Patents

Intellectual Property Management

AHI actively manages its intellectual property. It seeks out and obtains invention disclosures from its technical staff, assesses the technical and commercial feasibility of the new technologies and applications, and protects intellectual property through patents, business practices, contracts and others means. The management of intellectual property is closely linked to the technology road-mapping exercise, which connects AHI’s plans for its research and development, engineering, product development, and business development.

Patents
 
1. The invention “Decomposition of Natural Gas or Methane using Cold Arc
Discharge” is described in Canadian Patent Application No. 2,660,088.

The invention provides methods and apparatus for a cold arc discharge used to decompose natural gas or methane into its gaseous constituents and carbon in the form of solid particles. The gaseous constituents obtained are mainly hydrogen and acetylene and they are produced in admixture with unreacted natural gas or methane.

2. The invention “Apparatus and Method for Effecting Plasma-Based Reactions” is described in International Patent Application No. PCT/CA2009/001405.

The invention includes a reactor system comprising a plasma generator and reaction vessel. The plasma generator includes a current and voltage source, a first electrode electrically coupled to the current and voltage source, a second electrode structure physically coupled to the reaction vessel, and a reaction zone between the first and second electrodes. The reactor system is operated by generating a plasma plume and flowing a gaseous reactant, e.g. methane, flow into the reaction zone.

3. The patent application “Plasma Reactor and Method of Operation Thereof” has been prepared and will be filed as a PCT application.

Trade-mark
 
The trade-mark “CarbonSaver” was approved on January 14, 2010 by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, and advertised in the Canadian Trade-Marks Journal on March 10, 2010.

Licensing

AHI welcomes expressions of interest to license its intellectual property. AHI has granted options and licenses for certain territories and fields-of-use. The process for these transactions has begun with initial meetings about the business opportunity, followed by execution of a mutual non-disclosure agreement to allow for confidential and more detailed discussions. Due diligence activities have followed from these discussions. An option agreement may be signed for consideration, providing the potential licensee with a right to negotiate a license agreement during a defined option period. Upon completion of the due diligence, or nearing the end of the option period, the parties will typically develop a statement of work and budget for development and commercialization activities. A term sheet may then be prepared outlining the major terms of the licensing transaction, or the parties may proceed directly to negotiate a license agreement.  Communication and the creation of shared understandings are central to this process of developing, executing and managing successful license-based relationships.