Causam Enterprises, a Raleigh-based grid services company, has entered into a new space in 2021: electric vehicle (EV) charging. In January 2021, the company was issued a patent claiming a System and Methods for Electric Vehicle Charging and User Interface Therefor, and have filed a continuation in part (CIP) to expand the coverage of its patent. Causam is already far and away the leader in the Energy Financial Settlements sector, with 96 patents and 119 applications. Ongoing continuation practice will keep the company strides ahead. Keeping patent prosecution open gives Causam a strategic advantage as it can develop new claim sets aimed at emerging technologies or competitors while maintaining earlier priority dates. 

Although Causam extending its reach into EV charging makes sense, the company may have to fight an uphill battle to position itself among other big players. Greenlots, Causam’s largest EV charging competitor and a subsidiary of Shell Global, currently dominates the space with 25 patent assets. Zeco Systems, doing business as Greenlots, offers EV charging software and solutions, optimization services, and smart charging. Greenlots is continuing to innovate, and five of its patent assets are from 2021 alone. While electric vehicle charging appears to be a new category for Causam, the company has a trick up its sleeve and the patent data shows Causam’s cards. Despite Causam’s patent issuing in 2021, it claims priority to a 2014 filing date.  This 2014 priority could give the company a huge advantage over other companies. Continued investment in EV charging could put Causam in a great position against competitors like Greenlots.

Check out the Energy Financial Settlements Patent Forecast® to keep up with Causam Enterprises and its electric vehicle charging patents.