies via drones, will begin operating in Ghana in April 2019. With its recent success in Rwanda, the company signed a performance driven contract with the…
Farming the sun instead of corn
With recent economic challenges in the US, farmers are looking to diversify their land use by inviting solar power companies. One farmer in Illinois stated that his less-than-desirable farmland generates a profit of $150-$200 an acre,…
Chrona’s Long-Delayed Kickstarter Pillow Patented
Chrona is somewhat infamous for raising almost $100,000 in a 2015 Kickstarter campaign and failing to deliver the promised "smart pillow cover," which promised to turn any pillow into a high-tech sleep improvement device. The company was…
Aluminum giant hit by an extensive cyber attack
On 3/19/2019, Norsk Hydro, one of the largest aluminum producers in the world, suffered production outages after a cyber attack, specifically ransomware, affected operations across Europe and the US. Although the company called the…
Your home and your car can share power
Earlier this month, Mitsubishi Motors launched the Dendo Drive House, an energy ecosystem that allows owners to freely transfer power between their homes and electric vehicles. The ecosystem package includes the EV/PHEV, rooftop solar…
t10 solopower
SoloPower is a US-based manufacturer of Copper indium gallium selenide thin film photovoltaic solar panels using special electroplating technology. SoloPower shut down operations in late 2017.
t10 stion
Stion is a US-based manufacturer of thin film photovoltaic solar cells. They discontinued operations in late 2017.
t10 google
Alphabet's Google is incorporating distributed ledger technology such as Blockchain to facilitate energy transactions.
Patent Forecast® gives you AI-driven, interactive data that identifies key innovators and first movers.
