Introduction to the Global Photoresist Patent Analysis Report (Part 1)

There are a total of 5,483 global patents related to photoresists and associated materials. These patents cover all aspects of the materials required for the preparation and application of photoresists, including resins, monomers, photogenerated acid generators, additives, complementary reagents, auxiliary materials, and their respective manufacturing processes. The proportion of each type of patent is shown in the classification chart mentioned above. As can be seen, resins account for the largest share, making them the area of photoresist technology that has attracted the most attention in the industry; followed by photogenerated acid generators, complementary reagents, and auxiliary materials. Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of global photoresist patents according to their earliest filing year. The earliest patent applications for photoresists date back to 1962, and around 1979, the number of applications began to increase steadily. 2

　　There are a total of 5,483 global patents related to photoresists and associated materials. These patents cover all aspects of the materials required for the preparation and application of photoresists, including resins, monomers, photogenerated acid generators, additives, complementary reagents, auxiliary materials, and their respective manufacturing processes. The proportion of each type of patent is shown in the classification chart mentioned above. As can be seen, resins account for the largest share, making them the area of photoresist technology that has attracted the most attention in the industry; followed by photogenerated acid generators, complementary reagents, and auxiliary materials. Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of global photoresist patents according to their earliest filing year. The earliest patent applications for photoresists date back to 1962, with steady growth beginning around 1979 and reaching a peak between 2011 and 2012. Currently, the field remains in a period of robust activity.

　　The Materials and Components Alliance conducted a systematic and in-depth analysis of global photoresist patents, covering topics such as an overview of global photoresist R&D patent activities; a comparative analysis of photoresist patents across six major regions—Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan; an analysis of the patent landscape for different types of photoresists; a detailed examination of the patent status of the world’s top ten photoresist companies; and an analysis of China’s photoresist patent situation. The research report focuses on describing global patent application volumes, patent application trends, patent legal statuses, geographic distribution of patents, distribution of patent holders, citation patterns among patent holders, core patent concepts, patent maps, technical field classification tables, key patents, co-application patterns among patent holders, and the technological positioning of leading patent holders.

　　The “Global Photoresist Industry Patent Analysis Report” comprises 468 pages and 459 charts, and includes full texts of 5,483 photoresist patents as supplementary material.

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