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BluWave-ai, based in Ottawa, has launched a patent licensing business unit to profit from its wealth of cleantech intellectual property.
The company launched the new unit earlier this month, which now boasts 15 patents granted or recently allowed and over 60 international filings. The patents cover BluWave-ai’s research and development in smart grids, renewable energy, energy storage and electric transportation.
The patents BluWave-ai has been granted or published in patent agencies include technologies that optimize the charging times for energy storage devices based on historic data, help manage charging for electric vehicle fleets, and implement artificial intelligence in smart grids.
A key motivation for creating the patent licensing unit is to protect BluWave-ai’s intellectual property, CEO and founder Devashish Paul said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.
“We’re keeping our products, we’re still selling them to our customers and we’re going to reinvest that revenue stream into our product development,” he said.
Guarding BluWave-ai's portfolio
BluWave-ai created the business unit, Paul said, because it faced a problem of companies arranging pitch meetings for its products, who then reversed course to say they planned to develop their own similar technologies.
Frustrated with this, BluWave-ai decided “rather than fight them and basically say you can’t, we’re saying, ‘Well, you can just license our patent portfolio and build on top of it,’” Paul continued.
Such a scenario is expected to be more likely as the company grows, he said. If BluWave-ai gets more investors, they are not likely to tolerate such infringements, adding to the need to legally defend its inventions.
“Today we’re not interested in anything involving any litigation steps, so we’re giving everyone the opening to partner with us.”
Licensing BluWave-ai’s patents also means less work for clients, Paul said. By doing so, such companies “won’t have to recreate the wheel” and “design around what we have.” Those clients are expected to be utilities, large enterprises that service utilities, government agencies and auto companies.
The cost to license a BluWave-ai patent is in the seven figures range, Paul disclosed.
There are companies in the early steps of licensing BluWave-ai’s technology, Paul said. He would not disclose names, however. BluWave-ai is targeting North America with the patent licensing business unit first. It then looks to aim its sights at Europe, Paul said.
Companies and organizations that have engaged with BluWave-ai’s technology include Hydro Ottawa, Quebec renewables company Evolugen, Summerside Electric and Tata Power.
This year, the company hopes it will have more funding news, Paul said, and to announce more about its Data Center Autopilot product. It may also have a new project in Summerside, P.E.I. to reveal. The city that has been a close collaborator with BluWave-ai on projects, such as powering a Bryan Adams concert with purely solar power in 2022.
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