Li Peng, Zhu Xiaojuan

Patent Examination Collaboration Beijing Center, State Intellectual Property Office, China

With the rapid growth of the sunscreen cosmetic market,[1]many cosmetics companies have invested a lot in research, development and production of sunscreen cosmetics, and one of the manifestations is the number of sunscreen cosmetic patent applications increasing year by year. From the perspective of China patent application data, we analyze the layout of China sunscreen cosmetics patents. Searching the key words of international patent classification number A61Q17/04 (topical agent to resist sunlight or other radiation, topical suntan preparation) in Incopat, Patenics and other retrieval platforms, this article analyzes China patent application quantity changes,primary applicants ranking and typical applicants’applications. It aims to provide references for the sunscreen cosmetic enterprises.

General situation of China patent application

According to the retrieval and statistical results of China patent applications, the patent applications of sunscreen cosmetic-related technology, mainly, includes China, Japan, the United States, France, and Germany,of which China’s patent applications accounts for 60%(Figure 1).

Figure 1. Global proportion of Chinese patent applications

From the viewpoint of patent application quantity,China patent application quantity has been growing in recent years, and it can be concluded that daily chemical enterprises pay more and more attention to China’s patent share. China’s patent system started late, and the cosmetics industry got attention only in past years.There were no China sunscreen cosmetics patents until 2001. From 2001 to 2008, the research and development of sunscreen cosmetics in China is in the initial stage,and the total annual application quantity is small. It grew rapidly from 2009, and the rapid growth stage began. It is superior to other countries in the form of growth. Japan,the United States, France, and Germany have a similar trend of patent applications in China, reached the peak from 2008 to 2010, and then gradually decreased. It can be seen that the patent layout of countries such as Japan,the United States, France, and Germany has been steady.In recent years, the research investment in sunscreen cosmetics has been gradually reduced.

Applicant ranking

As of 20 July 2017, a total of 3,268 patent applications in the field of sunscreen cosmetics, have been applied for in China, of which 1,959 were applied by Chinese applicants,accounting for 60%, and the other 1,309 were applied for by foreign applicants, accounting for 40%. According to the statistics of 2,062 closed patent applications, 1,187 patents have been granted, 430 of which are by foreign applicants and 325 by Chinese applicants.

In the top ten applicants in patents quantity, China,Japan, the United States, and the Netherlands each account for two, France and Germany account for one, respectively.Most of the top patent applications are large multinational cosmetics enterprises. Among them, the companies with the highest patent quality (higher patent effective rate)include Shiseido, Unilever Netherlands Co. Ltd, Kao Corporation and the DSM, the patent effective rate is above 70%. In the top 10 Chinese applicants, one is an enterprise, the majority of patent applications are still under review and have not been closed; another is a university, and the validity of patents is up to 50% (Table 1).

Table 1. Ranking of primary patent applications of sunscreen cosmetics

In patent applications in the field of sunscreen cosmetics, 49% of Chinese applicants are enterprises,27% are individuals, and the other 24% are universities,scientific research organizations and government departments (Figure 2). The top ten Chinese applicants in application quantity, each are less than 50, of which 5 are enterprises are not prestigious cosmetics enterprises(Figure 3).

Figure 2. Distribution of domestic patent applicants

It can be seen that foreign cosmetics enterprises have more stable patent application strategies in the field of sunscreen cosmetics, while Chinese cosmetic enterprises pay little attention to patent protection due to technical backwardness, and lower technical content of products.Chinese cosmetic enterprises need to increase research and development input, improve R & D level, or cooperate with Chinese colleges and universities or scientific research institutions, develop new products with independent intellectual property rights, attach importance to patent protection, improve both quantity and quality of patent applications, and gradually establishing a patent layout strategy to increase competitiveness of enterprises and products.

Typical applicant’s patent application

Foreign major cosmetic enterprises widely cover patent protection of sunscreen cosmetics. With more and more fierce competition, understanding the development trend and patent layout of foreign cosmetics enterprises’ core production technology, helps Chinese enterprises to improve the technology and competitiveness.

L’Oreal

It is well known that the core technology of sunscreen cosmetic formulation is very important, that is, the performance and quality of sunscreens. As seen from the ranking of index words in China patent applications from L’oreal, most of the top ten index words are chemical sunscreens (Figure 4). It can be seen that L’oreal has invested a lot into the core technology of sunscreen cosmetics.

Figure 3. Ranking of domestic patent applicants

Figure 4. Ranking of index words of patent application by L'Oreal company in China

In the search, it also found that a total of 57 patent applications involve using Merocyanine derivatives as sunscreens, 36 of which are from L’oreal.

