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Flexible Electronics [Focus: Thin Film Transistors]
A Patent Landscape Report with
100% Manual Analysis
August 05, 2016
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
2 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Contents.
1. Introduction. ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Flexible Electronics ................................................................................................................ 5
1.2 Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) ................................................................................................... 6
1.3 About this Report .................................................................................................................. 8
2. Analysis Overview. ................................................................................................................... 11
3. Overall Trends in the Technology Domain. ............................................................................. 12
3.1 TFT Patent Filing Trend ........................................................................................................ 14
3.2 TFT Application Areas .......................................................................................................... 15
3.3 TFT Application Areas: Patent Filing Trend ......................................................................... 16
3.4 Countries of Research ......................................................................................................... 17
3.5 Market Geographies ............................................................................................................ 18
3.6 Research Countries v/s Market Geographies...................................................................... 19
3.7 Key Inventors ....................................................................................................................... 20
3.8 Major Player ........................................................................................................................ 21
3.9 New Entrants ....................................................................................................................... 22
3.10 Cross Domain Companies .................................................................................................. 22
3.11 Academic Collaboration Opportunities: Top Universities/ Institutes ............................... 24
3.12 Independent Inventors ...................................................................................................... 26
3.13 Patent Prosecution Law Firms in the Domain ................................................................... 28
3.14 Law Firms association (with Major Players) ...................................................................... 32
3.15 Law Firms Filing Trend ....................................................................................................... 34
3.16 Top IPCs ............................................................................................................................. 35
3.17 Key Patents – Maximum Backward Citation ..................................................................... 37
3.18 Backward Citation Trend ................................................................................................... 39
3.19 Key Patents - Maximum Forward Citations ...................................................................... 41
3.20 Forward Citation Trend ..................................................................................................... 42
3.21 Litigations .......................................................................................................................... 44
4. Technology Analysis. ................................................................................................................ 45
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4.1 Claim Focus .......................................................................................................................... 46
4.2 Problems Being Solved ........................................................................................................ 47
4.3 Problem Being Solved – Research Country ......................................................................... 48
4.4 Problem Solved – Claim Focus: ........................................................................................... 49
4.5 Major Players – Problem Being Solved ............................................................................... 50
4.6 Taxonomy ............................................................................................................................ 51
4.7 Technology Break Down - Level 1 ....................................................................................... 52
4.8 Technology Breakdown - Level II ........................................................................................ 54
4.9 Technology Breakdown – Level 2 ........................................................................................ 56
4.10 Problem Solved vs Level II ................................................................................................. 58
4.11 Technology Breakdown – Level III - Components (Semiconductor Layer) ....................... 59
4.12 Technology Breakdown- Components (Insulation Layer) ................................................. 62
4.13 Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Conductive Layer) ..................................... 63
4.14 Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Substrate) ................................................. 66
4.15 Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Passivation Layer) ..................................... 68
4.16 Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Dielectric).................................................. 70
4.17 Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Active Layer) ............................................. 72
5. Major Players Analysis. ............................................................................................................ 74
5.1 Major Players Trends........................................................................................................... 76
5.2 Major Players-Last Five Years .............................................................................................. 78
5.3 Major Players’ Application Areas ........................................................................................ 80
5.4 Technology Breakup – Major Players .................................................................................. 81
5.5 Samsung .............................................................................................................................. 82
5.5.1 Samsung– Technology Fencing ........................................................................................ 87
5.6 Semiconductor Energy ........................................................................................................ 88
5.6.1 Semiconductor Energy – Technology Fencing ................................................................. 94
5.7 LG ......................................................................................................................................... 95
5.7.1 LG – Technology Fencing ................................................................................................ 101
5.8 Fujifilm ............................................................................................................................... 102
5.8.1 Fujifilm – Technology Fencing ........................................................................................ 107
5.9 Fuji Xerox ........................................................................................................................... 108
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5.9.1 Fuji Xerox – Technology Fencing .................................................................................... 114
5.10 Toppan Printing ............................................................................................................... 115
5.10.1 Toppan Printing – Technology Fencing ........................................................................ 120
5.11 Seiko Epson Corporation ................................................................................................. 122
5.11.1 Seiko Epson Corp – Technology Fencing ...................................................................... 127
5.12 Sony ................................................................................................................................. 128
5.12.1 Sony – Technology Fencing .......................................................................................... 133
5.13 BOE Technology .............................................................................................................. 134
5.13.1 BOE Technology – Technology Fencing ........................................................................ 140
5.14 Canon .............................................................................................................................. 141
5.14.1 Canon – Technology Fencing ........................................................................................ 146
5.15 Companies having maximum forward citations ............................................................. 148
5.16 Companies having maximum backward citations........................................................... 149
5.17 Major Players – Comparative Analysis – R&D ................................................................. 151
5.18 Major Players – Portfolio Strength Analysis .................................................................... 154
5.19 Major Players – Comparative Analysis ............................................................................ 155
5.20 Collaborations in the domain .......................................................................................... 157
6 Contact For Enquiries. ............................................................................................................. 160
7 Methodology. .......................................................................................................................... 161
Relevance Criteria ................................................................................................................... 162
8 References. .............................................................................................................................. 163
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1. Introduction.
1.1 Flexible Electronics
Flexible electronics refers to electronic devices that can be rolled, bent and folded according to
user’s requirements.
Popular flexible electronics are, but not limited, to, mobile phones, scanners, cameras, tablets,
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, smart cards, solar cells, smart wearable devices,
Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Organic Light Emitting Diode
(OLED) display, Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) display, electronic paper,
and various other types of display devices.
The market for flexible electronics is expected to reach $13.23 billion by 2020.
Fig 1: Samsung Prototype; Fig 2: Flexible X-ray detector; Fig 3: World's first film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with image memory function
Depending on the application of the flexible electronic device, it may be formed of multiple
components, including, substrates, back panels, front panels, image sensors, thin film
transistors, polarizers, color filters, batteries, etc.
Fig.1 Fig.2 Fig.3
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Fig 4: shows the key components of exemplary flexible electronic devices.
A flexible electronic device is made by depositing flexible electronic circuitry, which enables the
functions of the device, on a flexible substrate. Such flexible electronic circuitry is comprised of
thin film transistors (TFTs).
1.2 Thin Film Transistors (TFTs)
TFTs are fabricated by sequentially depositing multiple layers such as semiconductor layer,
insulation layer, barrier layers, dielectric layers, etc. If the layers of the TFT circuitry are not
deposited properly, the resulting flexible electronic device may not function properly.
Therefore, the design of the TFT circuitry, the material of different layers, the design of the
process of depositing these layers and the implementation of the depositing process is very
critical to successful and reliable manufacturing of the flexible electronic device.
Several companies, universities and individuals are, therefore, actively researching and
innovating in this area to continue to come up with solutions and making flexible electronics a
widely available and viable solution for the near future.
•electronic circuitory for controlling device Thin Film Transistor
•for holding electronic device elements like LCDs, color filters, etc Substrate
•transparent crystal to filter light Polarizer
•to absorb light of certain colours Color Filters
•to capture images Image Sensor
•back side cover for device Backplane
•viewing side glass/plastic Front plane
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Fig 5: Carbon nanotube thin-film transistors and integrated circuits on a flexible and transparent substrate; Fig 6: Thin film transistor
TFTs are fabricated by sequentially depositing multiple layers such as semiconductor layer,
insulation layer, barrier layers, dielectric layers, etc. If the layers of the TFT circuitry are not
deposited properly, the resulting flexible electronic device may not function properly.
Therefore, the design of the TFT circuitry, the material of different layers, the design of the
process of depositing these layers and the implementation of the depositing process is very
critical to successful and reliable manufacturing of the flexible electronic device.
Several companies, universities and individuals are, therefore, actively researching and
innovating in this area to continue to come up with solutions and making flexible electronics a
widely available and viable solution for the near future.
Fig: 7 highlights structure of thin film transistors
Fig.5 Fig.6
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1.3 About this Report
This report intends to provide the state of the art in the domain of TFTs used in flexible
electronic devices. The report provides insights into problem areas, existing solutions,
innovation trends, market trends and key participants in the innovation ecosystem in the TFT
domain.
This report can help everyone associated with the domain of flexible electronics or TFTs by
answering questions pertinent to them and enabling them to take key decisions. For example,
this report can be beneficial to CEOs, Heads and members of R&D departments, Heads and
members of IP/Strategy Departments, Heads and members of HR Departments, Heads and
members of Marketing Departments, Academic Researchers and Scientists, Patent Agents
and/or Attorneys, Investors and Consultants operating in the domain of flexible electronics or
TFTs.
This report, for example, can help uncover answers to the following questions for the
readers:
1. When did patenting activity in the domain start and how it has evolved?
2. Which countries are the innovation hubs for this technology domain?
3. Which countries are suitable market geographies for utilizing this technology?
4. Who are major players involved in this technology?
5. What potential collaboration opportunities are available with smaller players?
6. Who are the recent entrants?
7. Which research institutes / universities are working in this area?
8. Which technology areas are most focused on for research and development?
9. What are latest technological advancements in the domain?
10. Who are the key inventors / experts in different technology areas?
11. What are the different activities being taken up by the major players?
12. What are their patenting strategies and areas of focus?
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13. How do the major players stack up and compare against each other in terms of IP
potential / R&D Team / Strategies etc.?
14. Which are the best patents and who owns them?
To prepare this report, multiple diverse searches were conducted to comprehensively identify
all the patents pertinent to TFTs in Flexible Electronics. These patents were then analyzed
manually to capture their focus areas, application areas and the problems being solved.
Thereafter, informative and actionable insights were generated by combining this manual
information with the bibliographic information of the patents.
This report includes three sections:
1. Overall trends in the domain of TFTs used in flexible electronics:
This section highlights technology evolution (patent filing trend), primary countries of
research, major market geographies, existing collaborations and opportunities, new
entrants, cross domain players, key patents, most active law firms, prominent inventors
and important IPC classes in the domain of thin film transistors for flexible electronics.
2. Detailed technology analysis of patents and applications published in March-May 2016
This section highlights the focus of patents and applications published in March-May
2016 w.r.t. the fabrication process of TFT, components of TFT disclosed, materials of
the TFT components, properties of TFT, problems being solved and application areas
being targeted.
This report covers TFTs used in Flexible Electronics. To obtain similar analysis for all
(or any other) components pertinent to Flexible Electronics (e.g., polarizer,
substrates, front plane, back plane, etc.) please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
This section of the report provides an in-depth analysis for a short period of 3
months. To obtain similar detailed analysis for a longer period please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3. Major players trends in the domain of TFTs used in flexible electronics:
This section provides an analysis of the major players in the domain focusing on their
patent filing trends, their research centers, market of interest, technology focus,
partnerships, strategies, and other important parameters.
Based on patenting activity, following companies emerged as the major players, and have been
analyzed in detail in this section:
1. Samsung
2. Semiconductor Energy
3. LG
4. Fujifilm
5. Fuji Xerox
6. Toppan Printing
7. Seiko Epson Corporation
8. Sony
9. BOE Technology
10. Canon
This section of the report provides certain insights about the major players. To
obtain an in-depth portfolio analysis, a SWOT analysis or a customized analysis of
any of the major players (OR any other player) please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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2. Analysis Overview.
