United States Patent and Trademark Office grants HVCRC Smart Conductor its first U.S. patent, among over 19 issued or receiving notices of allowance worldwide for the company’s high voltage composite reinforced conductor.
Mercury Cable & Energy (MC&E), the leading developer of High Voltage Composite Reinforced Conductors (HVCRC) for electrical transmission lines, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued patent number 7,705,242 for MC&E’s HVCRC Smart Conductor. The patent issued covers all 33 claims submitted and the examiner considered all the prior art available including the Composite Technology Corporation ‘162 (7,368,162), and ‘319 (7,211,319) patents which are the subject of an infringement lawsuit between the parties. The issuance of this patent further confirms the unique nature of this product and is the first U.S. patent issued among over 19 patents issued or receiving notices of allowance worldwide for MC&E’s HVCRC Smart Conductor.
“We are pleased to see the issuance of the HVCRC Patent by the USPTO,” said Ron Morris, General Counsel of MC&E. “The issuance of this patent gives us a great deal of confidence in our ability to protect our proprietary HVCRC Smart Conductor intellectual property in the United States and to obtain patent protection for our products globally.”
For more detailed information please visit http://www.mercurycable.com or http://www.uspto.gov/.
Mercury Cable & Energy is a privately-held developer of High Voltage Composite Reinforced Conductors (HVCRC), Smart Conductors for the Smart Grid. The patented HVCRC Smart Conductor is superior to existing conductors in a number of key performance areas including:
- Up to double the current carrying capacity of ACSR
- Substantially reduces high-temperature sag
- Requires fewer structures for new line construction
- Increases capacity of existing rights-of-way and structures through retrofitting
- Eliminates bi-metallic corrosion
- Significantly reduces line losses compared to same-diameter conventional and composite conductors at equal operating temperatures