Trony relies primarily on a combination of patents, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as employee and third party confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property. As of March 31, 2010, the Company held 17 patents in China, exclusive rights to use 75 patents and exclusive access to 16 pending patent applications in China.
The Company has one patent application pending in each of the United States, Japan and Germany. The Company continually assesses appropriate occasions for seeking patent protection for those aspects of our technology, designs and methodologies and processes that management believes provide significant competitive advantages.
The Company has also won a number of awards for its technological innovation from central and provincial governments, and a number of our research projects have won government grants and subsidies.
Trony’s research and development capabilities allow the Company to meet customer demand quickly, reliably and affordably. As of March 31, 2010, Trony had a research and development team consisting of 76 employees.
Yi Li, Trony’s founder and chief executive officer, also chairs a national committee that sets technical standards for the use of PV glass for construction purposes in China’s solar energy industry. Three other members of our management team are on this 23-member committee.
Intellectual Property