Are Two Patents Worth 70% More?

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By Chris Lange Published
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Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTI) unveiled two new patents that it had just been awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The new technology will replace platinum group and rare earth metals in catalytic converters, meaning that the cost of attaining more stringent clean air standards will be greatly reduced. Shares have risen handily in this micro-cap stock, but one open-ended question remains: just how much are patents really worth?

The company made its first public announcement about its Spinel technology, the development of which had been kept confidential until now. This new technology will power multiple catalytic product lines that have the potential to be disruptive to the traditional platinum-based or rare earth-based device industry.

CEO Chris Harris spoke on the innovations:

Currently global OEMs spend billions of dollars annually on platinum group metals (PGMs) mined in South Africa and Russia, and hundreds of millions of dollars on Chinese-sourced rare earth metals. These costs are expected to dramatically increase with conventional technology as new regulations like U.S. EPA Tier 3 kick in. Spinel technology solves a major industry supply and cost problem and marks a major breakthrough both for us and for all OEMs around the world manufacturing fossil fuel-powered engines.

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Shares of Clean Diesel reacted very positively to the patent news, trading up about 75% at $2.90 with two and a half hours left in regular trading. On the day, the share price has risen as high as $3.45, or 105% up from the previous close.

The consensus analyst price target is $3.75, and the 52-week trading range is $1.33 to $7.39. The company has a market cap near $34 million.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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