patents

While Ford's new Fusion Hybrid is designed to put money back into the pockets of fuel-conscious consumers, some patent attorneys may also be a little more flush as well. The development of the model, set to debut later this year, helped Ford boost its number of patents related to hybrid ...

A recent survey by JP Patent Publication shows that, from 1980 to mid-2011, General Motors led the way with the highest aggregate score (total patent points) for fuel cell technology-related patents. In second place is Honda followed by the U.S. Department of Energy. Honda, with a score of 90.6 ...

Plug-in vehicles are all the rage right now – witness the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Ford Transit Connect Electric all coming to market between now and the end of the year. Unfortunately, electric and hybrid vehicles carry a significant price premium over conventional models (most of the ...

Over the years, General Motors has not often been seen as a forward-thinking company when it comes to green technologies. Sure, the Chevrolet Chevette was one of the first American cars to crack the 30 miles per gallon mark (the diesel model got north of 50 mpg). True, the EV-1 experiment showed ...

Toyota is the undisputed world leader in hybrid vehicle sales, so it unsurprisingly follows that the company dominates the charts when it comes to patents for "electric propulsion vehicles." A recent study conducted by the Japan Patent Office on global trends in the EV industry found that 76 ...

Take a look at the left column of the chart above. As displayed in a new report called "Automaker Patent Assets Intelligence Report" by PatentCafe.com, this chart shows that GM's green tech patent focus is far, far smaller (as a percent of total portfolio) when compared to the rest of the auto ...