The dataset for this analysis included an initial set of 10,863 unique INPADOC patent families,
out of which 3,210 patent families were found to be of relevance for this study. These 3,210
patent families include 19.8% (634) dead patent families and 80.2% (2,576) alive patent
families. Of the alive patent families, 74% families are granted and 26% pending. Fig: 8 shows
the distribution of overall patents into relevant and non-relevant cases.
Fig: 8 Distribution of overall patents
Note:
Legal Status information is obtained from Questel Orbit. The numbers in the above charts represent the number of unique patent families.
Legal Status Definition:
Alive & Granted: A patent family with at least one granted and alive family member.
Alive & Pending: A patent family with no granted member, but at least one pending application.
Dead: A patent family with all the members being lapsed, abandoned, revoked or expired.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the
source data used to prepare this chart. To
view and customize the charts, on our
dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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The same procedure has been followed for determining legal status of patents in all the graphs stating legal status of unique INPADOC family.
3. Overall Trends in
the Technology
Domain.
1. Filing trend of technology
2. Application areas of thin film transistors
3. Thin Film Transistors’ Application Areas Trend
4. Research countries
5. Market geographies
6. Research Countries v/s Market Geographies
7. Key Inventors
8. Major Players
9. New Entrant
10. Cross Domain Companies
11. Collaboration Opportunities – Universities/Institutes
12. Independent Inventors
13. Law Firm in the domain
14. Law Firms association (with Major Players) and Prosecution Trend
15. Patents via PCT
16. Top IPCs
17. IPCs’ Trend
18. Key Patents – Maximum Backward Citation
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19. Backward Citation Trend
20. Backward Citations – IPC Analysis
21. Key Patents - Maximum Forward Citations
22. Forward Citation Trend
23. Forward Citations – IPC Analysis
24. Technology Transfer
25. Litigations
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3.1 TFT Patent Filing Trend
The patent filing trend is indicative of evolution of technology over the time. The below graph
shows the number of patents filed over years in the domain of thin film transistor for flexible
electronics. From the graph, it is clearly evident that the patent filing trend is consistent over
the time. Major peak was seen in 2005.
Fig: 9 TFT Patent Filing Trend
Patent filing is almost consistent since 2004 except for a peak in 2005, however, the number of
unique assignees has been continuously increasing. Samsung was a major contributor in the
year 2005 by filing around 48 % of the patents filed in 2005.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Number of Unique INPADOC Patent Families
Number of Unique Assignees
PCT Applications
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view
and customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
Note: The data for 2015 and 2016 is not complete
as all the applications filed in this period are not
published on the date of preparing this report.
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3.2 TFT Application Areas
Thin film transistors are useful in different application areas such as LCD, LED, OLED, RFID,
sensors, etc. Fig. 10 summarizes the distribution of unique INPADOC patent families w.r.t. the
application areas disclosed therein.
LCD, 1464, 21%
Smartphone, 1241, 18%
LED, 1174, 17%
OLED, 839, 12%
EL Display, 586, 9%
Other Displays, 485, 7%
RFID, 361, 5%
Electrophoretic Display, 255, 4%
Sensor, 188, 3%
AMOLED, 153, 2%
Other Application
Areas, 100, 2%
Fig: 10 TFT Application Areas
Note: 1. Keyword-based search strings were formulated for each application area. The numbers in this chart represent the number
of unique relevant INPADOC families that were captured through these individual search strings. 2. One patent family may be
categorized in more than one application areas. 3. Other application areas include Paper Electronics, X-Ray Sensor, Memory, Solid
State Image Pickup Device, Wearable, Smartcard, Capacitors and IC card. Further, patents which do not disclose about any of the
application areas listed in graph are also part of other application areas.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3.3 TFT Application Areas: Patent
Filing Trend
The pie chart of Fig: 10 shows the overall distribution of IP protection w.r.t. various application
areas.
The FIG: 11 below highlights the evolution trend for each of these application areas and how
the focus on patent filing in these areas has advanced over the years.
Fig: 11 Evolution trend
Note: 1. The numbers in the above charts represent unique number of relevant INPADOC patent families. 2. Darker shade of a color
represents relatively higher number of patents. 3. The data for 2015 and 2016 is not complete as all the applications filed in this
period are not published on the date of preparing this report.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3.4 Countries of Research
Research countries represent the country of first filing of a patent family. The country of first
filing of a family can be representative of the origin of research of the invention covered in that
patent family. Japan, South Korea and United States of America have emerged as the top
research countries in the domain of TFT in Flexible Electronics.
Most of the inventions (around 93.3% of the total patents) are originated in Japan, Korea,
United States, and China mainly due to location of R&D centers in these geographies.
Fig: 12 Research Countries
Note: 1. The countries in the map are colored on the basis of number of unique relevant INPADOC patent families filed in the
countries as priority country. Darker shade of a color represents relatively higher number of patent families. 2. The numbers in the
table represent unique number of relevant INPADOC patent families.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3.5 Market Geographies
Market Geographies are the countries in which the technology of patent is expected to be
utilized. A country is considered as market geography for a patent family if at least one member
of the family is filed in that country.
Patent filing in China has increased since 2011 with 37.45% of patent families filed in this
period.
Fig: 13 Market Geographies
Note: 1. The countries in the map are colored on the basis of number of unique relevant INPADOC patent families filed in the
countries. Darker shade of a color represents relatively higher number of patent families. 2. The numbers in the table represent
unique number of relevant INPADOC patent families.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3.6 Research Countries v/s Market
Geographies
A technology invention researched in a country may
be filed in multiple countries for protection in
potential markets. Similarly, there can be countries
that have a good market but show very little research.
Fig. 14 highlights the comparison between research
countries and market geographies over time.
Most of the research is coming from Asian countries
with Japan leading the research effort. China has
emerged as one of the major countries of research
since 2011, with over 73% of CN patents in domain
filed in this period.
Surprisingly, Europe is neither a strong research
center in this domain, nor a major jurisdiction for IP
protection. IP in TFT domain is primarily
manufacturing oriented and lack of manufacturing
competitors in Europe make it a less attractive
jurisdiction for patent protection.
Fig: 14 Research Countries v/s Market Geographies
Taiwan has negligible research but is a major jurisdiction for patent protection primarily due to
extensive manufacturing ecosystem.
Note: 1. The numbers in the chart above represent unique number of relevant INPADOC patent families.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view
and customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
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3.7 Key Inventors
Key inventors are inventors filing maximum patents in the domain of TFT. The inventors can be
reached for the purpose of hiring, consultation, expert testimony, etc. The embedded table lists
the top inventors and the companies with which they have filed patents.
Inventor Name Number of
patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
05
13
0
H0
1L0
02
71
2
H0
1L0
03
52
4
H0
1L0
02
90
8
H0
1L0
05
14
0
H0
1L0
02
10
0
Yamazaki Shunpei
(Semiconductor
Energy)
86 55 1 11 0 0 39 0 0 1 11
Wu Yiliang
(Fuji Xerox) 68 4 26 3 16 17 1 10 9 6 3
Liu Ping
(Fuji Xerox) 53 5 19 4 14 12 1 7 6 4 3
Lee Sang Yoon
(Samsung) 45 6 6 1 5 8 0 10 6 8 1
Suh Min-Chul
(Samsung) 40 6 12 4 6 4 1 8 9 7 6
Tanaka Atsushi
(Fujifilm) 34 28 0 15 4 4 2 0 1 2 3
Suzuki Masayuki
(Fujifilm) 33 29 0 16 4 4 2 0 1 1 1
Ahn Taek
(Samsung ) 33 13 6 0 1 3 0 4 3 2 3
Li Yuning
(Fuji Xerox) 32 1 10 1 2 5 0 6 5 1 0
Matsubara Ryohei
(Toppan Printing) 28 23 2 20 14 1 0 0 0 4 0
Wu Yiliang is currently working with TE connectivity and is assistant professor at McMaster
University. All other inventors are working with same companies mentioned in the table.
Fig: 15 Key Inventors
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3.8 Major Player
Major players represent the companies owning maximum number of patent families in the
domain. Fig: 16 highlights major players along with corresponding number of patent families.
There are 242 entities (companies, universities, independent inventors) that are actively
patenting in this domain.
Samsung, the runaway leader, owns around 19% of the total patent families in domain.
The other companies are collaborating to increase their joint patent ownership.
LG and Phillips formed JV named LP display.
JOLED, Inc. is a JV between Japan Display, Sony and Panasonic to produce medium-sized
OLED displays. JOLED owns 10 patent families in the domain.
Fig: 16 Major Players
608
156 147 120 98 96 88 81 73 72 60 46 44
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Sam
sun
g
Sem
ico
nd
uct
or
Ener
gy Lg
Fujif
ilm
Fuji
Xer
ox
Top
pa
n P
rin
tin
g
Seik
o E
pso
n
Son
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Bo
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olo
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Ca
no
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Pa
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Ko
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Sum
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Ch
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Company Name
Note: 1. The numbers in the chart above represent unique number of relevant INPADOC patent families owned by the company or
its subsidiaries. 2. Detailed analysis of each of the major players is provided in section 3.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to
prepare this chart. To view and customize the charts, on our
dashboard, please write to us at
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3.9 New Entrants
This table below lists the new entrants in this domain. Companies that have started filing
patent applications in this domain after 2013 have been considered as new entrants.
All the top new entrants are from China.
Companies/Universities Number of
Patents
Year of
Entry City Location
Shanghai Daoyi Chemical
Technology Co. Ltd. 14 2014
Shanghai China
Shanghai Lanpei New Material
Technology Co. Ltd. 4 2014
Shanghai China
Fuzhou University 4 2015 Fuzhou China
Shanghai Hehui Optoelectronic Co.
Ltd. 3 2014
Shanghai China
Nanjing University of Posts and
Telecommunications 2 2014
Nanjing China
Truly (huizhou) Smart Display Co.
Ltd. 2 2014
Huizhou China
Jiangsu University 2 2014 Zhenjiang China
Wuhan Huaxing Photoelectric
Technology Co. Ltd. 2 2015
Shenzhen China
Fig: 17 New Entrants
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3.10 Cross Domain Companies
Companies from other domain have also shown interest in manufacturing thin film transistors
for flexible electronics. Fig: 18 highlights the cross domain companies having patents in the
domain.
Company Name Number of
Patents City Country
Nippon Steel Chemical 6 Tokyo Japan
Bridgestone Corporation 6 Tokyo Japan
Daicel Corporation 4 Tokyo Japan
Honeywell International 2 Morris
Plains USA
Toyobo Co Ltd 1 Osaka USA
Hyundai Electronics Industries 1 Seoul South Korea
Posco 1 Pohang South Korea
Ajinomoto 1 Tokyo Japan
Fig: 18 Cross Domain Companies
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3.11 Academic Collaboration
Opportunities: Top Universities/
Institutes
There are many universities/institutes who are actively filing patents in this domain. These
universities/institutes can be reached for collaboration / research opportunities for developing
new technologies.
Below table highlights the top filing universities.
