Lithium Titanate Electrodes for Batteries

122 slides 2011 “IP Overview” – Lithium Titanate Electrodes for Batteries

A sector in (re)search of competitiveness Patent global landscape as a new tool to decipher market trends

In the current roadmap on emerging battery technologies, Lithium Titanate (LTO) raises high hope concerning the possibility of high rate capability, fast charge, wide operating temperature range and long life cycle. Its lower operating voltage that can be considered as a handicap also brings a significant advantage in terms of safety. The LTO anodes are therefore of crucial interest for battery manufacturers and end-users of batteries. This interest results in a very high research and patenting activity in the last five years. With the near expiry of the historical patents (like the US5545468 patent in 2013), many actors are building up their portfolio in order to acquire a blocking position.

The present report analyses the patent environment and notably highlights the strategy of current major players which are not necessarily the major patent holders. These major patent holders are end users (, , Panasonic, LG, Sanyo …), battery manufacturers (Yuasa Battery, BYD, Enerdel, Altair Nano…), material manufacturers (Toho titanium, Titan Kogyo, Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha … ) and institutional entities (CEA, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Univ Beijing …). The question can be raised for a few of them of their possibility to evolve rapidly enough to maintain their market position towards better protected competitors. In a sector where 450 patents and patent applications have been filed, this « IP Overview – Lithium Titanate battery » provides you with a comprehensive panorama of the intellectual property landscape and helps you: - Position your company’s R&D and IP Portfolio - Identify key inventors and key players involved in specific compositions of anodes - Understand the collaboration networks and theirs dynamics

Table of contents (1/2)

Generalities Brief outline of the technology Brief outline of the market Roadmap of emerging battery technologies Patent Query World analysis

Evolution of patent filings (1981-2010) Main applicants Part of the portfolio hold by the 10 first applicants Breakdown of filings of the main institutional over time Breakdown of filings of the main industrial over time Main co-filings between applicants Industrial & institutional filings over time Map of priority filings Evolution of priority filings Map of extensions Evolution of the number of applicants Breakdown by type of material Breakdown by assignee Most cited patent families Most extended patent families Table of contents (2/2)

Regional focus For each regional focus is presented the following information USA focus Industrial & institutional filings over time China focus Main applicants Extensions focus Main co-filings between inventors South Korea focus Main co-filings between applicants Europe focus Breakdown by applicant

Conclusion Portfolio average age of the studied applicants Citations analysis Applicant focus PANASONIC For each applicant focus is presented the following information TOSHIBA Evolution of patent filings YUASA BATTERY Map of extensions TOYOTA Extension policy ALTAIR NANO INC Portfolio breakdown over time CEA Portfolio structure TOHO TITANIUM UNIVERSITY OF BEIJING ISHIHARA SANGYO KAISHA Evolution of patent filings (1992-2010)

449 patent families (1981-2010)

Low filings between 1990 and 2003 (0 to 20 patent applications per year) Strong increase since 2004 to reach 74 patent applications in 2009 Breakdown of filings of the main institutional applicants over time

Among the 11 institutional top applicants, 6 entities are from China. All their patent applications have been filed since 2004. Over 50% of institutional patent portfolios were filed between 2007 and 2010. The University of Beijing is the major institutional applicant. European area is represented by two French research centers (CEA and CNRS). Co-filings between applicants (1/3)

EUROPE JAPAN

USA & CANADA Map of priority filings

4 1 1 9 EP : 6 10 2 2 1 43 120 20 210

1 4

4

Priority patent applications stem mainly from Japan (210), China (120) and the United States (43) 31 patent applications have been filed in a European country or via European procedure (6) 10 PCT priority applications has been filed Breakdown by type of material

A majority (~ 54%) of the patents concerns Li4Ti5O12 anodes. ~ 9.6% concerns different structures of lithium titanate comprising partial replacement of titane by other transition metals (Mx) or combinations (Mn, Co, V, Ni, etc...). ~ 1.8 % of the patents claim titanic lithium acid as active material for anodes (classified in the category “others”) The Category “Others” comprises: (HxLiy-xTizO4 0.9% ; HxTiyOz 0.9% ; Li2MxTi3-xO7 0.7% ; Li2Ti6O13 0.7; Li2Ti4O9 0.5%; Li4Ti11O20 0.4%; LiMxTi5-xO8 0.4%; Li7Ti5O12 0.2%). List of the most cited patent families (3/3)

FAMILY REFERENCE NUMBER CITING APPLICANTS TITLE APPLICANTS (Number of citations) (Number of citations)

