Analysis of patent innovation evolution and layout characteristics of global new textile materials technologies

At present, scholars' research on the technological innovation of new textile materials mainly focuses on three aspects: (1) the field of textile raw material technology, such as herbal biomass, natural dyes, and extracted cellulose, which are widely used to develop high-performance, intelligent textiles and multi-functional materials [15,16,17] to meet the needs of the industry and market, and improve the competitiveness and added value of textiles; (2) case studies focusing on the impact of technological innovations in new textile materials, such as using eco-friendly technologies to produce textiles with the required physicochemical and mechanical properties [18,19], as well as scalable nanofabrication technologies to customize smart fabrics [20] and natural fabrics [21] to meet various potential application needs, and (3) analysis of the policy mechanism of technological innovation for new textile materials, as well as evaluation of the expected impact of new technologies on the environment and human security [22, 23], and emphasis on the important role of policy guidance and supervision in the sustainable development of technology.

The current definition of patent value mainly includes the excess rent earned by the patent in the market and the asset value of the patent [24, 25]. The former reflects the incentive effect of patent protection scope, while the latter emphasizes the profit return obtained by the patentee by utilizing the patent monopoly within the scope of patent protection. A large number of studies have shown that the value of a patent depends on many factors, including the legal, economic, technical, and strategic value of the patent. The number of patent citations (forward citations) is a commonly used an indicator of patent value [26], representing the originality, influence, and versatility of patented technology [27]. More and more scholars have directly measured patent value by the number of patent citations, and used it as the dependent variable of regression analysis, indicating that the number of patent citations has a positive effect on patents' value [28,29,30].

However, at present, there are few studies on the evolution of the patent innovation of new textile material technology, especially the lack of comparative research on global patent data. Therefore, from the perspective of a micro-technology network, this paper explores the technical layout, development trend, and evolution characteristics of textile new materials in major countries and regions of the world, providing reference for textile technology innovation and development.

The data used in this article are from the PatSnap patent database (https://analytics.zhihuiya.com/). As for new textile material technology, according to the research results of Slubik et al. [31], Papaspyrides et al. [32], and Sibiescu et al. [33], it is mainly defined as high-tech fibers, high-tech fabrics, and high-tech industrial textiles produced by adopting high-tech processes and equipment in recent years. Its content involves textiles, clothing, fibers, spinning, weaving and weaving, etc. The International Patent Classification (IPC) includes two categories: D (textile) and A41 (garment). First you select the new material industry in the national strategic emerging industry classification, and combine it with the international patent classification number D01 fiber, D02 yarn, D03 weaving, D04 knitting, D05 sewing, and D06 fabric treatment, etc., The patent status is then selected as „valid”. Since the time period is about 18 months from the invention patent application to publication and grant, the search time is limited to before 2021. Since IP5 (Five Intellectual Property Offices), the world's five major intellectual property offices, handle about 80% of the world's patent applications, (about 95% of all work carried out under the Patent Cooperation Agreement (PCT)), five countries and regions including China, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Europe were selected as innovation regions for the study. Through the above strategies, the search results were applied for consolidation, and finally 76373 patent data consistent with this study was obtained.

With the implementation of the economic globalization strategy and the rapid development of textile technology, a large number of multinational enterprises participating in international market competition rely on patents in different countries and regions to improve the competitiveness of products and technologies. Therefore, overseas patent layouts can help enterprises obtain exclusive intellectual property rights, and play a positive role in promoting enterprises to build brand value and enhance technological innovation capabilities [34]. At the same time, based on the recognition and respect for intellectual property rights, products with overseas intellectual property rights protection may gain more recognition in the process of expanding overseas markets. To further analyze the layout of each country in the global market of textile new material technology patents, this paper calculates the overseas export rate (OER) and the acceptance layout rate (ALR) of a country or region according to the following formula. (1) OERi=ΣP(i→j)Pi×% {\rm{OE}}{{\rm{R}}_{\rm{i}}} = {{\Sigma {P_{(i \to j)}}} \over {{P_i}}} \times \% (2) ALPi=ΣP(i→j)Pi×% {\rm{AL}}{{\rm{P}}_{\rm{i}}} = {{\Sigma {P_{(i \to j)}}} \over {{P_i}}} \times \%