Universities/Institutes
Number
of
Patents
Location Key Inventor
Industrial Technology Research
Institute 32 Taiwan Wang Yi-Kai (7)
Electronics And
Telecommunications Research
Institute
28 South Korea Koo Jae Bon(8)
Peking University 25 China Zhang Sheng-Dong(21)
Korea Research Institute Of
Chemical Technology 15 South Korea Yi Mi Hy (8)
National Institute Of Advanced
Industrial Science And
Technology
15 Japan Hasegawa Tatsuo (5)
Tsinghua University 13 China Qiu Yong (6)
Industry-academic Cooperation
Foundation Yonsei University 13 South Korea Kim Hyun Jae (7)
Northwestern University 12 USA Facchetti Antonio (12)
Korea Advanced Institute Of
Science And Technology 12 South Korea Yang Min Yang (4)
Tokyo Institute Of Technology 11 Japan Hosono Hideo(6)
Industry-aca-demic Cooperation
Foundation Gyeong- Sang
National University
11 South Korea Kim Yun Hi(7)
Fudan University 10 China Zhang Qun (7)
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South China University Of
Technology 9 China Lan Lin-Feng(7)
University Of Electronic Science
And Technology Of China 9 China Jiang Ya-Dong(9)
Korea Electronics Technology
Institute 9 South Korea Han Jeong In(5)
Hiroshima University 9 Japan Takimiya Kazuo(7)
Korea University Research And
Business Foundation 9 South Korea Hong Moon Pyo (3)
Osaka University 8 Japan Takeya Junichi (4)
Korea Institute Of Science And
Technology 8 South Korea Hong Jae-Min (2)
Fig: 19 Academic Collaboration
Key Highlights:
Peking University filed around 88% of its total patents in last six years
Also, Tokyo Institute of Technology seems to be very open to collaborations. The university has
filed all their patents in collaboration with other companies like Canon, Nissan Chemical, DIC
Corporation, Asahi Glass, Sumitomo Chemical.
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3.12 Independent Inventors
There are inventors in the domain who have unassigned patents and are not working with any
company. These inventors can be approached for hiring or licensing purposes.
As can be seen, the domain has very less independent inventors, indicating that the research is
primarily driven by companies and universities.
Inventor Name Number of Patents Priority Year
Joo Seung Ki 2 2010
Yang Young Chol 1 2002
Liaw Yue-Gie 1 2012
Yoon Ju Young 1 2002
Lim Ji Suk 1 2005
Lin Yung Sheng 1 2006
Lai Chih Ming 1 2005
Hwang Seong Yong 1 2002
Liao Wen-Shiang 1 2012
Song Keun Kyu 1 2006
Murti Dasarao K. 1 2002
Chuang Chiao Shun 1 2006
Park Yong Gi 1 2005
Hahn Jung Seok 1 2006
Hanket Gregory 1 2004
Yamaga Takumi 1 2005
Yeh Yung Hui 1 2003
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Chen Fang Chung 1 2006
Moon Hyun Sik 1 2007
Kim Do Hwan 1 2009
Knoll Wolfgang 1 2010
Renshaw Christopher
Kyle 1 2009
Koo Bon Won 1 2003
Shieh Chan-Long 1 2009
Fig: 20 Independent Inventors
Note: 1. The number of patents represents number of unique INPADOC patent families. 2. The table shows only the inventors who
are not working with the company.
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3.13 Patent Prosecution Law Firms
in the Domain
There are around 700 law firms providing services for patent prosecutions in the domain
worldwide.
Pan Korea Patent & Law Firm has been involved in prosecution of only five patents in the last
six years.
There has been a decrease in patent prosecution work for all the top law firms except for
Robinson IP in the last six years.
Fig: 21 below Highlights the top 10 law firms in the domain.
156
99
63 33 32 30 29 26 23 23
0306090
120150180
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Japan
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Fig: 21 Patent Prosecution Law Firms [21(a) South Korea, 21(b) Japan, 21(c) USA, 21(d) China]
117
93 93 82
71 71
56 50 48 47
0
30
60
90
120
Ro
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Pro
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0
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Liu
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ates
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t &
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Law
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Ch
ina
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ent
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Note: 1. The number on bar represents number of patents. 2. The chart is limited to the availability of data in patent
database.
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42
17 15 14 11 10 9 8 7 7
05
1015202530354045
Ko
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South Korea
33 30
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15 15 15 14 11 11
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10
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Nak
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Sun
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Fig: 22 Patent Prosecution Law Firms - Last five years [22(a) South Korea, 22(b) Japan, 22(c) USA, 22(d) China]
62
28 25
18 18 15 15 14 12 11
0
10
20
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40
50
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Liu
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3.14 Law Firms association (with
Major Players)
The following table indicates the association between the top law firms and the companies they
work with. Most of them are mainly associated with a single company but a couple of them
seem to be associated with multiple companies.
Law Firms
Nu
mb
er o
f p
ate
nts
Major Players
Sam
su
ng
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
En
erg
y
Can
on
LG
Fu
jifi
lm
Su
mit
om
o
Ch
em
ical
So
ny
Pan
aso
nic
Fu
ji X
ero
x
Seik
o E
pso
n
BO
E T
ech
no
log
y
Ko
dak
To
pp
an
Prin
tin
g
Paenkoriahteukheobeopin 156 153 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Robinson Intellectual
Property Law Office 117 0 117 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Riaenmokteukheobeopin 99 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Liu, Shen & Associates 94 32 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 30 0 0
Harness Dickey & Pierce 93 79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
Cantor Colburn LLP 93 75 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nakashima Sunao 90 2 0 0 0 71 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0
Okabe International Law
Office 82 0 0 72 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Innovation Counsel LLP 82 82 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CCPIT Patent & Trademark
Law Office 72 0 24 28 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
Fitzpatrick Cella, Harper &
Scinto 71 0 0 71 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F. Chau & Assoc. LLC 71 69 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kodak 65 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65 0
Koreana Patent & Law Firm 63 0 0 0 0 33 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Fay Sharpe LLP 56 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 0 0 0 0
Sughrue Mion PLLC 50 4 0 0 0 9 21 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Fig: 23 Law Firms association
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3.15 Law Firms Filing Trend
Fig: 24 Law Firms Filing Trend
The figure above provides the success in achieving grant by the top law firms and how their
prosecution success has progressed over the years.
Note: 1. The number on bubble and table represents number of patents. The color of bubbles is darkened on the basis of grant
percentage of law firms.
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3.16 Top IPCs
Number of
patents in
IPC class
Number of
Patent In IPC
subclass
IPC Class H01L 2812
IPC
Subclass
H01L0029786
1598
H01L0021336
670
H01L005105
615
H01L005100
383
H01L005140
358
H01L005130
353
IPC Class G02F 516
IPC
Subclass
G02F0001136
225
G02F00011368
186
G02F00011362
87
G02F00011343
80
G02F00011333
73
IPC Class C07D 177
IPC
Subclass
C07D049504
31
C07D040914
21
C07D049522
14
C07D048704
12
C07D051900
10
IPC Class C08G 158
IPC C08G006112
52
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Subclass C08G007500
26
C08G006100
12
C08G007306
10
C08G007506
8
IPC Class G09F 113
IPC
Subclass
G09F000930
101
G09F000900
34
G09F000935
10
G09F000937
5
G09F000933
1
Fig: 25 Top IPCs
IPC classifications of a patent provide insight the focus area of the technology. ~ 87.5% of
the patents are classified in H01L.
The fig: 25 shows distribution of patents according to IPC classes and IPC subclasses.
Note: 1. The number on table represents number of unique INPADOC patent families. 2. One patent can be classified under multiple
IPCs. 3. Drag mouse over IPC in chart to see their definition.
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3.17 Key Patents – Maximum Backward
Citation
Backward citations of a patent are an indicator of strength of the patent claims and may have
an indirect co-relation to value of a patent. Below table highlights the patent having the
maximum number of backward citations.
Publication
number Title
Number
of Cited
Patents
Remaining
Life
(years)
Assignee
US9147768B2
Semiconductor device
having an oxide
semiconductor and a
metal oxide film
39 15.1 Semiconductor
Energy
US9059295B2
Thin film transistor
having an oxide
semiconductor and
metal oxide films
39 15.4 Semiconductor
Energy
US9318613B2
Transistor having two
metal oxide films and
an oxide
semiconductor film
36 15.1 Semiconductor
Energy
US9196739B2
Semiconductor device
including oxide
semiconductor film
and metal oxide film
35 15.3 Semiconductor
Energy
US9024313B2 Semiconductor
device 35 14.1
Semiconductor
Energy
US9059047B2 Semiconductor
device 34 14.8
Semiconductor
Energy
US9190528B2
Semiconductor device
and manufacturing
method thereof
33 13.8 Semiconductor
Energy
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US8716708B2
Semiconductor device
and method for
manufacturing the
same
32 16.3 Semiconductor
Energy
US9123573B2
Oxide semiconductor
stacked film and
semiconductor device
31 17.1 Semiconductor
Energy
US9214520B2 Semiconductor
device 30 14.4
Semiconductor
Energy
Fig: 26 Key Patents
Note: 1. The backward citations were only limited to the patent families present in current dataset set related to TFTs. 2. The
number of cited patents represents number of unique INPADOC patent families.
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3.18 Backward Citation Trend
Backward citations are good indicator of value and potential strength of technology domain.
Only around 1.12 % of the patents in the technology domain have more than 25 backward cited
patents.
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36.57 % of families have less than 5 backward citations. This indicates that most of the
inventions are standalone and discrete, and not superficial increments on existing inventions.
Even during the peak filing years (2005-8), most patent families have less than 5 backward
citations, thus reinforcing the above insight.
Even in recent years, when the technology has existed for ~15 years, bulk of patent families
have <5 citations.
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3.19 Key Patents - Maximum Forward
Citations
Forward citations are a good indicator of whether a patent covers a basic technology. Below
table highlights key patents having maximum forward citations.
5 out of top 10 most cited patents are owned by non-major players.
The most cited document is an abandoned application by Samsung. Interestingly, Samsung
doesn’t even cite this application while other players like Canon, Semiconductor Energy, etc.
have built inventions on top of it and gotten their applications granted.
Publication
number Title
Number of
Citing
Patents
Remaining
Life (Years) Assignee
US20070272922A1
ZnO thin film
transistor and method
of forming the same
47 0 Samsung
US6433359B1
Surface modifying
layers for organic thin
film transistors
31 5.2 3M
US5347144A
Thin-layer field-effect
transistors with MIS
structure whose
insulator and
semiconductor are
made of organic
materials
24 0
Centre
National de la
Recherche
Scientifique
US6232157B1 Thin film transistors 19 2.2 Agere
Systems
US8203143B2 Thin film field effect
transistor 16 14.3 Fujifilm
JP2007073701A
Thin-film transistor
using amorphous
oxide layer
16 9.2 Canon
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US5705826A
Field-effect transistor
having a
semiconductor layer
made of an organic
compound
11 0 Hitachi
US5936259A
Thin film transistor
and organic
semiconductor
material thereof
9 1.3 Lucent
Technologies
US7586130B2
Vertical field effect
transistor using linear
structure as a channel
region and method for
fabricating the same
8 9.3 Panasonic
US6858308B2
Semiconductor
element, and method
of forming silicon-
based film
8 5.7 Canon
Fig: 28 Key Patents - Maximum Forward Citations
Note: 1. The forward citations were only limited to the patent families present in current dataset set related to TFTs. 2. The number
of citing patents represents number of unique INPADOC patent families.
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3.20 Forward Citation Trend
Around 0.4% of the patent families have more than 6 patent families in the domain citing them.
