International. Daikin confirmed that it has added 123 new patents to its commitment*1, which includes a grant of free access to its patents related to certain HVAC-R equipment using the unmixed single-component refrigerant HFC-32 (R-32).
Approximately 300 patents are now free to use and do not require written permission or contract with Daikin. As a result, the company reported that it will facilitate the further adoption of HFC-32, which has a smaller global warming impact than many refrigerants used today.
HFC-32 has many advantages that can help reduce the environmental impact of air conditioning, heat pump, chiller and applied equipment. HFC-32 is a non-ozone-depleting refrigerant with a global warming potential (GWP) of one-third*2 of the current refrigerant R-410A. It provides excellent system performance and is readily available. As a single-component refrigerant, it is easy to recover, recycle and regenerate, helping to reduce the need for additional refrigerant production. Therefore, Daikin believes that HFC-32 is a suitable refrigerant to reduce environmental impact in many regions of the world.
To encourage the use of HFC-32 globally, *3 Daikin offered free access to 93 patents for emerging countries in 2011 and then expanded this free access worldwide in 2015. In July 2019, the company announced that it would provide free access to the compromised patents, which had been filed after 2011 and were not included in the previous free access.
By allowing free access to its intellectual property Daikin intends to further facilitate the adoption of HFC-32 equipment by other manufacturers to promote environmental care. As a result, many other manufacturers are already offering HFC-32 equipment and more than 140 million residential and commercial HFC-32 units have been sold in approximately 100 countries. *4 Daikin believes that expanding the reach of these patents will lead to more industry adoption.
A list of the committed patents and the specific details related to the commitment is available in https://www.daikin.com/patent/r32.
* 1 Please refer http://www.daikin.com/patent/r32 for specific control terms and conditions related to the Daikin Commitment and the list of committed patents included in this commitment.
* 2 GWP values based on a 100-year time horizon from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
* 3 "Daikin offers free worldwide access to patents for equipment using next-generation refrigerant" on September 10, 2015 (https://www.daikin.com/csr/pdf/press_20150910.pdf)
* 4 As of December 2020. Daikin Facts.
