Dental caries: A patent analysis
Poster Presentation at European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) Conference, 2016. 09.29-10.02, Budapest, Hungary
Authors: BENCZE Z, VARGA O Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
Pedro Alcoforado – “Dentistry student at the Department of Biological Sciences and Health, on the Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucury Valleys (UFVJM), Exchange student on Science Without Boarders program”
Abstract
Although there have been significant achievements in dental caries prevention and management in the European Union (EU), there is still a lot to be done. One approach to reduce caries prevalence is to promote novel technologies in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The current EU Health Strategy supports and sets development of new technologies as a priority, since new technologies can contribute to the efficiency and sustainability of health systems.
Aim
The aim of this work was to provide a patent landscape analysis to detect patterns of innovation in the area of caries research.
Methods
Patent analysis is a well-established method for studying development in a particular research area. In this study patents and patent applications were extracted from the Patbase, an international database from over 100 patent issuing authorities worldwide. The patents were searched combining different search terms related to dental caries in the titles, abstract, claims and examples of documents. Searches were limited to human necessities (CPC A61).
Results
The analysis was based on patenting activity trend, geographical distribution, research topics and patent holders. The patent search resulted in 2089 patent families with 12640 applications. The analysis of the place of patent filing resulted in 80 jurisdictions, with strong US dominance. To understand the technology focus, patents were grouped under three concepts: prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The highest numbers of patented innovation were associated with a few directions in treatment research. The overall patenting trend showed an increase in filings up to 1992, then a second spike up to 2015. Although the main patent holder was the Colgate Palmolive Co. out of 1371 assignees, in the field of prevention, Johnson and Johnson had an important role.
Conclusion
Patenting activity was found to have been intense in the last 10-15 years. Private sector companies dominate a wide variety of types of research, including the field of prevention.