Global Patent Scenario of Materials: An IP Analysis

There is an ever increasing demand and innovation worldwide in the area of materials research in aerospace industry. Research on materials is the focused area in aerospace sector because reducing aircraft/spacecraft weight and/or increasing the temperature capabilities is the key factor in increasing the performance. Hence there is always an urge on the development of advanced materials especially in the area of light weight, High temperature resistant materials. There are different ways of keeping abreast on current state of art on the development of advanced materials namely reading Journal publications, attending conferences/seminars or performing intellectual property (IP) analysis specifically looking at patents. Patent portfolio indicates the technology and research direction of a company. Intellectual property plays a key role in the present global competitive world. It is not only an asset for the company but also helps in increasing the bottom line of an organization. Hence, an attempt was made to look at the global patent scenario of materials used for aerospace industry. A high level scan of aerospace materials patent portfolio in the past 20 years was done to understand the current technology focus and trend of materials research. The study was restricted to Aerospace/Aviation Players. Four different types of Materials are considered for the study namely Light weight metals (includes Al and Ti alloys), Superalloys, High temperature coatings and Composites. A further deep dive analysis on the above materials has been done to understand the Industry focus on various technology areas such as Manufacturing, Inspection, Application etc. This analysis helps technologists in understanding the current state of art and research focus in Materials area specific to Aerospace/Aviation Industry