cintelliq releases analysis of organic semiconductor patents for Q1 2005
cintelliq ltd, the world's leading provider of information services and strategic consulting to the organic semiconductor industry, has released its latest issue of the Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst in which 1,422 granted and published EP, JP, US and WO patents relating to organic semiconductor technologies were analysed.
Looking at the data for January-March 2005, cintelliq observe an increasing level of activity in terms of the number of patents being granted and published. cintelliq expects that 2005 will see significant year on year growth which should surpass the 5,101 organic semiconductor patents that were granted and published by 613 assignees during 2004.
According to Craig Cruickshank, Founder and Principal Analyst, "While OLED patents account for in excess of 70% of the published and granted patents it is encouraging to observe that patent protection for transistors, photovoltaic devices, sensors, lasers and memory devices is also being actively pursued in increasing numbers." He added, "The continued growth in published and granted patents is a strong and positive indicator that a broad range of organic semiconductor technologies are set to play an important role in future products and applications."
Highlights from the January-March 2005 issue of the Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst:
- In total 299 different assignees accounted for 1,422 patents. Analysing these in more depth reveals that:
- 71 assignees accounted for 127 EP and US granted patents
- 119 assignees accounted for 453 EP, US and WO published patents
- 168 assignees accounted for 842 JP published patents
- Analysing patent assignees in terms of the number of patents they hold produces some interesting findings:
- The top ten assignees are dominated by Japanese companies
- Eastman Kodak is the only non-Japanese company to appear in both rankings
- Few of the top assignees are currently involved in manufacturing actual OLED devices
- Two European companies appear in the list of top ten assignees - Cambridge Display Technology and Philips Electronics
- Two Korean companies appear in the list of top ten assignees - Samsung SDI and LG Electronics
- Two US companies appear in the list of top ten assignees - Eastman Kodak and DuPont
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| Q1 2005: Ten assignees account for 33% of the granted and published EP, US and WO patents |
1. Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
2. Eastman Kodak
3. Samsung SDI
4. Seiko Epson
5. Canon
6. DuPont
7. Cambridge Display Technology
8. Sony
9. Philips Electronics
10. LG Electronics |
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| Q1 2005: Ten assignees account for 47% of the published JP patents |
1. Seiko Epson
2. Sony
3. Konica Minolta
4. Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
5. Dai Nippon Printing
6. Sanyo Electric
7. Eastman Kodak
8. Canon
9. Fuji Photo Film
10. Tohoku Pioneer |
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- More than 70% of the granted and published EP, US and WO patents relate to LED devices
- More than 73% of the granted and published EP, US and WO patents relate to either materials or device structures
- Kodak and Cambridge Display Technology along with their respective licensees only accounted for 35% of the granted and published EP, JP, US and WO patents, or about half of all LED related patents
- Kodak and its licensees' patents are focused more on device structures/fabrication innovation while Cambridge Display Technology and its licensees' patents focus more on materials innovation
- Transistor patents accounted for about 9% of the EP, US and WO granted and published patents in Q1 2005, and ten assignees accounted for 65% of these patents
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| Q1 2005: Ten assignees account for 65% of the granted and published EP, US and WO transistor patents |
1. Xerox
2. Infineon Technologies
3. Canon
4. Matsushita Electric Industrial
5. 3M
6. Sony
7. Seiko Epson
8. Samsung Electronics
9. Lucent Technologies
10. Fraunhofer |
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- Memory patents accounted for around 4% of the EP, US and WO granted and published patents in Q1 2005
- Photovoltaic patents accounted for about 3% of the EP, US and WO granted and published patents in Q1 2005
The Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of patents published in the organic semiconductor industry.
Issued quarterly, the report analyses relevant organic semiconductor patents that have been published in the previous quarter by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), European Patent Office (EPO) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst is available for £2,400 for four quarterly issues. For more information about the report click here.
Craig Cruickshank, Principal Analyst and founder of cintelliq, is a respected commentator on the organic semiconductor industry and a frequent presenter at industry conferences.
For more information about the above press release or about the industry in general, contact him at info@cintelliq.com.
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