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cintelliq releases analysis of organic semiconductor patents for Q2 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 1,298 granted and published European, Japanese, US and World patents relating to organic semiconductor technologies were analysed.

Looking at the data for April-June 2005, cintelliq continues to observe an increasing level of activity in terms of the number of patents being published. cintelliq expects that 2005 will see significant year on year growth that should surpass the 5,101 organic semiconductor patents that were granted and published by 613 assignees during 2004.

The total number of patents published and granted by the European, US and World patent offices for the period Q2 2005 was 611, an 11% decrease on the previous quarter (Q1 2005), and a 2% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year (Q2 2004). The main reason for the decrease was a lower number of granted EP and US patents during the quarter.

Overall the number of patents published by the European, US and World patent offices grew 11% compared to the previous quarter and 39% compared to the same period in the previous year.

The total number of patents published by the Japanese patent office for the period Q1 2005 was 687, an 18% decrease on the previous quarter (Q4 2004) and a 22% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year (Q1 2004) (note 1).

Highlights from the April-June 2005 issue of the Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst:

Each quarter cintelliq classifies each and every patent using our proprietary classification system known as OSG (Organic Semiconductor Groups). This produces much more meaningful groupings of inventions than those produced by the international patent classifications. Using this classification system we are able to identify areas of greatest activity as well as highlighting interesting trends in research and patenting. We classify each patent according to two groups - Basic Components (BComp) and Functional Components (FComp).

Patents Q2 2005 broken down by OSG Functional Components (FComp)
FComp	EP	JP	US	WO	Total
LED	76	587	262	129	1054
Transistors	12	42	8	9	71
Photovoltaic	5	2	11	4	22
Laser		2			2
Sensors	2	2			4
Memory Cell	3	1	8	9	21
Other	26	51	28	19	124
Total	124	687	317	170	1298
		(note 1)

Patents Q2 2005 broken down by OSG Basic Components (BComp)
BComp	EP	JP	US	WO	Total
Material	46	151	132	91	420
Patterning	5	16	11	3	35
Deposition	7	77	16	10	110
Substrates	2	9	2	3	16
Encapsulation	6	54	24	12	96
Device Structure	42	166	100	30	338
Fabrication	13	42	23	15	93
Other	3	172	9	6	190
Total	124	687	317	170	1298
		(note 1)

In total 255 different assignees accounted for 1,298 patents. Analysing these in more depth reveals that:

63 assignees accounted for 109 patents granted by the European and US patent offices
140 assignees accounted for 502 patents published by the European, US and World patent offices
141 assignees accounted for 687 patents published by the Japanese patent office

Q2 2005: 12 assignees account for 44% (266) of the granted and published EP, US and WO patents

1 Eastman Kodak
2 Samsung SDI
3 Semiconductor Energy Lab
4 Seiko Epson
5 E I Du Pont de Nemours
6 Canon
7 LG Philips LCD
8 Covion Organic Semiconductors
9 Idemitsu Kosan
10 Toyota Industries
10 Sanyo Electric
10 Sony

Q1 2005: Ten assignees account for 48% (322) of the published JP patents

1 Seiko Epson
2 Semiconductor Energy Lab
3 Sony
4 Samsung SDI
5 Canon
6 Dai Nippon Printing
7 Tohoku Pioneer
8 Sharp
9 Toyota Industries
10 Toyo Ink

According to Craig Cruickshank, Principal Analyst and Founder, "Overall LED patents continue to dominate, accounting for over 70% of all organic semiconductor patents. However, when patents filed at individual patent and trademark offices are analysed we observe that the representation of LED patents is different. LED patents accounted for only 61% of European patents in Q2 2005, and over the past six quarters the proportion of LED patents has been consistently below 70%. On average LED patents accounted for 67% of European patents. In contrast LED patents are over-represented in the US accounting for 82% of US patents in Q2 2005, and over the past six quarters the proportion of LED patents has been consistently above 75%. On average LED patents accounted for 79% of US patents."

The Organic Semiconductor Patent Analyst (OSPA) 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 on subscription (four quarterly issues) as either a paper publication (£2,400.00) or electronically as a 20 user site licence (please contact us for pricing). 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.