Boult Wade Tennant
Sector » Energy and green technologies

Energy and green technologies

Areas of focus:

    Biofuels
    Clean air
    Fuel cells and battery technology
    Renewables and recycling
    Water, oil and gas, nuclear, fusion, fission

The green energy and renewables industry is of huge significance to wider society, and represents a rapidly evolving market, with technical advancement at its core. It is a highly active and competitive IP environment. Alongside large, existing patent portfolios from established, multinational players, there is continued innovation from smaller start-ups, bringing their own revolutionary ideas and concepts to the market. 

Regulation is fast-moving in the energy sector as a whole, and with each iteration of renewables and sustainability policy comes new requirements for IP. Moving swiftly to secure patents for new innovations to meet evolving standards is paramount for large-scale clients, and a source of opportunity for smaller firms and inventors. 

Carbon footprint is central to everything in the industry. Green solutions stretch far beyond simply producing renewable energy, with all facets of major sectors such as industrial, chemical and construction needing to reduce their carbon output, for example through carbon-capture or employing products and processes to put the emissions to use. Our work in the sector encompasses the breadth of this field of invention. 

The energy and green technologies team
Our team at Boult is well-known and respected within the green energy and renewables space. We combine the technical expertise to draft efficiently and effectively on the most complex of energy products, with the commercial acumen to understand our clients’ and the regulators’ needs. Our team’s experience is broad, covering emissions reduction/control products, battery storage for renewables, photovoltaics and beyond.

Owing to the rapidly evolving nature of the industry, oppositions can be common. We not only represent clients in opposition hearings – with a strong track record before the European Patent Office – but also take a proactive stance during the patent drafting stage to mitigate any potential claims before they can occur. This is critical both in maintaining a robust portfolio, and giving an inventor’s novel invention the best possible legal head start.

“The growth in green energy and renewables is, of course, of massive importance to us all. Working alongside clients in this space is hugely exciting and immensely rewarding.” 

Dr Oliver Rutt
PARTNER
image

Sign up for our Energy and green technologies insights here
Read our guide to Greentech IP here.

The green energy and renewables industry is of huge significance to wider society, and represents a rapidly evolving market, with technical advancement at its core. It is a highly active and competitive IP environment. Alongside large, existing patent portfolios from established, multinational players, there is continued innovation from smaller start-ups, bringing their own revolutionary ideas and concepts to the market. 

Regulation is fast-moving in the energy sector as a whole, and with each iteration of renewables and sustainability policy comes new requirements for IP. Moving swiftly to secure patents for new innovations to meet evolving standards is paramount for large-scale clients, and a source of opportunity for smaller firms and inventors. 

Carbon footprint is central to everything in the industry. Green solutions stretch far beyond simply producing renewable energy, with all facets of major sectors such as industrial, chemical and construction needing to reduce their carbon output, for example through carbon-capture or employing products and processes to put the emissions to use. Our work in the sector encompasses the breadth of this field of invention. 

The energy and green technologies team
Our team at Boult is well-known and respected within the green energy and renewables space. We combine the technical expertise to draft efficiently and effectively on the most complex of energy products, with the commercial acumen to understand our clients’ and the regulators’ needs. Our team’s experience is broad, covering emissions reduction/control products, battery storage for renewables, photovoltaics and beyond.

Owing to the rapidly evolving nature of the industry, oppositions can be common. We not only represent clients in opposition hearings – with a strong track record before the European Patent Office – but also take a proactive stance during the patent drafting stage to mitigate any potential claims before they can occur. This is critical both in maintaining a robust portfolio, and giving an inventor’s novel invention the best possible legal head start.

What sets us apart
We pride ourselves on really understanding the technology behind our clients’ inventions. Our team have taken time to complete several secondments directly with clients, which provides hands-on experience beyond pure IP acumen. Our energy and green technologies team also includes a former founding member of a university spin-out company that worked on high efficiency concentrated photovoltaic cells (CPV).

Uncommonly among IP firms, our size and collegiate approach means we are equipped to advise on all areas of even the most complex of energy and green-tech products. By bringing together in-house chemists, physicists and engineers with ease, we are able to truly appreciate all aspects of a product or solution, across the technical fields it covers and to advise on the best possible IP route for our clients to take in bringing it to market.

Recent highlights

  • We assisted a large UK chemicals company operating in the field of emission control. We drafted and prosecuted patent applications, as well as handled commercially important offensive and defensive oppositions at the European Patent Office. We have also seconded a patent attorney to work for the company in-house.
  • Acting for a small UK start-up in the field of solar technology, particularly in the deployment of lightweight solar material for various applications. We drafted patent specifications and prosecuted its patent applications and handled its registered design filings. We also advised on its international filing strategy.
  • Assisting an international corporation by prosecuting its European patent applications in the area of redox flow batteries.
  • Working for a fast-growing UK start-up producing a low carbon electrically powered boiler and a household heating alternative to heat pumps. We have handled its patent drafting and prosecution from their very initial concepts through to elements of its on-sale product. We have also performed an audit, funded by the UKIPO, of its intellectual property and we handle its trade mark matters. 

Energy and green technologies team

Partners

Tessa Bucks
Partner London
Martyn Draper
Partner London
Adrian Hayes
Partner Reading
Paul Hicks
Partner Cambridge
Dr James Legg
Partner Cambridge
Edward Morse
Partner London
Dr Jonathan Palmer
Partner Reading
Dr Jo Pelly
Partner Reading
Daryl Penny
Partner Reading
Dr Michelle Pratt
Partner London
Jonathan Pratt
Partner London
Matthew Ridley
Partner London
Dr Barbara Rigby
Partner Cambridge
Dr Oliver Rutt
Partner London
Dr Rohan Setna
Partner London
Dr James Short
Partner London
Marcus Sims
Partner London
Matthew Spencer
Partner Cambridge
Dr Naomi Stevens
Partner Cambridge
Neil Thomson
Partner Cambridge
Dr Nigel Tucker
Partner Reading
Daniel Weston
Partner London
Dr Nick Widdowson
Partner Cambridge

Senior associates

Dr Frances Baxter
Senior Associate Cambridge
Dr Adam Capewell
Senior Associate Reading
Sarah Le Mesurier
Senior Associate London
Joshua McFarlane
Senior Associate London
Dr Victoria Russell
Senior Associate London
Dr Josephine Talbot-Ponsonby
Senior Associate Reading
Dr Robert Waddingham
Senior Associate Cambridge

Attorneys

Dr Olga Bohuszewicz
Patent Attorney Cambridge
Dr Lucy Cunningham
Patent Attorney Cambridge
Christopher Jones
Patent Attorney London
Michael Kahan
Patent Attorney London
Olivia Murray
Patent Attorney London
Dr Jordan Waters
Patent Attorney London
Jade Watt
Patent Attorney Reading

Assistants and trainees

Maryam Ahmed
Patent Trainee London
Claudia Bustamante
Patent Assistant London
Anna Jones
Patent Trainee London
Dr Michael Newsome
Patent Trainee London
Dr Jonny Taylor
Patent Assistant Cambridge