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Millennium Cell, a Research-driven Company, Succeeds with Delphion Research |
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A Delphion Research Case Study |
Summary
Millennium Cell is a publicly traded company that has developed a proprietary system that stores and delivers hydrogen for use in fuel cells and internal combustion engines. The company is dedicated to creating clean and reliable energy sources and licenses its technology to companies in the consumer electronic, standby power, transportation and borohydride fuel supply chain industries. Its partners include DaimlerChrysler, Aperion Energy Systems, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. and U.S. Borax.
Founded in 1998, the Eatontown, New Jersey-based company went public in August 2000 and currently has more than 40 employees. Millennium Cell's primary product is its intellectual property, and it derives the majority of its income through licensing its proprietary technologies.
Challenge
The alternative-energy fuel cell industry is small and highly research-driven. Finding new opportunities to develop licensable, patentable technologies, as well as identifying partnership opportunities and competing technologies, is a challenge that Millennium Cell's management team and employees face on a daily basis.
A Research-driven Culture
Millennium Cell doesn't manufacture end products, instead licensing its innovative technologies to other corporations. Gaining legal protection for its research is imperative, and, before embarking on new R&D projects, Millennium Cell accesses Delphion Research to discover "niches" (technologies that are not already patented) in the hydrogen storage and delivery area.
Since going public in 2000, Millennium Cell's IP portfolio has been growing nearly 20% per year.
Convenience and Customization
Delphion Research is a web-based application and users can access the site from any computer with an Internet connection. For Millennium Cell's Director of Intellectual Property, this means that she can conduct research on Delphion or refer to saved Work Files while working outside of the office, a convenience that allows her to maximize productivity.
The Millennium Cell team also takes advantage of Delphion Research's Saved Searches and Shared Work Files features. They use Saved Searches to customize and save their searches and run them as often as needed. The company also uses Shared Work Files, which allows them to save their research into a Work File and return to it on a regular basis as they conduct their daily patent research and then share the vital information in those Work Files on an enterprise-wide basis. For high-priority matters Millennium Cell's IP Director also sets up Delphion Research email Alerts to send information directly to her email account when there is patent activity involving a particular company or technology.
Back to School
Millennium Cell has found that many universities are performing intensive research in the area of hydrogen storage, some of them in collaboration with industry or government partners. Delphion Research enables Millennium Cell to monitor patenting in this important research sector for either early stage technology the company could utilize, or, an individual with a particular expertise who could act as a consultant for the company. Delphion's Search feature enables the performance of targeted searches in these areas and allows Millennium Cell to identify the connections between different organizations and individuals.
Background Research
Once Millennium Cell has identified a potential partner, it uses Delphion Research to help gather background information. Searching a company's IP portfolio allows Millennium Cell's senior management to understand where a company has focused their R&D efforts — and been willing to spend the money to protect those efforts. Through a comprehensive analysis of a potential partner's IP portfolio, Millennium Cell's management is able to get a snapshot view of a company's business plan by identifying the products and technologies that it sees as holding current and future commercial value.
Millennium Cell's Director of Intellectual Property often fields requests from the company's business development team for information on a new technology or nascent company. More often than not, that company's IP holdings, which can be easily accessed on Delphion Research, provide the most helpful and relevant details.
Conclusion
Millennium Cell holds 16 patents in the United States and abroad and has 41 more pending in areas surrounding hydrogen generation, catalyst development and borohydride synthesis. "Our primary product is IP," says Millennium Cell's Director of Intellectual Property. "Delphion lets us maximize that product by ensuring we are informed about the leading edge of technology and enables us to react and adapt our IP appropriately."
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