| 2004 |
| February 3, 2004: Initial US Patent on GFC™ Received by IEP |
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued patent 6,684,948 “Apparatus and Method for Heating Subterranean Formations Using Fuel Cells” – assigned to IEP by inventor Marshall Savage (IEP’s Vice President of Technology Development). Awarded claims under this broad patent, including follow-on Continuation-In-Part (CIP) filings, on the Geothermic Fuel Cell™ (GFC™) method cover all underground heating applications of fuel cells that are fed by air and fuel from the surface – including most prominently the production of oil/gas from subterranean formations containing hydrocarbons.
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| October 15, 2004: IEP Files for Canadian Patent Coverage on GFC™ |
In accordance with the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), IEP filed a patent application with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (filing no. 2,484,887) to obtain GFC™ patent coverage for Canada comparable to the patent protection IEP holds in the U.S. This is in recognition of the substantial potential application of GFC™ for recovery of oil from tar sands and other unconventional resources that are located in Canada. IEP now has patent-pending status in Canada on the GFC™ approach.
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| 2005 |
| January 24, 2005: Roger Wertheimer Joins IEP Management Team |
Roger Wertheimer joined the IEP management team as Vice President and General Counsel, and will serve as Corporate Secretary for the Board. Roger brings to IEP extensive experience in securities and contractual law, and is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Ohio. Reflecting this background, Roger will manage IEP’s negotiation of commercial terms with strategic partners, vendors, investors and landowners, in addition to overseeing all of IEP’s legal matters.
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| April 13, 2005: IEP Retains Sage Geotech for Technical Assessments |
IEP retained the consulting firm Sage Geotech of Rifle, CO to produce two technical assessments. The two reports address IEP’s GFC™ in-situ method for hydrocarbon production from shale, and the potential oil recoverability from a parcel of shale resources that IEP is investigating. The reports are to be authored by Sage Geotech’s principal, Gary Aho, a well-known expert with decades of experience in the oil shale arena.
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| August 31, 2005: IEP Secures Rights on Colorado Oil-Shale Property |
IEP entered into an agreement with a group of private land owners that hold mineral interests in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. Under the agreement, IEP has secured the exclusive right to produce energy from the oil shale resources on the property. This property is located near the richest part of the Piceance Creek Basin, and contains more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil.
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| September 6, 2005: IEP Submits Nomination to BLM for Producing Oil from Shale Property |
IEP submitted a nomination to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct research and development on IEP’s patented Geothermic Fuel Cell™ (GFC™) technology on 160 acres of BLM land in Rio Blanco County, Colorado containing rich oil shale resources. IEP submitted this nomination to BLM in response to its request for proposals as part of its recently-announced Oil Shale Research Development & Demonstration program. Upon successful completion of the testing on the nominated site, IEP would be eligible for preferential lease rights on almost 5,000 contiguous acres of BLM land containing over 5 billion barrels of oil shale resources.
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| 2006 |
| March 1, 2006: IEP Announces Agreement with BATTELLE for Geothermic Fuel Cell (GFC™) Prototype Development |
IEP has concluded negotiations with Battelle, operator of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, for prototype development of IEP’s patented Geothermic Fuel Cell™ (GFC™). The comprehensive Statement of Work includes detailed computer modeling to optimize GFC™ efficiencies and establish design parameters for commercialization and various stages of bench testing, culminating in the development and demonstration of a working GFC™ prototype ready for “in situ” oil shale applications.
After an extensive due diligence process, in which numerous fuel cell and other research laboratories were interviewed and considered, IEP determined that Battelle presented the ideal mix of laboratory, scientific and engineering expertise. We were particularly impressed with their background and strengths in the areas of fuel cell development, geothermic modeling and reservoir analysis needed to support IEP’s GFC™ application, with initial emphasis for use in this country’s vast oil shale resources,” said Alan K. Forbes, IEP’s founder and CEO.
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| February 27, 2007: US PTO Issues Continuation-In-Parts Patent For GFC™ |
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The U.S Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent No. 7,182,132 B2-Linearly Scalable Geothermic Fuel Cells providing numerous additional claims to IEP's original patent. Awarded claims under this "Continuation-In-Parts" filing add depth and breadth to the various applications for IEP's Geothermic Fuel Cell; in particular in-situ recovery of hydrocarbon resources.
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