The Intellectual Property Office Published a Patent Analysis Regarding Mask Manufacturing Technology

06/09/2020

---

An April 2020 report issued by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) titled "Mask manufacturing technology patent analysis" (https://www.tipo.gov.tw/tw/dl-273781-3f3befaa3c1a48fd9081040d159c1a8d.html) presents an overview of the technologies involved in mask manufacturing and statistical analysis of related patent applications. A summary of the report is provided below: 

 

1.     Overview of mask manufacturing technologies

The technologies of mask manufacturing include: manufacturing of raw materials (such as water-repellent layer, filter layer, hydrophilic layer, ear straps, etc.), manufacturing of the mask body, and welding between the mask body and the ear strap. The steps for manufacturing of the mask body include feeding (transporting raw materials such as the water-repellent layer, filter layer, hydrophilic layer to the mask factory in a roll to facilitate continuous production of the mask body), welding (joining the water-repellent layer, filter layer, hydrophilic layer, and nasal pressure bar to each other), and cutting and forming (consecutive semi-finished masks after welding are separated into single masks).

Finally, the single-piece mask body is fed into the ear strap machine in which the ear straps are welded and cut on both sides of the mask body to form a completed a flat-form mask.

2.     International patent classification (IPC) of mask manufacturing technologies 

Categories	Technology	Corresponding IPCs
A	Mask manufacturing technology Layers and manufacturing technology thereof	A41H-37 to A41H-43: Machines, equipment or methods for assembling fasteners on clothes B32B-1 to B32B-9,B32B-23,B32B-33: Layered products
B	Equipment and method for feeding and discharging	B65G: Transport or storage device B65H: Transportation of thin or filamentous materials
C	Equipment and method for folding and wrapping	B31: Production of paper or paperboard; material products processed in a paper-like manner
D	Equipment and method for welding	B23K: Soldering or welding open (ultrasonic welding) B32B-37 to B32B-43: Methods and devices for lamination, such as the use of hardening or ultrasonic bonding technologies
E	Gluing method for prefabricated parts	B29C-65: Joining of prefabricated parts; equipment used
F	Equipment and method for cutting	B26: Manual cutting tool; cutting; cutting off

3.     Mask-related patent portfolio

According to a survey of IPO statistics from the country where the patents were filed, from 1990 to 2019, more than 75% of mask patent applications under categories A, B, D and F were filed in China. Categories C and E, meanwhile, relate to technologies deployed mainly in the United States and China. Of these, category C reflects the highest proportion of mask-related patent applications filed in the United States.

In assessing trends among various mask manufacturing technologies over the years, the IPO found that the number of patents related to category A increased significantly since 2013 and reached a peak in 2016. Patents related to category B reached a peak in 2015, and remained flat until 2017. As for patents related to categories C, D, E and F, the number of related patent applications has not changed much since 1990.

Not surprisingly, Chinese and American companies comprise the bulk of patent applicants for these technologies.  Chinese applicants include manufacturers and educational institutions, while American applicants are represented mainly by internationally recognized corporations. The number of applications from Chinese companies is large and the technical content covers the aforementioned technical fields, while the applications of American companies is mainly concentrated in items C and E.

In addition, the number of applications of major patent applicants is relatively small compared with the total number of applications, which shows that in the mask industry, the technologies are not held by a single enterprise, and technological innovations are dispersed among different patent owners.

In addition, the applications from Chinese manufacturers are concentrated in their home countries, with relatively few patents in Europe and the United States. The above circumstance is consistent with China being the world's largest mask manufacturing country. In contrast, the applications from US companies are more broadly distributed among major countries around the world.