SUD CHEMIE (2) Nonaqueous electrolyte BYD (1) battery , lithium-titanium 3M (1) US2006257746 (7) TOSHIBA composite oxide , battery MEDTRONIC (1) pack and vehicle AGC SEIMI CHEMICAL (1) TOSHIBA (1)

BATHIUM CANADA; AVESTOR LTD (1) HYDRO QUEBEC (1) Methods for obtaining SUD CHEMIE (1) WO200246101 (6) LI4TI5O12 , LI( 4-A )ZATI5O12 , HYDRO QUEBEC SAFT (1) or LI4ZBTI( 5-B )O12 particles NANOTECTURE; UNIV SOUTHAMPTON (1) ALTAIR NANO INC (1)

CEA (2) Process for producing lithium XOLIOX SA; ALTAIR NANO INC (1) US6475673 (6) titanate and lithium ion battery TOHO TITANIUM TOHO TITANIUM LTD (1) and negative electrode therein UNIV RUTGERS; TELCORDIA INC (1) ALTAIR NANO INC (1) Lithium Titanate Electrodes for Batteries USA Focus Industrial & institutional filings over time

43 priority patent applications filed in the USA 80 100

70 90 80 60 70 50 60 40 50

30 40

Number of filings Number 30

20 filings of % industrial 20 10 10 0 0

1990 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Filing year

Inventors Joint institutional / industrial filings Institutional filings Industrial filings % of industrial filings

In accordance with the US procedure, the part of filings naming the inventors as applicant is important. Industrial filings outclass the landscape. Main applicants

Institutional applicants Industrial applicants

4 types of applicants: mainly battery manufacturers (Enerdel, Valence Technology, Enersys, Altair Nano …), end users (Medtronic, ATK…), material manufacturers (Altair Nano, Nanogram,…) and institutional entities (US Government laboratories and the University of Chicago Argonne). Extensions

8 2 EP : 11 1 7 1 7 9 1 2 2

3 1

Main areas of extension are Europe (11 extensions via European procedure), Japan (9) , China (7) and South Korea (7). PCT procedures (24) have been mostly used by the US priority applicants for their patent extensions , in particular since 2006 as shown in this graph. Main co-filings between inventors ≥ 2 patent filings and since 2005

ENERDEL

MEDTRONIC

US GOVERNEMENT UNIV CHICAGO ALTAIR NANO UCHICAGO ARGONNE ENERDEL VALENCE TECHNOLOGY Main co-filings between applicants

The main collaboration pool is only constituted by industrial applicants. This pool is not a R&D collaboration but illustrates different operations as merger and acquisition or spin off creation. So, ATK is a spin off of Honeywell and then Enersys Advanced Systems acquired the ATK Lithium-batteries division in Horsham (Hungary) in 2009. During these different operations, patents are placed in banks as warranty. That is the reason why JP Morgan Bank is represented in the graph. Only one collaboration concerns industrial and institutional applicants (Telcordia & Univ RUTGERS). Breakdown by applicant and type of material

Most US priority patents are classified in the category “Lithium titanate Li4Ti5O12 spinel structure”. It is worthy of note that the main applicant in this class is MEDTRONIC, a medical devices manufacturer. All patents of this company claim a lithium battery comprising an anode with lithium titanate as active material. ALTAIR NANO, a supplier of lithium-ion energy storage systems and batteries, is the second major applicant in the Li4Ti5O12 category. Its patents protect mostly lithium titanate batteries or Li4Ti5O12 manufacturing methods. ENERDEL, a US domestic manufacturer of commercial-scale automotive-grade lithium-ion battery systems, is the third major applicant in this same category. Citations analysis – forward citations of several applicant portfolios

BLOCKING POSITION Number of different citing applicants citing different of Number

NONE BLOCKING POSITION OR YOUNG (Bubble size is proportional to the number of patent PATENT families of the applicant’s portfolio) PORTFOLIO

Number of forward citations of the patent portfolio (Self-citations are not taken into account) Lithium Titanate Electrodes for Batteries Applicants focus TOHO Titanium Evolution of patent filings

80

70

60

50

40

30

20 Number of patent applications patent of Number 10

0 1999 2000 2001 2002 Priority year

• Portfolio size : 6 patent families • Average age of the patent portfolio : 10.83 years • Granting rate (US only) : 100% (2/2) • Priority filing country : 100 % US • 1 co-filing with MIT (2001) TOHO Titanium Extension policy

Only 2 extensions in US in 1999. Since 2002, it seems that TOHO Titanium left the field of LTO battery. TOHO Titanium Portfolio breakdown over time TOHO Titanium Portfolio structure

Portfolio structure: 3 types of titanate are claimed by TOHO Titanium patents. 4 patents protect Li2TiO3 and Li4Ti5O12. For a deeper analysis …

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