The most cited patents are not from the early years of the technology.
Moreover, no invention from any period has turned out to be the basis for extensive further
research and stabilization of the TFT technology in flexible electronics.
The above insight coupled with the declining overall patent filing trend and new recent entrants
indicates that research in this technology is evolving in a new direction.
Fig: 29 Forward Citation trend
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3.21 Litigations
Since the domain is new and the products are yet to be launched in the market, there are no
litigations in this area. (On the basis of availability of data on Questel and Thomson Innovation)
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Note: 1. The bubble size and corresponding number represents the number of unique patent families. The Y-axis represents the
number of unique INPADOC families in the forward citations of the representative member of a patent family. The forward citations
were limited to the patent families present in current dataset set (related to TFTs in flexible electronics).
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4. Technology
Analysis.
This section includes trends and insights obtained by manual analysis of patents & applications
published in the period Mar – May 2016
1. Taxonomy
2. Claim Focus
3. Problem Being Solved
4. Problem Being Solved – Research Country
5. Problem Being Solved – Claim Focus
6. Technology Break down Taxonomy Level 1
7. Technology Break down Level II
8. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Semiconductor Layer)
9. Technology Breakdown- Components (Conductive Layer)
10. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Insulation Layer)
11. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Passivation Layer)
12. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Passivation Layer)
13. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Dielectric)
14. Technology Breakdown-Major Components (Active Layer)
15. Market Geographies Based Technology Breakdown
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4.1 Claim Focus
There were members from 69 patent families published in the period of analysis [Mar – May
2016]. Analysis of the focus / scope of the claims of these patents had a distribution as shown
below.
Fig: 30 Claim Focus
32
14
1
49
2
Manufacturing method of TFT
Semiconductor composition for use in TFT
Semiconductor Thin Film for TFT
Structure of TFT
Substrate for use in TFT
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This manual analysis only covers limited data and the charts & insights depicted here cannot be
considered as representative of overall technical trends, but give a good indication of the kind of
insights that can be obtained through such an analysis.
For a more accurate understanding of the technology trends and actionable insights, this analysis
can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
Note: 1. The number on the pie chart represents number of unique INPADOC patent families. 2. A patent family may have more than
one focus area.
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4.2 Problems Being Solved
Fig: 31 Pie Chart-Problem being solved
31
23
19
12 5 3
Improving Electric Characteristic Improving Stability of TFT
Improving Efficiency of Fabricating Process Reducing Cost
Reducing Thickness Reducing Weight
Note: 1. The number on the pie chart represents number of unique INPADOC patent families. 2. A patent family may be addressing
more than one problem
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customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
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This manual analysis only covers limited data and the charts & insights depicted here cannot be
considered as representative of overall technical trends, but give a good indication of the kind of
insights that can be obtained through such an analysis.
For a more accurate understanding of the technology trends and actionable insights, this analysis
can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
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4.3 Problem Being Solved – Research
Country
Problem Solved
Research Countries
Ch
ina
Eu
ro
pean
Pate
nt
Off
ice
Jap
an
So
uth
Ko
rea
Un
ited
Kin
gd
om
Un
ited
Sta
tes o
f
Am
eric
a
Improving Efficient
Fabricating Process 1 1 4 6 0 7
Improving Electric
Characteristic 6 3 11 6 1 4
Reducing weight 0 1 2 0 0 0
Reducing cost 3 1 4 0 1 3
Reducing Thickness 2 0 2 1 0 0
Improving Stability 6 1 7 7 0 2
Fig: 32 Problem Being Solved – Research Country
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4.4 Problem Solved – Claim Focus:
Problem Solved
Claim Focus
Man
ufa
ctu
rin
g
Meth
od
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
co
mp
osit
ion
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
thin
fil
m
Str
uctu
re
Su
bstr
ate
Electric Characteristic 14 7 0 22 1
Stability 9 5 0 16 2
Efficient Fabricating
Process 8 4 0 15 0
Low Cost 5 0 1 9 0
Reduced Thickness 3 1 0 3 0
Semiconductor
Composition 0 3 1 0 0
Light weight 1 2 0 0 0
Fig: 33 Problem Solved – Claim Focus
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4.5 Major Players – Problem Being
Solved
Problem Solved
BO
E T
ech
no
log
y
Ko
dak
Fu
jifi
lm
LG
Sam
su
ng
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
En
erg
y
So
ny
Electric Characteristic 1 1 3 6 0 4 0
Stability 2 0 3 5 0 2 1
Efficient Fabricating
Process 1 2 0 1 3 1 1
Low Cost 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Reduced Thickness 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Semiconductor
Composition 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Light weight 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Fig: 34 Major Players – Problem Being Solved
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4.6 Taxonomy
Now, to better understand the methods, processes, components, characteristics and ideas
disclosed by the patents, we prepared preliminary patent categorization taxonomy.
Thereafter, all these 69 patent families were manually analyzed and bucketed into the
preliminary taxonomy based on the categories they pertained to. During this analysis, more
categories were identified and the taxonomy was accordingly revised. The final taxonomy
structure is provided in the table below.
It is noteworthy that this taxonomy has emerged out of the analysis of the 69 patent families. A
comprehensive analysis of the domain (e.g., of all 3,223 patent families) will add to this
taxonomy structure and make it more complete. For example, more types of TFTs (beyond
organic and transparent) could get added.
Level I Level II Level III
Components
Semiconductor Layer
Shown in following analysis
Insulation Layer
Substrate
Passivation Layer
Dielectric
Conductive Layer
Active Layer
Other Components
Fabricating Process
Photolithography N/A
Ink Jetting N/A
Printing N/A
Film Deposition Process N/A
Vacuum Treatment N/A
Oxide Layer Formation N/A
Ultraviolet Irradiation N/A
Etching N/A
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Hydrogen Gas Chamber N/A
Thermal Treatment N/A
Controlled Spalling N/A
Laser Ablation N/A
Hydro Plasma Generation N/A
Crystallization Process N/A
Type of TFT
Organic N/A
Transparent N/A
Fig: 35 Taxonomy structure
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4.7 Technology Break Down - Level 1
The table below shows the distribution of patents into various level 1 nodes and corresponding
to the countries of research.
Research Country
Concepts Covered
Components Fabricating
Process Type of TFT
China 9 9 7
European Patent
Office 2 2 4
Japan 19 17 9
South Korea 15 9 11
United Kingdom 1 2 1
United States of
America 12 9 4
Fig: 36 Technology Break Down (Level 1)
Note: 1. The number on pie chart represents number of unique INPADOC patent families. 2. A patent can be categorized in more than
one taxonomy heads.
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4.8 Technology Breakdown - Level II
Fig 37 below depicts the distribution of patent families in level 1 and level 2 nodes.
Figure 37: Technology Breakdown - Level II
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Other Fabricating methods include:
Controlled Spalling, Laser Ablation, Hydrogen Gas Chamber, Hydro Plasma Generation,
Crystallization Process
Other components shown include:
Antireflective Layer, Light Absorption Layer, Stacked Layer Oxide Film, Transition Layer, Color
Filter Layer, Barrier Layer, Bank Layer, Planarization Layer, Buffer Layer, Charge Injection Layer,
Hydrogen Absorbing Layer, Protective Layer, Silica Oxide Layer, Polarizable Layer, Stresser
Layer, Adhesive Layer, Interconnect For Connecting, Bank, Capacitor Medium Layer, Pixel
Electrode, Channel Layer, Alumina Layer, Gate, Source, Drain Electrodes.
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can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
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4.9 Technology Breakdown – Level 2
1. Assignee mapping against level 2 categories
2. Problem solved mapped against level 2 categories
Major Players Vs Level 2:
Level 1 Level 2
Major Players
LG
KO
DA
K
Sam
su
ng
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
En
erg
y
Fu
jifi
lm
BO
E T
ech
no
log
y
So
ny
Fabricating
Process
Etching 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
Film Deposition
Process 1 4 2 2 2 0 1
Ink Jetting 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Oxide Layer
Formation 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Photolithography 2 2 1 0 2 1 0
Printing 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Thermal
Treatment 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Ultraviolet
Irradiation 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Vaccum
Treatment 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Crystallization
Process 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Components
Dielectric 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
Insulation Layer 0 1 0 4 0 1 0
Passivation Layer 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Protective Layer 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
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Semiconductor
Layer 4 2 0 3 3 0 0
Substrate 0 2 1 0 0 0 0
Transisiton Layer 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Active Layer 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Barrier Layer 2 0 1 0 0 1 1
Buffer Layer 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
Conductive Layer 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
Types of TFT Transparent 1 0 2 0 0 2 0
Organic 5 2 3 1 5 3 0
Fig: 38-Table (Major Players V/s Level 2)
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4.10 Problem Solved Vs Level II
Level 1 Level 2
Problem Solved
Eff
icie
nt
Fab
ric
ati
ng
Pro
cess
Ele
ctr
ic
Ch
aracte
ris
tic
Lig
ht
weig
ht
Lo
w c
ost
Red
uced
Th
ickn
ess
Sem
ico
nd
ucto
r
Co
mp
osit
ion
Sta
bil
ity
Components
Active Layer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Conductive Layer 1 3 0 3 1 1 4
Dielectric 5 1 0 1 0 1 1
Drain Electrode 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Gate Electrode 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Insulation Layer 3 5 0 1 2 0 2
Organic 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Components 18 29 3 10 4 3 20
Passivation Layer 4 2 0 1 0 0 1
Semiconductor Layer 8 13 1 4 2 2 9
Source Electrode 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
Substrate 3 3 1 0 1 0 4
Fabricating
Process
Controlled Spalling 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Crystallization Process 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Curing 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Etching 2 8 0 1 1 0 4
Film Deposition
Process 11 10 0 5 0 1 6
Hydro Plasma
Generation 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hydrogen Gas Chamber 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ink Jetting 2 2 0 2 0 0 3
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Fig: 40-Table (Problem Solved v/s Level II)
Laser Ablation 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Oxide Layer Formation 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Photolithography 7 7 0 4 0 1 5
Printing 3 1 0 2 1 0 2
Thermal Treatment 1 0 1 0 2 0 2
Ultraviolet Irradiation 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
Vaccum Treatment 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Types of
TFT
Organic 10 12 3 6 1 4 12
Transparent 4 2 1 3 2 0 4
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can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
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4.11 Technology Breakdown – Level III
- Components (Semiconductor Layer)
Semiconductor Layer could be made of different materials. Fig: 41 (a & b) highlights
components of thin film transistors and the number of patents disclosing about the
semiconductor materials.
(a)
(b)
Fig: 41(a & b) Components & Material - Semiconductor Layer
Material Number of
Patents
Silicon 8
Indium Gallium
Zinc Oxide 7
Gallium 4
Zinc Oxide 4
Tin Oxide 3
Aluminum 2
Indium 2
Lanthanum 2
Zinc 2
Carbon Nanotube 2
Diketopyrrolopyrr
ole Polymers 2
Galium Nitride 2
Zirconium 2
Indium Oxide 2
Indium Zinc Oxide 2
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer 32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
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Apart from the one shown in table above, following materials for semiconductor layers have
also been mentioned by the patents:
(A-Itzo), Gallium Arsenic (Gaas) Film, Phosphorous (P), Gallium Oxide, Sulphur Doping, Gallium
Pnictides, Zinc Chalcogenides, Germanium (Ge), Nitrogen Oxygen, Graphene Nanoribbons,
Cerium, Helium (He), Silicon Nitride, Boron (B), Tellurium, Indium Gallium Oxide (Igo),
Ytterbium, Cadmium Chalcogenides, Zinc Tin Oxide (Zto), Indium Nitride (Inn) Film, Nitride
Semiconductor
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one semiconductor material.
