Is energy technology being supressed?

[richlevy]

From here

She details the series of events which ultimately resulted in Chevron Oil gaining control of the patents covering most large-format NiMH batteries. While she does not accuse Chevron explicitly, the implication is clear; Chevron, and the combined strength of the oil/automotive industrial complex, now controls the production of these batteries and they are going to squash the technology flatter than Los Angeles’s “Red Cars,” the streetcars which used to transport Angelinos everywhere until automotive interests allegedly bought them and dismantled the system.

I went on to ask about the cost of Li-Ion batteries versus the cost of NiMH. Frank speculated about near-term cost trends, assuming both were mass-produced in similar quantities. “The present thinking is that they will be comparable in cost per kW*h but they [Li-Ion] are one half the weight.”
However, Frank has not dismissed NiMH batteries entirely. He acknowledges that they make more sense in PHEVs than BEVs because PHEVs do not rely solely on their battery packs to determine the ultimate range. He also praised the durability of NiMH batteries. “The metal hydride batteries I have are over ten years old and they still work. Lithium chemistry is too new to tell.”

So we've allowed an oil company to get a stake in a competing technology, not to license it but hoard it. NIMH batteries weigh more, but they are proven and cheaper than Lithium Ion. But someone who wanted to build electric cars would find the patent locked.

The intellectual property laws were designed to allow creators to receive fair compensation and more importantly to encourage innovation and the dissemination of technology into society.

I believe that the patent expires in 2015. One can only hope that someone doesn't wave a large check in front of the guy who own the L-Ion battery patent.