Representative patent applications from L’oreal:CN101023089A is about novel silane, siloxane or polysiloxane derivative of Merocyanine sulfolane as a long-term UVA filter material for cosmetics due to their good performance in solving poor solubility and poor optical stability; CN102933195A further improves the photochemical stability of the dibenzoylmethane derivative, and its effectiveness for UVA by combining the dibenzoylmethane derivative with, at least, one specific Merocyanine dicyano or cyanoacetate derivative.There are also a series of cosmetic compositions comprising Merocyanine compound to prevent and/or treat keratin materials aging caused by ultraviolet radiation (especially UVA radiation). CN104936655A is about the cosmetic containing Merocyanine and an emulsifying system which comprises an amphiphilic polymer, and in the polymer, there is at least one 2-acrylamide-based methylpropanesulfonic acid unit.CN105188652A involves Merocyanine and an alkali metal salt containing a fatty alcohol phosphate ester,CN105188653A contains Merocyanine and lipophilic benzotriazole UV-masking agents and/or bis-resorcinolbased triazine compounds.

Shiseido

Sunscreen cosmetics, on one hand, are expected to have a strong defense effect, and on the other hand, are expected to be fresh and non-greasy when used. Shiseido researched the use of sunscreen cosmetics, intensively. As seen from the ranking of index words of patent applications by Shiseido, there are a lot of patents using siloxane compounds to improve user experience (Figure 5).

Figure 5. ranking of index words of patent applications by Shiseido Co. Ltd., in China

Physical sunscreen agents have good safety and stability, do not easy generate phototoxic reactions or light allergic reactions. They are usually insoluble particles or powders, and the diameter of the particles directly influences the ultraviolet shielding effect of the ultraviolet shielding agent.[2]As seen from the ranking of index words of patent application by Shiseido,there are many patents using zinc oxide and titanium oxide as index words, which indicates that Shiseido has carried out deep research on optimizing physical sunscreen agents. Its representative patent applications:CN1248228A zinc oxide with special form which is made by a special method, has excellent UVA shielding effects and excellent visible light transmittance; CN1917848A performs specific hydrophobization treatment on the zinc oxide powder, to present low oil absorption PDF, low specific volume, the hydrophobic/ oleophobic property is excellent, can be stably matched with the preparation,and easy to clean after use; CN104780894A can inhibit the peculiar unpleasant odor of zinc oxide by using fine particle zinc oxide which has received hydrophobized treatment and been coated with silicon dioxide.

Unilever Netherland Co., Ltd

Safety, high-efficiency, broad-spectrum and economical sun-screening agents and its formulations are the focus of sunscreen light cosmetics, and are also the areas where each chemical company has been involved.[3]Using composite sunscreens in sunscreen cosmetics can achieve desired product performance. Unilever Netherland Co.Ltd., conducted intensive study on the use of compound sunscreen agents.

Unilever representative patent applications:CN1311662A can improve sunscreen activity, reduce irritation and control costs by adding inorganic sunscreen agents with large particle size under the addition of lower organic sunscreen agents; CN103764104A realizes high SPF value and low preparation cost by adding a specific non-ionic surfactant, and a specific inorganic sunscreen agent into a cosmetic matrix containing fatty acid, even if a small amount of organic sunscreen agent is added or no organic sunscreen agent is added; CN105188853A increases the SPF value comprising the low organic sunscreen composition,and reduces costs by specific nonionic surfactant interacting with hollow microspheres in a cosmetic matrix comprising a small amount of fatty acid.

Conclusion

In the changing of the cosmetic market and increasingly fierce competition, to understand the development trend of cosmetics enterprises home and abroad is very important to improve market competitiveness. Knowing patent applications of sunscreen cosmetics in China, helps the enterprises grasp the technology and market development trend of sunscreen cosmetics. The cosmetics enterprises should pay more attention to technological innovation and scientific and technological achievement transformations,attach importance to patent protection and patent layout,to win a place in fierce market competition.

[1] Zhao Yue; Li Qiong; Wu Xiao Jian; et al., Development of sunscreen agents in China. Daily Chemical Science 2010, 33(12),14-16.

[2] Cheng Shuangyin; Huang Jinsong; Chen Dai Yi; et al. Research Progress of Sunscreens. Perfume Essence Cosmetics 2014 (4),67-72.

[3] Xu Liang. Sunscreen cosmetic market and technology development trend. Beijing Daily Chemical 2015 (3), 40-42.