Today we continue our series on the patent process by talking about the most important part: a new idea.

http://www.drybiomass.com/dvdorder/

As the video above demonstrates, biomass has the power to change energy policy in our country and in our world. But there is a catch: we haven’t had a way to dry the moisture out of the wood chips that fuel biomass.

Until now. The Advanced Trailer has the ability to dry, store and transport the wood chips and thereby make the dream of a biomass future that much closer to reality. That’s why it’s such great news that the Advanced Trailer has its own patent. Now we can market our trailer with the official sanction of the US government without any fear of losing our intellectual property. Our only goal is to change energy policy in this country. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Receiving a patent for the Advanced Trailer was the culmination of a long journey. How does the patent process work?

http://www.patentit4u.com/How%20the%20patent%20process%20works.htm

Essentially, once an inventor comes up with an idea, he or she can then take the idea to the US Patent Office and try and get protection for his or her design:

“Each patent application includes a specification, any necessary drawings, an oath or declaration, and U.S. Government filing fees. Each patent application is afforded a date of filing that is the date on which the specification, drawings and at least one claim is received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO). The filing date is important for establishing a date of invention with the U.S. PTO.”

The basic policy is to encourage innovators to come up with new ideas. And the way to encourage them is to preserve their investment and their idea with legal protection.

I’m honored that the Advanced Trailer now has a patent. We’ll talk more about what that means in the next couple of days.

Last week we ended by announcing that we received a U.S. patent for our Advanced Trailer. This week we’re going to explain why that’s so important and what it means.

We’ll talk about the patent process, why we received a patent and how this could potentially change the landscape of the biomass industry.

So be sure and check us out each day this week on our blog!

Advanced Trailer Awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,779,556

For Revolutionary Semi Trailer that Dries Agricultural Products

ABILENE, TEXAS—The US Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday granted a patent for the Advanced Trailer, a product of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP in Abilene, Texas. The Advanced Trailer is the only semi-trailer that has a unique drying system that can dry, store and transport peanuts and other agricultural products. This patent confirms their exclusive status as the nation’s leader in agricultural crop drying.

“This patent comes at a great time of opportunity for Advanced Trailer, our intellectual property and the industries we serve,” said Randy Hill, President & CEO of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP. “This will enable Advanced Trailer to further our presence in the peanut industry and agricultural crop drying. Advanced Trailer is now prepared to aggressively move forward as we expand and diversify into the renewable and bio-energy markets.”

In addition, Hill announced that his company has entered into a new financial agreement with Regions Bank in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We are proud to provide financing for Advanced Trailer because we believe this product can revolutionize America,” said Billy Cannon of Regions Bank.  “We are investing heavily in the agricultural economy and we believe that Randy will now be able to take his Advanced Trailer and transform the biomass market as well.”

APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP is best known for its trailers which are used to procure (dry) agricultural products. Advanced Trailer has more than 3000 drying trailers currently in service in all 10 U.S. peanut producing states across America. Recently Advanced Trailer has gained national recognition for their ongoing bio-energy research which uses their trailers to remove moisture from wood biomass products. Over the past two years Advanced Trailer has funded a number of both State University and private sector research for biomass related projects. Currently over 100 power plants in the U.S. burn biomass to create energy.  For more information about Advanced Trailer please visit www.advancedtrailer.com