‘Significant’ fuel cell membrane patents granted

According to the company, the patents are significant because the membranes are critical elements within portable fuel cells, dictating to a large degree their size, cost, power and efficiency. To date, PolyFuel has filed 23 patent applications and these are the first of several ‘composition of matter’ applications to be granted. PolyFuel president and ceo Jim Balcom, pictured, said: “In any new field, there are ultimately a few benchmark patents from which much future technology springs. We believe that this is one of those situations and our investors and customers should be encouraged that we now have such key intellectual property protection in place, and are free to exploit our technology for the benefit of the industry.”