Leaders Highlight Benefits of Avanci’s EV Charger Licensing Program for IoT-connected EV Chargers

Electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly increasing in popularity worldwide, including in the United States. According to Reuters, global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles surged by 35% in October 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. EV charging is an important part of that growth, especially IoT-connected chargers.

The Important Role of IoT-connected EV Chargers

IoT-connected chargers play a critical role in the shift from gas to EVs by enhancing driver convenience and grid stability. They offer real-time data on charger availability and charge levels, reducing wait times and alleviating range anxiety. By communicating directly with the grid, these chargers help balance energy demand, enabling operators to manage power output, schedule off-peak charging, and lower costs while minimizing grid strain. For home chargers, cellular connectivity supports remote diagnostics, maintenance, and updates without relying on Wi-Fi. This integrated approach benefits both drivers and utilities, facilitating EV adoption and advancing sustainable energy goals.

As EV charging companies rapidly expand alongside the growth of electric vehicles in the U.S., they may be overlooking a critical aspect of business operations: securing licenses for the cellular technologies integrated into their systems.

Patent Licensing for Connected EV Chargers is Easier with Avanci’s EV Charger Licensing Program

Avanci’s EV Charger Licensing program simplifies patent licensing for connected EV chargers by offering manufacturers a single, comprehensive license for essential cellular technologies (4G, 3G, and 2G) at fair, published rates, eliminating complex negotiations with multiple patent owners. Launched in December 2023, the program now includes 47 patent owners, providing cost-effective and transparent licensing with a one-time fee per charger for its lifetime. Built on the success of its 4G Vehicle program, which covers over 100 auto brands and 175 million vehicles, Avanci brings extensive experience in one-stop licensing to the EV charging market, offering predictable licensing terms with fixed rates, providing cost stability and transparency for manufacturers. Four charger makers (ADS-TEC Energy, Easee, Eaton and GARO) are already on board as licensees.

Avanci’s Early Licensee Reductions Expire December 5, 2024

Avanci’s EV Charger program is offering early licensee reductions until December 5, 2024, marking the one-year anniversary of the program. Launched in December 2023 under the leadership of Marianne Frydenlund, the program simplifies licensing for connected EV chargers. At launch, Avanci founder and CEO Kasim Alfalahi highlighted the program’s efficiency in sharing innovations from inventors worldwide, building on Avanci’s expertise in creating streamlined licensing solutions for connected vehicles. Alfalahi said: “We are proud to launch Avanci EV Charger, a new program for the Internet of Things, expanding on our experience in creating the one-stop marketplace for connected vehicle licensing. Avanci brings a simpler, more efficient approach to sharing the work of thousands of inventors at companies and research institutes around the world.”

Marianne Frydenlund, Vice President at Avanci, Interviewed by EVinfo.net

For more details, EVinfo.net reached out to Marianne Frydenlund, Vice President at Avanci.

We asked Frydenlund what she believed were the key reasons for charger makers and network operators to choose the option of an Avanci license for the cellular technologies they use. Her detailed answers were:

Joint license solution

Avanci offers companies selling EV chargers simplified access to patented technology that is essential to the 4G (LTE, LTE-A), as well as 3G and 2G, cellular technologies. These are the foundational wireless technologies that state-of-the-art EV charger connectivity is built on and which enables innovative charging companies to create exciting new connected products and services for their customers.

Avanci is an independent intermediary connecting licensees selling EV Chargers with the 47 (and growing) patent holders who participate in our EV Charger program as licensors. With one signature to a single joint license agreement, the licensee becomes licensed under the complete worldwide portfolio of 4G, 3G, and 2G essential patents of each current and future licensor for use in its 4G connected EV chargers sold anywhere in the world. This is a very simple and efficient alternative for a licensee who would otherwise need to negotiate individual patent licenses with dozens of patent holders.

Avanci’s model is somewhat analogous to a music streaming service – we bring together rights for intellectual property from multiple owners into a single agreement with public pricing and handle the complexity of allocating payments to the individual rights holders. In the case of a music streaming service, it is music labels and music tracks at issue, in our case, it is patent holders and cellular standard essential patents (SEPs).

Predictability and Worldwide Freedom to Operate

By participating in our EV Charger program, an EV Charger licensee has predictability in relation to cellular SEP licensing costs and is able to plan for those costs in advance when pricing its products (a licensee pays a royalty one time per EV Charger, for the life of the EV Charger). A licensee also has worldwide freedom to operate under a substantial percentage of 4G cellular SEPs. In this way, the Avanci license serves as a powerful compliance and risk reduction tool.

Level Playing Field and Lower Transaction Costs

We offer all potential licensees our standard form license and the universal pricing that is published on our website. This approach to licensing creates a level playing field for all our licensees across the world and provides them with important transparency on licensing costs.

We also reduce the time, cost, and administrative burden associated with SEP licensing. The resources required for an EV Charger maker to negotiate dozens of patent licenses with individual patent holders can be very significant – additional technical resources may be needed as well as legal and tax professionals. And this work continues after the licenses are concluded, as royalty reports and payments become due over time.