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4.12 Technology Breakdown-
Components (Insulation Layer)
(a)
(b)
Fig: 42(a & b) Components & Material -Insulation Layer
Material Number of Patents
Silicon Oxide 6
Silicon Oxynitride 3
Aluminum Oxide 3
Hafnium Oxide 3
Tantalum Oxide 2
Gallium Oxide 2
Silicon Nitride 2
Silicon Nitride Oxide 2
Magnesium Oxide 2
Barium Oxide Film 1
Stoichiometric
Composition 1
Gallium Zinc Oxide 1
Tin 1
Lanthanum Oxide 1
Yttrium Oxide 1
Aluminum Nitride
Film 1
Aluminum 1
Germanium Oxide 1
Polysilazane 1
Aluminum Oxynitride
Film 1
Polyvinyl Alcohol 1
Silicon 1
Zirconium Oxide 1
Neodymium Oxide 1
Photosensitive Resin 1
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer
32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other
Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one Insulation layer material.
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can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
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4.13 Technology Breakdown-Major
Components (Conductive Layer)
(b)
(a)
Fig: 43 (a & b) Components & Material -Conductive Layer
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer
32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other
Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Material Number of Patents
Aluminum 5
Titanium 4
Chromium 2
Zinc Oxide 2
Indium 2
Copper 2
Molybdenum 2
Tantalum 2
Gallium Zinc Oxide 2
Galium 2
Zinc 2
Titanium Oxide 1
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Apart from the one shown in table above, following materials for conductive layers have also
been mentioned by the patents:
Cerium, Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene) Polystyrene Sulfonate Pedot:Pss, Fullerene (C60), Tin
Oxide, Tungsten, Fullerene Derivative [6,6]-Phenyl-C61-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester (Pcbm), Silver,
Zirconium, Tin, Lanthanum, Gold, Lithium Zirconium, Hafnium (Hf), Carbon Nanotube, Indium
Gallium Oxide (Igo), Zinc Tin Oxide (Zto), Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, Aluminium Tris-
Hydroxyguinoline (Alq3), Indium Zinc Oxide
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one Conductive layer material.
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4.14 Technology Breakdown-Major
Components (Substrate)
(b)
(a)
Fig: 44 (a & b) Components & Material – Substrate
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer
32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other
Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Material Number of Patents
Polyimides 4
Polyethylene
Terephthalate 3
Ceramic 2
Poly(P-Xylylene). 1
Silicon Oxide 1
Polymeric Materials 1
Epoxy Resin
Polyimide. 1
Poly(Oxy-1,4-
Phenyleneoxy-1,4-
Phenylenecarbonyl-
1,4-Phenylene)
1
Fiber-Reinforced
Plastics (Frp) 1
Polycarbonates 1
Filled Polymeric
Materials 1
Polyphenyleneoxides 1
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Apart from the one shown in table above, following materials for substrate have also been
mentioned by the patents:
Glass, Poly(Ethylene-2,6-Naphthaiate), Inorganic Glasses, Poly(Phenylene Sulfide) (Pps),
Inorganic Substrate, Polyamides, Polyethylene Naphthalate (Pen), Epoxies, Coated Metallic
Foils, Metal Foil, Polyketones, Plastic, Polynorbornenes, Poly(Ether Ether Ketone), Quartz,
Poly(Ether Sulfone) (Pes), Acrylics, Poly(Ethylene Naphthalenedicarboxylate) (Pen)
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one substrate or Subtrate material.
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4.15 Technology Breakdown-Major
Components (Passivation Layer)
(b)
(a)
Fig: 45 (a & b) Components & Material – Passivation Layer
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer
32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other
Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Material Number of Patents
Aluminum 1
Multilayer 1
Photoresist Film 1
Semiconductor Oxide 1
Silicon Nitride 1
Silicon Oxide 2
Silicon Oxynitride 1
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one Passivation layer material.
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4.16 Technology Breakdown-Major
Components (Dielectric)
(b)
(a)
Fig: 46 (a & b) Components & Material – Dielectric
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer 32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other
Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Material Number of Patents
Silicon Nitride 2
Tantalum Oxide 2
Silicon Oxide 2
Aluminum Oxide 2
Polyvinyl Alcohol 2
Polyimides 2
Tantalum 1
Barium Titanate 1
Zinc Selenide 1
Oxacycloolefinic
Polymer: Ru-
Carbene Catalyzed
Ring-Opening
Metathesis
Polymerization Of A
Bicyclic Oxaolefin.
1
Spin Coating 1
Poly Vinylphenol 1
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Apart from the one shown in table above, following materials for dielectric have also been
mentioned by the patents:
Titanium, Poly(4-Vinylphenol), Barium Strontium Titanium Oxide (Bst), Poly(Vinylidene
Fluoride), Silicon Oxynitride, Polyamides, Strontiates, Zinc Sulfide, Barium Zirconate Titanate,
Zirconium, Titanium Oxide, Polystyrene, Barium Zirconium Titanium Oxide (Bzt), Barium
Strontium Titanate, Alumina And Silicagel, Polymethyl Methacrylate
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one dielectric material.
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4.17 Technology Breakdown-Major
Components (Active Layer)
(b)
(a)
Fig: 47 (a & b) Components & Material – Active Layer
Components Number of
Patents
Semiconductor
Layer 32
Insulation Layer 10
Conductive Layer 9
Substrate 9
Barrier Layer 7
Dielectric 6
Passivation Layer 6
Other Components 5
Protective Layer 4
Buffer Layer 3
Active Layer 1
Material Number of Patents
Aluminum 1
Galium 1
Hafnium (Hf) 1
Indium 1
Magnesium 1
Polycrystalline 1
Silicon Graphene 1
Ternary Compound 1
Titanium 1
Zinc 1
Zirconium 1
Note: 1. A patent may disclose more than one active layer material.
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can be extended to a longer period (e.g., the complete data set of 3210 patents since 1996).
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5. Major Players
Analysis.
1. Major players in the domain
2. Major Players-Last Five Years
3. Major Players’ Application Areas
4. Technology Breakup – Major Players
5. Samsung
6. Samsung – Technology Fencing
7. Semiconductor Energy
8. Semiconductor Energy-Technology Fencing
9. LG
10. LG-Technology Fencing
11. Fujifilm
12. Fujifilm-Technology Fencing
13. Fuji Xerox
14. Fuji Xerox – Technology Fencing
15. Toppan Printing
16. Toppan Printing – Technology Fencing
17. Seiko Epson Corporation
18. Seiko Epson Corporation- Technology Fencing
19. Sony
20. Sony – Technology Fencing
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21. BOE Technology
22. BOE Technology – Technology Fencing
23. Canon
24. Canon – Technology Fencing
25. Major Players Citations Analysis – Definition
26. Companies having maximum backward citations
27. Companies having maximum forward citations
28. Major Players – Strength Analysis
29. Collaborations in the domain
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5.1 Major Players Trends
Company
Number of
Patents
Be
fore
20
02
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
20
10
20
11
20
12
20
13
20
14
20
15
20
16
Samsung 608 6 7 45 93 188 99 42 25 17 11 23 15 28 8 0 1
Semiconductor
Energy 156 10 5 4 8 8 3 2 18 31 14 13 21 6 12 1 0
LG 147 3 2 4 5 15 18 17 16 17 6 6 7 16 15 0 0
Fujifilm 120 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 21 14 20 12 13 9 26 0 0
Fuji Xerox 98 3 2 2 9 18 9 6 15 11 8 5 8 2 0 0 0
Toppan Printing 96 0 0 0 4 19 7 12 8 3 7 10 7 12 7 0 0
Seiko Epson 88 5 3 7 21 22 9 10 3 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sony 81 4 0 3 4 1 3 3 15 16 8 10 10 2 2 0 0
BOE Technology 73 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 8 22 7 16 12 0
Canon 72 3 0 3 13 12 11 14 9 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
Panasonic 60
0 0 5 2 1 3 9 6 7 2 10 9 4 2 0 0
Kodak 46 0 0 0 2 6 1 6 1 0 9 5 2 0 14 0 0
Sumitomo
Chemical 44 0 0 1 2 4 2 6 7 8 6 5 2 1 0 0 0
Fig: 49 Patent filing activity of major players.
Flexible Electronics
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Key Highlights:
Canon, Seiko Epson and Sumitomo Chemical have shown less patent filing activity in last
three years.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
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5.2 Major Players-Last Five Years
Fig: 50 Shows the major players for the last five years. Fig: 51 compares overall major players
and majors players in last five years.
Major Player Overall
Rank
Last 5
year
rank
% of patents
filed in last five
year with respect
to overall patents
BOE Technology 9 1 78.08
Samsung 1 2 8.55
Fujifilm 4 3 40
Semiconductor Energy 2 4 25.85
LG 3 5 27.08
Panasonic 11 9 25
Sony 8 11 17.28
Fuji Xerox 5 16 10.20
Seiko Epson 7 Not in list 0
Canon 10 Not in List 1.38
Fig: 50 Comparison of overall major players and majors players in last five years
Rank Is Decreased
Rank Is Increased
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Fig: 51 Major players for the last five years
Key Highlights:
Shanghai Daoyi Chemical is recent player in the domain that filed all the patents in last 3
years.
Shanghai Jiaotong University filed around 91 % of its patents in last five years.
52
40 38
48
26
14
57
15 16 21 20
14 11
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Sam
sun
g
Sem
ico
nd
uct
or
Ene
rgy
LG
Fujif
ilm
Top
pan
Pri
nti
ng
Son
y
BO
E Te
chn
olo
gy
Pan
aso
nic
Ko
dak
Shen
zhen
Ch
ina
Star
Op
toel
ectr
on
ics
Tech
no
logy
Pe
kin
g U
niv
ersi
ty
Shan
ghai
Dao
yi C
hem
ical
Tech
no
logy
Shan
ghai
Jia
oto
ng
Un
iver
sity
NO
. OF
PA
TEN
T FA
MIL
IES
Major Players
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
80 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.3 Major Players’ Application
Areas
Major players can utilize their patents in different application areas. Fig: 52 shows the
application areas for patents related to major players in the domain.
Fig: 52 Major Players’ Application Areas
Other Application areas include X-Ray Sensor, Memory, Solid State Image Pickup Device,
Smartcard, IC card, Tags, Personal computers.
Other Displays include Electrochromic Type Display, Particle Rotary Type Display.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
81 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.4 Technology Breakup – Major
Players
Major players have filed patents for different technologies. The patents are related to specific
components, fabrication methods and properties of thin film transistors. Fig: 53 describes
distribution of patents filed in last three months according to major players and taxonomy
levels I and levels II.
Fig: 53 Technology Break up – Major Players
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
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5.5 Samsung
Samsung has 24 research and development centers across the globe. They have six centers in
Korea and eighteen others in U.S., U.K., Russia, Israel, India, Japan and China. Despite diverse
research centers, Samsung has filed around 97% of its total patents from Korea itself.
