Ilika (AIM: IKA), a pioneer in materials innovation and solid-state battery technology, has told DirectorsTalk about the grant in China of a further patent application supporting its proprietary Stereax(TM) technology.
The application is a member of the patent families that cover Ilika’s proprietary vapour deposition processes used in producing solid-state batteries directly from the elements. The patent application was jointly filed with Toyota Motor Company on 21(st) July 2011. In May 2014, Ilika announced the successful British grant of this patent application and in March 2015, the Notice of Allowance in USA. The application went to formal grant in the USA in June 2015 and in June 2016 Ilika received a notice of the Decision to Grant in China.
This particular joint filing resulted from collaborative work undertaken by Ilika and Toyota, which commenced in 2008. This patent family is one of the two earliest filings of a growing portfolio of intellectual property (IP) exemplifying Ilika’s unique approach to solid-state battery production using evaporation sources. The more recent applications in the portfolio contain both jointly-owned and solely owned IP. The other filing made at the same time in July 2011 was granted in the UK, Europe and China in April 2014, July 2015 and November 2015 respectively.
In January 2014, three further international patent applications from the portfolio were filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) based upon earlier British priority applications. These were published in July 2015 and are currently progressing through the national filing processes.
The scalable stacked cell architecture which Ilika can produce enables the simple fabrication of cells over a wide range of sizes. In April 2016 Ilika announced the launch of its first solid-state battery IP product, the Stereax(TM) M250, designed for powering wireless sensors, commonly referred to as the “Internet of Things” (IoT), which is a rapidly growing segment expected to create an addressable market for micro-batteries in excess of GBP1bn by 2017.
Commenting on this latest development, Graeme Purdy, Ilika CEO, said: “The grant of this patent further demonstrates the global strength of Ilika’s growing IP portfolio in solid-state batteries. IoT devices are developing at a rapid rate around the world and Ilika recognizes the importance of protecting IP in all of the key markets, including China.”
