Legislation and Standardization in the Field of Fuel Cells

Despite the fact that patents have the prime purpose of protecting intellectual property and commercial rights of individual companies or people, and also those of other organizations, they are a very important vehicle for the spread of information. Patents are bought, sold, and licensed to be used by third parties in the same country or in other countries. In the United States alone, every week about 12 new fuel cell patents are issued. About 500 companies are holders of at least one patent in the field (Khan, 2004). The distribution between countries is highly nonuniform. For instance, of the 1582 general fuel cell patents published in the fourth quarter of 2007,51% came from Japan, 15% from the United States, 9% from South Korea, 6% from China, and about 1% from European countries (Butler, 2008b). 

Fuel cell manufacturing patents are filed mainly under the International Patent Classification Code (IPC) H01M008. 

Long ago, fuel cells ceased to be a scientific and technical curiosity or mere examples for a possible direct conversion of the chentical energy of different fuels to electrical energy. Different types of fuel cells are now manufactured in tens and hundreds of pieces, and some will soon number several thousand. Production figures counted in the millions are not now beyond reach, in view of portable and transport needs. This calls for formulating documents on legislation and standardization addressing the conditions of fuel cell use (e.g., questions of safety) as well as of fuel cell construction. 

National standards have begun to be formulated in a number of countries in the field of fuel cells. Fuel cell trade across international borders calls for the development of documentation that is legally valid in all countries. 

In view of rapid progress in fuel cell work and in response to the many inquiries received from industry, the International Electrotechnical Commission (lEC) in 1996 created Technical Committee 105 (Fuel Cell Technologies). In August 2004, the first International Standard on fuel cells, lEC 62282-2 Fuel Cell Technologies, was published. It covers the minimum safety requirements for modules (not systems) that manufacturers should comply with when producing fuel cells (AFCs, PEMFCs, MCFCs, and SOFCs) destined for use by customers. 

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