Samsung may commercialize flexible screens for smartphones in 2017. The flexible screen will
be seven inch tablet. The tablet was shown as prototype in CES.
Samsung invested $13.4 billion in 2013 to research and develop new technology. The amount is
around 6.4% of the Samsung’s revenue. The average amount spent on TFTs was around $56
million.
Fig: 54 Samsung – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
In spite of having filed so many patents, Samsung does not use the PCT route, with negligible
PCT filings over the years.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filling Trend (Priority Date)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
PCT Applications Wipo-Samsung
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 55 Samsung –Comparison chart (Research Country)
Fig: 56 Samsung – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Samsung Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Samsung Overall
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 57 Samsung – Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 58 Samsung - Patent status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
isp
lays
RFI
D
Elec
tro
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tic
Dis
pla
y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Samsung Overall
69%
31%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
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Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
03
52
4
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
05
14
0
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
02
90
8
H0
1L0
05
13
0
H0
1L0
05
11
0
H0
1L0
02
10
0
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
13
1
Lee Sang
Yoon
43 6 10 6 8 5 6 8 4 1 1 3
Suh Min-
Chul
40 12 8 6 7 6 9 4 3 6 4 1
Ahn Taek 29 6 4 13 2 1 3 3 2 3 0 1
Koo Jae-
Bon
26 8 7 7 5 5 4 2 2 5 4 1
Jeong
Eun
Jeong
25 6 7 0 3 1 4 1 1 0 1 1
Koo Bon
Won
24 3 4 7 6 8 1 6 5 0 1 2
Kim Joo
Young
23 8 6 0 2 4 1 2 2 0 1 2
Lee Bang
Lin
23 10 6 3 1 3 3 2 0 0 0 0
Lee Eun
Kyung
20 9 5 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 1
Song
Keun-Kyu
20 0 0 4 4 1 1 0 2 2 2 1
Fig: 59 Samsung – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 60 Samsung – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 61 Samsung – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
153
94 82 79 75 69
43 35 32 32
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Pae
nko
riah
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On
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, Sh
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Ass
oci
ates
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e
Samsung Law Firm
18 17
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11
8 8 8 7 7
02468
101214161820
Har
nes
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Pae
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Grü
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cker
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
87 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.5.1 Samsung– Technology Fencing
Fig: 61 shown below shows the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
Samsung Electronics.
Fig: 61 Samsung – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
89 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.6 Semiconductor Energy
Semiconductor Energy presented prototype for flexible super strong touch screen in 2013 at an
exhibition in Tokyo.
Semiconductor has filed around 33.33% of its total patents in last six years which indicates that
the Semiconductor is consistent and focused towards research and development activity for
thin film transistors.
Fig: 62 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
PCT Applications Wipo-Semiconductor
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 63 Semiconductor Energy - Comparison chart (Research Country)
Fig: 64 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
EPO
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Semiconductor Energy Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Semiconductor Energy Overall
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 65 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 66 Semiconductor Energy– Patent status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
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lays
RFI
D
Elec
tro
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Dis
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Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Semiconductor Energy Overall
94%
6%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
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Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
29
78
6
H0
1L0
27
12
H0
1L0
29
66
H0
1L0
29
10
H0
1L0
29
12
H0
1L0
21
02
H0
1L0
29
45
H0
1L0
21
33
6
H0
1L0
21
00
H0
1L0
29
04
Yamazaki
Shunpei
85 55 39 13 15 12 8 7 11 11 10
Sakata
Junichiro 18 11 7 1 4 5 0 5 2 0 2
Akimoto
Kengo 16 11 5 3 3 1 1 1 3 1 2
Koezuka
Junichi
11 11 5 5 1 0 4 1 1 1 1
Sasaki
Toshinari 11 11 6 3 3 1 3 4 2 1 0
Godo
Hiromichi 9 6 2 2 0 1 2 0 0 2 1
Koyama
Jun
8 4 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 1
Okazaki
Kenichi
8 3 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
Tsubuku
Masashi
8 6 5 0 1 3 1 1 0 0 1
Miyake
Hiroyuki
7 1 6 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Fig: 67 Semiconductor Energy – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 68 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 69 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
117
47 37
24 21 20 17 13 12 12
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Ro
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son
Inte
llect
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Pro
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Law Firm
62
25
11 10 8 6 6 5 4 4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Ro
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Inte
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Pro
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& R
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Last Five Years Law Firm
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
94 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.6.1 Semiconductor Energy –
Technology Fencing
Fig: 70 shown below shows the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
Semiconductor Energy
Fig: 70 Semiconductor Energy – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
95 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
96 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.7 LG
LG will invest 450 billion Won (USD 395.99 million) in South Korea to build production capacity
for flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.
LG presented a display prototype which can be rolled like a paper at consumer electronics show
2016. The technology is on LG’s ongoing research for Oled based flexible display.
Fig: 71 LG – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo LG
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 72 LG – Comparison chart (Research Country)
Key Highlights:
LG display has filed around 30% of its total patents in last five years. Currently LG is
focusing upon creating flexible OLED and curved OLED.
Fig: 73 LG– Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
EPO
Un
ite
d K
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Ger
man
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Ital
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Ind
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Fran
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Sin
gap
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Po
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Ru
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n F
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ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
LG Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
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Un
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Bra
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Sin
gap
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Ru
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n F
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ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
LG Overall Country
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 74 LG– Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 75 LG – Patent Status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
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Oth
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D
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Dis
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y
Sen
sor
AM
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D
Oth
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pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
LG Overall
82%
18%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
99 SAGACIOUS IP
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Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
G0
2F0
00
11
3
G0
2F0
00
11
33
3
G0
2F0
00
11
33
5
G0
2F0
00
11
36
H0
1L0
02
10
0
H0
1L0
02
13
35
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
14
0
H0
1L0
02
16
6
H0
1L0
02
18
23
2
H0
1L0
02
71
2
Seo Hyun-Sik 16 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
Bae Jong
Uk
11 0 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Kim Dae
Hwan 10 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Han Chang
Wook 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Heo Jae
Seok
8 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kim Min
Joo 5 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Yim Hoon 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Choi Nack-
Bong
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Lee Seung
Min
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hae Gee
SungC
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fig: 76 LG – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 77 LG – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 78 LG – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
26
23 21
19 18 16 15
13 13 12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Par
k, K
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15
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Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
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101 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.7.1 LG – Technology Fencing
Figure 79 shown below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing
companies of LG.
Fig: 79 LG – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
102 SAGACIOUS IP
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
103 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.8 Fujifilm
Fujifilm introduced prototype for flexible speaker along with flexible film used as vibrating
plate.
Fig: 80 Fujifilm – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
Fig: 81 Fujifilm – Comparison chart (Research Country)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Fuji Film Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo LG
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
nFe
der
atio
n
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Fujifilm Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
104 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Key Highlights:
Fujifilm has been actively involved in research and development related to the thin film
transistors for flexible electronics as around 50% of its total patents are being filed in
last six years.
Fig: 82 Fujifilm– Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
Fig: 83 Fujifilm– Comparison chart (Application area)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Fujifilm Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
isp
lays
RFI
D
Elec
tro
ph
ore
tic
Dis
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y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Fujifilm Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
105 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 84 Fujifilm – Patent Status
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventors No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
71
46
H0
1L0
05
15
0
H0
1L0
02
71
44
H0
1L0
02
96
6
G0
2F0
00
11
36
8
H0
1L0
02
10
2
H0
1L0
02
13
68
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
05
13
0
Takata Masahiro 36 25 0 13 0 8 7 7 5 8 0 0
Suzuki Masayuki 33 29 0 13 7 8 6 5 6 4 4 4
Tanaka Atsushi 33 28 0 13 7 8 7 6 6 4 4 4
Ono Masashi 24 22 0 12 5 7 6 5 5 3 4 4
Mochizuki Fumihiko 13 13 9 7 3 2 3 3 2 1 0 0
Imai Shinji 12 8 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Takizawa Hiroo 9 9 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8
Itai Yuichiro 8 6 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Nakayama Masaya 8 8 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fig: 85 Fujifilm – Key Inventors with IPC
92%
8%
Patent Status ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
106 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 86 Fujifilm – Law Firm
Fig: 87 Fujifilm – Law Firm (Last Five Years)
71
33 29
23
14 13 13 12 10 9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Nak
ash
ima
Sun
ao
Ko
rean
a P
aten
t &
Law
Firm
Taiy
o, N
akaj
ima
& K
ato
Miy
amae
& A
sso
ciat
es
Ko
jima
Law
Off
ice
Ho
ffm
ann
Eit
le
Yan
agit
a Ta
das
hi
Sola
ris
Inte
llect
ual
Pro
per
ty G
rou
p
Ion
Pat
ent
Sugh
rue
Mio
n P
llc
Fujifilm Law Firm
32
26 26 23
10 8
6 4 3
1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Nak
ash
ima
Sun
ao
Taiy
o, N
akaj
ima
& K
ato
Ko
rean
a P
aten
t &
Law
Fir
m
Miy
amae
& A
sso
ciat
es
Ion
Pat
ent
Ko
jima
Law
Off
ice
Sugh
rue
Mio
n P
llc
Ho
ffm
ann
Eit
le
Bei
jing
San
you
Inte
llect
ual
Pro
per
ty A
gen
cy
Jian
g Ti
ng
Ch
ina
Scie
nce
Pat
ent
Trad
emar
k A
gen
ts
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
107 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.8.1 Fujifilm – Technology Fencing
Fujifilm has developed its portfolio mainly by citing Semiconductor Energy’s patents. Fig: 88
highlights the technology development of Fujifilm with respect to other players in the domain.
Fig: 88 Fujifilm – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
108 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
109 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.9 Fuji Xerox
Fuji Xerox is joint venture between Fujifilm and the Xerox.
Fuji Xerox presented electronic paper display without using color filters in 2012. The display had
screen size of around five inches, pixel count of 600*800 and resolution of 200 dpi. The display
used two elementary colors.
Fuji Xerox has lowered down its patent filing in thin film transistor for the last six years as it has
filed only 15.6% of its total patent in the last six years.
Fuji Xerox has active research centers in Japan and United States of America and filed around
30 % and 70% of its pate nt in Japan and United States respectively.
Fig: 89 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo Fuji Xerox
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
110 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 90 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Research Country)
Fig: 91 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Fuji Xerox Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Fuzi Xerox Overall Market
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
111 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 92 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 93 Fuji Xerox – Patent Status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
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OLE
D
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Dis
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y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Fuji Xerox Overall
76%
24%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
112 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
05
13
0
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
03
52
4
C0
8G
00
75
00
H0
1L0
02
90
8
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
05
14
0
C0
8G
00
61
12
H0
1B
00
01
12
Wu
Yiliang
58 26 16 17 4 10 9 9 3 6 4 4
Liu
Ping
39 19 14 12 5 7 8 6 4 4 4 4
Li
Yuning
28 10 2 5 1 6 8 5 1 1 3 0
Ong
Beng S.
24 13 8 8 4 11 3 5 2 3 4 1
Sato
Katsuhiro
14 2 9 8 9 2 0 1 5 3 0 0
Agata
Takeshi
13 2 9 8 9 1 0 1 5 3 0 0
Hirose
Hidekazu
13 2 8 7 8 2 0 1 5 2 0 0
Hu
Nan-Xing
12 5 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 3
Smith
Paul F.