With an Avanci license, a licensee needs only to evaluate whether the Avanci price is fair for a license to the worldwide cellular SEP portfolios of the 47 licensors and all licensors who join in the future. We do the work of allocating the royalties between the licensors, so licensees do not need to spend time and resources evaluating individual portfolio value. And during the license term, a licensee submits one royalty report and pays one invoice for each reporting period to Avanci, as opposed to reporting and paying under multiple agreements with multiple patent holders.

Sticky license

If an Avanci licensor transfers some or all of its cellular SEPs to a Third Party, those SEPs will remain licensed to the Avanci licensee for the term of its EV Charger agreement (the license “sticks” to the transferred SEPs). This important feature of our license is a key incentive for potential licensees to join the program early on.

No “Double Dipping”

Avanci licensors agree that they will not “double dip”, i.e. collect royalties more than once for use of the same patents to implement the same standards in the same products. Avanci works with licensors and licensees to identify separate overlapping licenses and prevent double collection.

Competitive Advantage

Respecting intellectual property is an element of corporate responsibility. At Avanci, we believe that licensing the essential technologies used in your products is a competitive advantage compared to unlicensed market participants and provides licensees with a key selling point for their products in the marketplace.

GARO, a Nordic EV Charging Innovator, Recommends Avanci

GARO is a Nordic company that manufactures and supplies electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and other charging products. Niklas Rönnäng, CEO of GARO E-mobility, strongly recommends Avanci’s EV Charger program.

GARO offers a versatile range of fast-charging stations compatible with all EV brands, catering to diverse applications. The GARO Twin wallbox allows simultaneous, safe, and efficient charging for two vehicles without overloading the property’s electrical system. Integrated with the G-Cloud service, it provides comprehensive management and monitoring of charging activities, ideal for apartment buildings or workplaces.

The LS4 charging station by GARO offers a versatile and durable solution for public EV charging, featuring RFID identification, DC fault monitoring, and load balancing for stand-alone or clustered setups. It supports 3G or LAN communication using OCPP standards, allowing flexible management options, including free charging or billing through a back-office system.

GARO Entity Pro is designed for safe and effective vehicle charging in public environments. This is a wallbox with future-proof technology, an attractive design and smart features that make charging easy for all users. With support for both single-phase and three-phase charging, it can charge all vehicles regardless of model. The GARO Connect app gives you full control over charging, and with reports from the app, managing charging costs becomes easy.

EVinfo.net spoke with Niklas Rönnäng, CEO of GARO E-mobility. Rönnäng was instrumental in the creation of the Avanci EV Charger program, and GARO was one of the company’s first licensees.

Bill Pierce:

How does GARO use cellular connectivity in its EV chargers?

Niklas Rönnäng:

To ensure connection in all types of installations and locations, GARO’s latest platform has several different options for connection, everything from ethernet cable to Wi-Fi, 4G/3G modem or Mesh Wi-Fi between the devices.

Most installations require some form of connection to gain full access to GARO’s offer of apps and services, not least online support, connected to the customer’s charger.

Bill Pierce:

How much were you aware of the need to license the essential cellular patents for 4G / 3G etc?

Niklas Rönnäng:

We were aware that we needed to make use of different types of patents and licenses when developing our products.

However, we saw a challenge in how we would administer the payments to all suppliers and to be able to openly show the market that we pay for the licenses we use.

Bill Pierce:

Why did you work with Avanci to establish an EV Charger licensing program?

Niklas Rönnäng:

When we saw that Avanci had similar programs for e.g. automotive industry, we thought they should be able to do something similar for manufacturers of chargers for electric vehicles.

Bill Pierce:

Why was GARO so keen to participate?

Niklas Rönnäng:

Because we believed that the solution would be time-efficient, visible and cost-effective.

Bill Pierce:

What benefits does Avanci bring over the alternative of multiple bilateral licensing deals?

Niklas Rönnäng:

The advantages of Avanci are that we get a single party to speak with instead of a very large number of companies. The Avanci team are well-known in their field, making it easy for patent owners to seek them out and join their program.

Avanci also actively seeks out different patent owners so that everyone gets paid for their licenses.

Bill Pierce:

Do you want to see your competitors also joining Avanci?

Niklas Rönnäng:

I really hope that all competitors join Avanci or similar programs, because we all want further development of patented technologies and this will only happen if the licensors are paid for their work.

Bill Pierce:

How easy did you find the process of using Avanci’s service?

Niklas Rönnäng:

Using a company like Avanci greatly simplifies the process. They keep track of license holders, set reasonable levels of compensation, etc.

Bill Pierce:

How much growth do you forecast for cellular-connected EV chargers around the globe and the US?

Niklas Rönnäng:

The journey towards a fossil-free vehicle fleet has only just begun, we will see strong growth in the coming years in electric cars, which will also lead to an increased number of installed, connected chargers in the world.