牙科材料專利組合及佈局之策略分析-以牙齒漂白為例

Abstract

目前的牙醫門診除了基本的疾病治療之外，已經提升到注重美觀的層次。對於很多病人來說，牙齒的外觀漂亮與否是一件很重要的事情，所以牙齒漂白治療在近幾年已成為牙科治療的重要趨勢。牙齒的顏色可能因外在的染色或內因性染色而有所改變，例如四環黴素染色、年齡增長等因素，另外，抽菸、茶、紅酒及深色食物亦有可能對牙齒造成染色。隨著漂白方法及藥物的不斷更新，漂白效果也越來越好。 在智慧財產逐漸受到重視的今日，如何善用專利資訊以瞭解技術發展現狀，並據此提升研發效率是一件重要的事。掌握專利資訊可縮短研發時間，以及研發成本，根據世界智慧財產權組織統計顯示，清楚瞭解專利技術資訊可剖析產業商業模式，並能運用專利取得保護與妥為優化商業模式。 本研究主要經由專利分析檢索專利組合，繪製牙齒漂白相關專利技術之專利地圖，探討台灣牙齒美白相關技術之發展，分析專利件數、國際專利分類 (International Patent Classification，IPC) 分析等，並透過亞太智慧財產權發展基金會 (Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Association，APIPA) 資料庫之全球專利檢索分析系統 (GPSA)檢索，從 1986 年至 2010 年之有效專利共有 77 筆,並加以探討牙齒美白技術之發展情形。 研究結果發現：(1)牙齒美白相關專利產出穩定成長，整體而言該產業在研發投入上相當積極。(2) 牙醫科學的技術與專利以國外公司或發明人佔有優勢。 (3) 台灣牙齒美白相關之專利集中在人類生活所需的部分。 (4) 由技術─功效─專利號之矩陣表得知，目前牙齒美白相關之專利集中在漂白藥劑相關之技術。 結論：透過專利分析以及專利地圖的製作，探討了近年牙齒美白技術發展的趨勢以及重心，並且透過分析專利技術圖表，建議朝增進牙齒美白效率以及便利性的診療用器械進行研發。

Esthetics of the teeth is very important to patients. Tooth bleaching therapy is an important dental procedure for patients in recent years. Tooth discoloration may be caused by intrinsic discoloration or extrinsic discoloration. Tetracycline, aging factors, smoking, tea, red wine and deep colored food may also cause tooth discoloration. The effect of tooth bleaching becomes better with the changing of the bleaching method and agent. Patents can raise this product's value and comprehensive industrial information. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) statistics shows that an industry's business model not only can be analyzed by using patent technology information, but also can be protected by obtaining patents properly. The purpose of this study was to analyze the patents in dental material field to explore technologies of the tooth bleaching through patent map from GPSA . Firstly, we set up key words and patent portfolios to search Taiwan's patents for the tooth bleaching from Taiwan's patent database. According to the results of our patent searching, 77 tooth bleaching-related patents were found from 1986 to 2010. Through analysis of these data, we could investigate the development of tooth bleaching techniques in Taiwan and other countries. The results showed that patents of tooth bleaching steadily increased year by year in Taiwan. Foreign companies and inventors had the advantages in tooth bleaching technology and patents. Tooth bleaching patents were mostly related to the people's living requirement, and tooth bleaching patents are mostly related to bleaching formula. In conclusion, by using patent analysis and patent map, this study suggests that the development of related instruments to improve the efficiency of tooth bleaching is very important. In addition, we can also apply patents for these newly developed instruments.