9 2 0 3 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 0
Wigglesworth
Anthony James
9 5 5 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
Fig: 94 Fuji Xerox – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
113 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 95 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 96 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
38
23 17 16 14
10 8 7 7 4 4
05
10152025303540
Fay
Shar
pe
Llp
Xer
ox
Grü
ne
cker
Nak
ash
ima
Sun
ao
Sim
& M
cbu
rne
y
Yosh
ida
Ken
zi
Olif
f &
Ber
rid
ge
Yki P
aten
t C
orp
ora
tio
nIn
tern
atio
nal
Pat
en
t Fi
rm
Ken
zi Y
osh
ida
Ku
mak
ura
Yo
shio
Pac
ific
Pat
ent
Att
orn
ey
Fuji Xerox Law Firm
4 4 4
3
2
1 1 1 1 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
Olif
f &
Ber
rid
ge
Fay
Shar
pe
Llp
Yki P
aten
t C
orp
ora
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nIn
tern
atio
nal
Pat
en
t Fi
rmB
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nes
s
Pill
sbu
ry W
inth
rop
Sh
awP
ittm
an L
lp
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ne
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Air
d &
Ber
lis Ip
Lim
ite
d
Der
zeit
Kei
n V
ertr
eter
Bes
tellt
Lee
Ip G
rou
p
Nak
ash
ima
Sun
ao
Inte
rnat
ion
al P
ate
nt
Off
ice
Pat
ent
Sola
r B
usi
ne
ssC
orp
ora
tio
n
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
114 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.9.1 Fuji Xerox – Technology
Fencing
Fig: 97 below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of Fuji
Xerox. Cited companies represent the companies whose patents are cited as backward citations
in the patents of Fuji Xerox.
Fig: 97 Fuji Xerox – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
115 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
116 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.10 Toppan Printing
Fig: 98 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
Fig: 99 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Research Country)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend ( Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo Fuji Xerox
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
aResearch Country
Toppan Printing Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
117 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 100 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
Fig: 101 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Application area)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Toppan Printing Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
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on
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OLE
D
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Oth
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Dis
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Sen
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AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
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ion
Are
as
Application Areas
Toppan Printing Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
118 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 102 Toppan Printing – Patent Status
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
12
8
H0
1L0
05
10
5
G0
2F0
00
11
36
8
G0
9F0
00
93
0
H0
1L0
02
94
17
H0
1L0
02
13
16
H0
1L0
02
12
88
H0
1L0
02
94
23
H0
1L0
02
94
9
Matsubara Ryohei 28 23 20 8 14 5 2 7 0 4 2 2
Ishizaki Mamoru 24 20 16 6 8 4 6 2 0 3 2 2
Ito Manabu 21 17 10 5 0 2 2 0 5 0 1 1
Kon Masato 11 10 9 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 2
Murata Kodai 10 10 8 2 5 6 2 1 0 0 1 1
Miyazaki Chihiro 9 7 6 2 0 1 2 0 4 0 1 1
Ikeda Noriaki 8 8 7 2 1 4 2 0 4 1 0 0
Imamura Chihiro 7 7 3 5 3 0 1 4 0 2 0 0
Kino Osamu 7 7 4 3 3 1 0 1 0 2 1 1
Nakamura Ryuichi 5 5 4 3 4 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
Fig: 103 Toppan Printing – Table (Key Inventors)
78%
22%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
119 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 104 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 105 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
26
12 9 8 7
5 5 2 2 1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Jap
an P
aten
t O
ffic
eA
nd
Pat
en
t P
ract
ice
Hir
ose
Haz
ime
Squ
ire
San
der
s
Oga
saw
ara
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Taka
has
hi R
inA
nd
op
ato
naz
u C
orp
ora
teP
aten
t P
ract
ice
Shig
a In
tern
atio
nal
Pat
ent
Off
ice
No
da
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Pat
ent
An
do
pat
on
azu
Ntd
Pat
ent
&Tr
adem
ark
Age
ncy
Tee
& H
ow
e In
telle
ctu
alP
rop
erty
Att
orn
eys
Toppan Printing – Law Firm
25
9 8
2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Jap
an P
aten
t O
ffic
eA
nd
Pat
en
t P
ract
ice
Hir
ose
Haz
ime
Oga
saw
ara
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Kim
& C
han
g
Ntd
Pat
ent
& T
rad
emar
kA
gen
cy
Tee
& H
ow
e In
telle
ctu
alP
rop
erty
Att
orn
eys
Squ
ire
San
der
s
Squ
ire
Pat
ton
Bo
ggs
No
da
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Inte
rnat
ion
al P
ate
nt
Off
ice
Pat
ent
Sola
r B
usi
ne
ssC
orp
ora
tio
n
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
120 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.10.1 Toppan Printing – Technology
Fencing
Fig: 106 below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
Toppan Printing.
Fig: 106 Toppan Printing – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
121 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
122 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.11 Seiko Epson Corporation
Seiko Epson seems uninterested in the research and development of thin film transistors
because it has not filed even a single patent in last six years.
Seiko Epson presented 200 ppi electronic paper display with resolution of 320 x 240 pixels in
2005.
OMRON acquired semiconductor assets of Seiko Epson subsidiary Yasu Semiconductor
Corporation in 2007.
Fig: 107 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo -Seiko Epson
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
123 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 108 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Research Country)
Fig: 109 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Seiko Epson Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Seiko Epson Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
124 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 110 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 111 Seiko Epson – Patent Status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
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D
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tro
ph
ore
tic
Dis
pla
y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Seiko Epson Overall
64%
36%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
125 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
05
15
0
H0
1B
00
01
12
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
05
13
0
H0
1L0
05
14
0
C0
8F0
29
00
6
C0
7D
02
71
10
H0
1L0
02
12
88
Terao
Koichi 25 17 17 17 16 0 1 7 1 7 6 0
Shinohara
Yuji 23 17 17 17 15 0 0 7 1 7 6 0
Kawase
Takeo 11 9 7 2 0 6 6 0 5 0 0 5
Moriya
Soichi 9 6 4 2 0 3 4 1 3 0 0 2
Aoki
Takashi 8 3 1 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0
Harada
Mitsuaki 7 7 5 2 0 4 4 0 4 0 0 5
Karasawa
Junichi 7 5 3 0 0 3 1 2 2 0 0 0
Kugler
Thomas 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 0
Inoue
Satoshi 4 6 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sato
Takashi 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fig: 112 Seiko Epson – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
126 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 113 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 114 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
39
24
18
10 9 6 5 5 5 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Tad
ash
i Ho
mar
eK
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anag
i
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f &
Ber
rid
ge
Mas
ud
a Ta
tsu
ya
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hi &
Mas
ud
a
Har
nes
s D
icke
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Pie
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a Yo
shiy
uki
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hi K
azu
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Mo
on
& M
oo
n In
ten
atio
nal
Mo
on
Ki S
ang
Shig
a In
tern
atio
nal
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Seiko Epson Law Firm
2
1 1
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Alg Intellectual Property Zhongzi Law Office Oliff & Berridge
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
127 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.11.1 Seiko Epson Corp –
Technology Fencing
Fig: 115 below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
Seiko Epson Corp.
Fig: 115 Seiko Epson – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
128 SAGACIOUS IP
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
129 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.12 Sony
Fig: 116 Sony– Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
Fig: 117 Sony– Comparison chart (Research Country)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend(Priority Date)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo -Sony
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
aResearch Country
Sony Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
130 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 118 Sony– Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
Fig: 119 Sony– Comparison chart (Application area)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ited
Kin
gdo
m
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
eder
atio
n
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Sony Overall Market
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
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er D
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Dis
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y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Sony Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
131 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 120 Sony – Patent Status
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
05
11
0
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
02
91
0
H0
1L0
02
90
4
H0
1L0
02
90
8
H0
1L0
03
10
0
H0
1L0
02
18
4
H0
1L0
03
52
4
H0
1L0
02
10
0
Morosawa Narihiro 9 1 0 0 2 5 4 1 1 1 1 2
Arai Toshiaki 8 1 0 0 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 0
Yoneya Nobuhide 8 5 5 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Katsuhara Mao 6 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Kawashima Noriyuki 5 1 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
Kobayashi Norihito 5 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Nomoto Akihiro 5 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Ushikura Shinichi 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Nomoto Kazumasa 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
Ono Hideki 4 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Fig: 121 Sony– Table (Key Inventors)
66, 82%
18%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
132 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 122 Sony– Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 123 Sony– Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
25
19
13 12
10 9
7 7
4 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Win
gs In
tern
atio
nal
Pat
ent
Off
ice
Pat
ent
Bu
sin
ess
Co
rpo
rati
on
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ates
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itir
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22
13
7 6
4 3 3 3 3
2
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5
10
15
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gs In
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atio
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ates
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llect
ual
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Us
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Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
133 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.12.1 Sony – Technology Fencing
Fig: 124 below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
Sony.
Fig: 124 Sony– Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
134 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
135 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.13 BOE Technology
BOE Technology has filed around 73% of its total patents in last six years indicating its rapid
research and development activity for thin film transistors used in flexible electronics.
BOE developed UHD AMOLED flexible display which utilizes combination of Oxide TFT
backplane technology, white OLED technology, colored -film and matrix substrate integration
technology. BOE also developed 9.55 inch AMOLED flexible display based on Oxide thin film
transistors.
Fig: 125 BOE – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications Wipo -BOE
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
136 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 126 BOE – Comparison chart (Research Country)
Fig: 127 BOE – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
BOE Technology Overall
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
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ada
Au
stra
lia
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stri
a
Bra
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Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
BOE Technology Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
137 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 128 BOE – Comparison chart (Application area)
Fig: 129 BOE – Patent Status
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
isp
lays
RFI
D
Elec
tro
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tic
Dis
pla
y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
BOE Technology Overall
96%
4%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
138 SAGACIOUS IP
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Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
02
71
2
H0
1L0
02
13
4
H0
1L0
05
10
5
H0
1L0
02
17
7
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
73
2
H0
1L0
05
10
0
H0
1L0
05
11
0
H0
1L0
02
96
6
H0
1L0
05
14
0
Liu Xiang 7 4 3 0 1 0 1 2 1 1 2 0
Zhang
Xuehui
6 0 0 0 4 1 0 3 2 3 0 0
Chen Xu 5 2 2 0 2 1 1 2 1 0 1 1
Liu Ze 5
0 0 0 5 0 0 1 3 3 1 2
Wang
Gang
4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Xie
Zhenyu
4 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
Yuan
Guang-Cai
4 4 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
Lan Lin-
Feng
3 6 2 4 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
Peng Jun-
Biao
3 6 2 4 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
Wang Lei 3 8 2 4 0 3 4 0 0 0 0 0
Fig: 130 BOE – Table (Key Inventors)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
139 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 131 BOE – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 132 BOE – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
30
20
13 11
8 7 6 6 4 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Liu
, Sh
en &
Ass
oci
ates
Lad
as &
Par
ry
Zbsd
Pat
ent
&Tr
adem
ark
Age
nt
Mu
raya
ma
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hik
o
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& P
artn
ers
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gon
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llect
ual
Pro
per
ty L
aw F
irm
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der
& P
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r . S
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-Kn
ow
ho
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telle
ctu
al P
rop
erty
Age
nt
Lead
er'S
Inte
llect
ual
Pro
per
ty
BOE - Law Firm
30
17
10 10 8 7 6 6 5 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Liu
, Sh
en &
Ass
oci
ates
Lad
as &
Par
ry
Mu
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ent
& T
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Kim
& C
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g
Cn
-Kn
ow
ho
w In
telle
ctu
alP
rop
erty
Age
nt
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
140 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.13.1 BOE Technology – Technology
Fencing
Fig: 133 below highlights the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
BOE Technology
Fig: 133 BOE – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
141 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
142 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.14 Canon
Canon Inc has filed only one patent in last six years which indicates that Canon is no more
interested in developing thin film transistor for flexible electronics.
Fig: 134 Canon – Comparison chart (Filing Trend)
Fig: 135 Canon – Comparison chart (Research Country)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Filing Trend (Priority Year)
Filing Overall INPADOC Patent Families
Overall PCT Applications wipo- Canon
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
USA
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Ger
man
y
Ital
y
Ind
ia
Fran
ce
Sin
gap
ore
Po
rtu
gal
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Au
stra
lia
Fin
lan
d
Au
stri
a
Research Country
Canon Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
143 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Fig: 136 Canon – Comparison chart (Market Geographies)
Fig: 137 Canon – Comparison chart (Application area)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
USA
Jap
an
Sou
th K
ore
a
Ch
ina
Taiw
an
Ger
man
y
Un
ite
d K
ingd
om
Can
ada
Au
stra
lia
Au
stri
a
Bra
zil
Sin
gap
ore
Ru
ssia
n F
ed
erat
ion
Fran
ce
Market Geographies
Canon Overall Market
0
400
800
1200
1600
LCD
Smar
tph
on
e
LED
OLE
D
EL D
isp
lay
Oth
er D
isp
lays
RFI
D
Elec
tro
ph
ore
tic
Dis
pla
y
Sen
sor
AM
OLE
D
Oth
er A
pp
licat
ion
Are
as
Application Area
Canon Overall
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
144 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 138 Canon – Patent Status
Key Inventors with IPC
Inventor No. of
Patents
H0
1L0
02
97
86
H0
1L0
02
13
36
H0
1L0
02
90
4
H0
1L0
02
91
0
H0
1L0
02
10
0
H0
1L0
02
94
9
H0
1L0
02
91
2
H0
1L0
05
15
0
H0
1L0
02
13
16
H0
1L0
02
94
17
H0
1L0
02
12
8
Hayashi Ryo 20 7 3 3 5 3 1 3 0 0 0 0
Iwasaki Tatsuya 16 6 1 5 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0
Sano Masafumi 15 9 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 2
Itagaki Naho 11 4 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Yabuta Hisato 11 5 4 0 2 1 1 1 0 2 0 0
Abe Katsumi 10 10 6 1 1 0 1 0 2 3 1 1
Kumomi Hideya 9 6 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
Kaji Nobuyuki 7 3 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Hayashi Susumu 6 6 4 0 0 0 2 0 3 2 2 2
Nomura Kenji 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
Fig: 139 Canon – Table (Key Inventors)
78%
22%
Patent Status
ALIVE DEAD
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
145 SAGACIOUS IP
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Fig: 140 Canon – Comparison chart (Law firm)
Fig: 141 Canon – Comparison chart (Last five years law firm)
62 57
30 24 22
13 6 5 5 4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Fitz
pat
rick
Cel
la, H
arp
er &
Scin
to
Oka
be
Inte
rnat
ion
al L
awO
ffic
e
Can
on
Ccp
it P
aten
t &
Tra
dem
ark
Law
Off
ice
Wes
er &
Ko
llege
n
Kw
on
Tae
Bo
k
Tbk
Kei
zo N
ish
iyam
a
Wat
anab
e N
ob
oru
Yam
ash
ita
Yuta
ka
Canon - Law Firm
12
7
1 1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Okabe International LawOffice
Fitzpatrick Cella, Harper& Scinto
Westerman, Hattori,Daniels & Adrian, LLP
Canon
Law Firm – Last Five Years
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
146 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.14.1 Canon – Technology Fencing
Fig: 142 below highlight the comparison between cited companies and citing companies of
canon
Fig: 142 Canon – Comparison chart (Technology Fencing)
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
147 SAGACIOUS IP
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
148 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.15 Companies having maximum
forward citations
Most citing companies are the companies having maximum number of forward citations.
Fig: 145 Shows the companies citing the patents in the current portfolio of the technology
domain. The bars in blue represent the number of patents in landscape analysis which have
forward citations. The bars in red represent number of forward citations owned by
representative company.
Fig: 145 Companies having maximum forward citations
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
150 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.16 Companies having maximum
backward citations
Companies having maximum backward cited patents of landscape analysis of the technology
domain. The bars in blue show the number of patents in landscape analysis who have cited the
patents of corresponding company. The bars in red show the number of patents of the
corresponding companies cited by the patents in the overall set.
Samsung has developed its technology over diverse set of patents as can be seen from fig while
3M innovative, Kodak have developed in confined an area.
Fig: 146 Companies having maximum backward citations
Flexible Electronics
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
152 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
5.17 Major Players – Comparative
Analysis – R&D
Major players can be further evaluated on the basis of various factors such as number of
inventors, number of patents and number of alive patents as shown in fig: Samsung dominates
all the major players in the listed factors.
Fig: 147 Major Players comparative analysis
Flexible Electronics
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Samsung:
High number of inventors in this domain, coupled with high number of inventors /
patent and low patents / inventor, can indicate that no focused group is working on TFT
for Flexible Electronics.
SEL, Kodak, Canon and Fuji Xerox:
High number of inventors per patent, lower number of total inventors, and a high self-
citation %age indicates that these companies have a good, core R&D team that is
focused on developing the TFT technology in a specific direction.
Toppan Printing:
Smaller team, High number of patents per inventor, and low self-citation %age indicates
that the R&D personnel at Toppan are working independently and developing multiple
new inventions.
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
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Flexible Electronics
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154 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.18 Major Players – Portfolio
Strength Analysis
Fig: 148 Major Players – Portfolio Strength Analysis
Canon and Kodak have strong patent portfolios, including most of the top cited patents in the
domain.
Surprisingly, Samsung, SEL and LG that have highest number of patents with good average
strength, do not have top cited patents in the domain.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
155 SAGACIOUS IP
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
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The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
156 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.19 Major Players – Comparative
Analysis
Fig: 149 Major Players – Comparative Analysis
In light of the R&D team analysis chart and this comparative market analysis chart, it is
becoming evident that SEL and Canon are taking the necessary steps in developing technology
related to TFT in flexible electronics and protecting it globally.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
157 SAGACIOUS IP
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Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
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The analysis is shown only for patents in thin film transistors for flexible electronics. The
complete analysis for any specific assignee is also available on request.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
158 SAGACIOUS IP
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5.20 Collaborations in the domain
Major players are collaborating to further enhance their technologies. Most of the
collaborations are between universities. Fig: 150 Highlights the major collaborations in the
domain.
Companies Number of
patents
Tsinghua University, Beijing Visionox Technology 7
Tsinghua University, Hon Hai Precision Industry 4
Tsinghua University, Kunshan Visionox Display 3
Kunshan Visionox Display, Beijing Visionox
Technology 3
Hitachi, Panasonic 5
Samsung, Industry-Academic Cooperation
Foundation Yonsei University
3
Sumitomo Chemical, Osaka University 3
Fig: 150 Collaboration in the domain
Flexible Electronics
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Fig: 151 Comparison chart – Most collaborating companies
12
11
11
11
10
10
7
6
6
0 3 6 9 12 15
Panasonic
Nippon Kayaku Co Ltd
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tsinghua University
Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited
Samsung
Beijing Visionox Technology
Hiroshima University
South China University of Technology
Most Collaborating Companies
Click the attached excel sheet to view the source data used to prepare this chart. To view and
customize the charts, on our dashboard, please write to us at
info@sagaciousresearch.com
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
160 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
6 Contact For
Enquiries.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
161 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
7 Methodology.
Step I
Understating - Sagacious developed a thorough understanding of the technology area.
Output - Rough Sketch of the Deliverable and Project Plan.
Step 2
Searching - Based on the expected output for project, Sagacious generated a list of keywords to
prepare a comprehensive search strategy that covers all the aspects pertinent to the project.
Further, this search strategy was used to perform patent searches on Questel Orbit and
Thomson Innovation patent databases. The search results obtained were reduced to one
member per patent family prior to analysis.
Output - A list of patents for screening and categorization.
Step 3
Patent Screening- During this step, the patents were filtered based on Title, Abstract & Claims
and were marked as relevant and non-relevant.
Output - A list of relevant patents and categorization of relevant patents filed in last three
months according to taxonomy.
Step 4
Deliverable Preparation - All the data obtained for the search was compiled and presented in
an MS Excel document and MS PowerPoint document.
Output - Deliverable of Analysis.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
162 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
Relevance Criteria
Relevant Patents
Patents/Applications explicitly disclosing
Any system (and/or method) disclosing fabrication for thin film transistor
Any system (and/or method) disclosing composition specifically used for manufacturing
thin film transistors
Any system (and/or method) disclosing substrates, thin films, gate electrodes, etc. which
are specifically used for manufacturing thin film transistors
Any system (and/or method) disclosing a display device, LCD, LED which also disclose in
claims about the methods for manufacturing thin film transistor..
Note: The patents are considered relevant only if they disclose in the specification that the thin
film transistors are used for flexible electronics such as camera, scanner, phone, displays, etc.
Non-Relevant Patents
Patents/Applications which do not disclose thin film transistors manufacturing method,
composition for thin film transistors, manufacturing methods for components, etc.
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
163 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
8 References.
1. http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/flexible-electronics.asp
2. http://gadgets.ndtv.com/science/news/new-thin-film-transistor-may-lead-to-flexible-
electronics-800716
3. http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_electronics/business_area/rd_p
age/
4. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-flexible-2017-rumor/
5. https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-no-2-in-global-rd-spending-
among-all-industries
6. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2814136/Foldable-screens-step-closer-
Super-flexible-super-strong-touchscreen-demonstrated-Japan.html
7. http://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/consumer-durables-and-information-
technology/consumer-electronics/lg-display-to-nvest-usd-400-million-in-south-
korea/52041417
8. http://www.lgdisplay.com/eng/product/technology/flexibleDisplay
9. http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/3/10706180/lg-rollable-display-flexible-screen-
announced-ces-2016
10. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35230043
11. http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/147441-move-over-flexible-screens-fujifilm-
shows-off-the-flexible-speaker
12. http://phys.org/news/2012-06-fuji-xerox-e-paper-filter.html
13. http://www.toppan.co.jp/en/news/2009/12/newsrelease1014.html
14. http://www.printedelectronicsnow.com/contents/view_online-exclusives/2013-03-
06/toppan-printing-plastic-logic-collaborate-on-
15. http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20050530/105227/
16. http://www.omron.com/media/press/2007/03/e0330.html
Flexible Electronics
A Patent Landscape Report with 100% Manual Analysis
164 SAGACIOUS IP
www.sagaciousresearch.com
17. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201005/10-070E/
18. http://company.boe.com/portal/en/chuangxinkeji/boechuangxin/wenzhangxiangqing/d
ynamic/pecbwd264.html
19. http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/flexDisplay/index.jhtml
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