Where P_i represents the total number of patents in new textile material technology in a certain country or region; P_(i→j) indicates the number of new textile material technology patents applied by the country or region i or in the country or region j; and, in the same way, P_(j→i) indicates the number of new textile material technology patents applied for by the country or region i that were accepted by the country or region j.

Information such as the number of patents, patent types, and patent composition categories reflects the development trend of technological innovation in the industry. By using the patent measurement method to analyze the technical characteristics of the sample data, the overall trend of the development in this field can be obtained [35,36,37]. This paper uses global textile new material technology patent application data for textile new material technology to reveal the evolution process and competitive situation of new global textile material technology innovation from the perspectives of patent application development trends, applicant distribution, technology evolution, and technology field distribution, reflecting the textile technology innovation ability and layout characteristics.

The theme of patent technology can reflect the process of patent technology aggregation and evolution in a particular field, and is the basis for predicting technology development trends and discovering emerging technologies [9]. Based on the IPC number of new textile material technology patents and the use of Loglet Lab software to fit the S-curve of the technology life cycle, the results show that the number of new global textile material technology patents before 2005 was relatively small and belongs to the embryonic stage. From 2005 to 2009, with the rapid development of textile technology and the deepening of the process of economic globalization, the cumulative number of applications reached 2,518, and the development entered a growth period, where the United States and Japan were in a dominant position in new textile material technology innovation. Meanwhile, China had also begun to enter the fast lane of technology patent applications, and became the country with the largest number of patents for new textile material technology in the world. From 2010 to 2018, the number of patent applications in Europe, the United States and developed countries tended to stabilize, and technological development entered a mature period. However, after 2019, due to the impact of the COVID-19 around the world, the technological innovation activities of enterprises and scientific research institutions were affected to varying degrees, so the annual number of patent applications declined significantly. Then, combined with the number and year of IPC, the evolution process and evolution characteristics of new textile material technology in different countries at different stages and different periods were analyzed through a bubble chart, in which the size of the bubble represents the number of patent applications.

Before 2009, China's research on textile new material technology was in its infancy, so the size of the bubbles was not obvious (the results as shown in Figure 4). After 2010, technologies such as D01F (equipment for making man-made filament fibers with chemical characteristics or carbon fibers), D06M (biochemical treatment of fiber products made from fiber, yarn, and thread raw materials) and D01D (mechanical methods or equipment for making chemical filaments, threads, and fibers) developed rapidly, becoming an important force in promoting domestic textile technological innovation and upgrading of the industrial chain. At the same time, China's accession to the WTO obtained the most favored nation treatment, effectively improving the economic and trade market, under the influence of low-cost labor, population and market dividends, which laid a good foundation for further opening-up of China's textile industry development to the outside world. In 2001, China's textile and garment exports amounted to 54.32 billion US dollars, accounting for 13% of the world's total textile and garment trade. By 2010, China's textile and garment exports were worth 212.0 billion US dollars, accounting for 34% of the world's total textile and garment trade, and the export scale ranked first in the world. Driven by the concept of global sustainable development and the upgrading of the industrial chain, the Chinese government issued policies such as the „13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Strategic Emerging Industries”, the „Guidelines for the Development of New Materials Industry” and the „Made in China 2025”, proposing the goal of developing from a „major textile country” to a „powerful textile country”. Since 2013, technologies such as D04H (textile manufacturing), D06P (dyeing or printing), C08G (polymer compounds), and D02G (fiber) have injected new vitality into the innovation and development of new textile materials.

Fig. 2.

Evolution mapping of new textile material technology in China

Fig. 3.

Evolution mapping of new textile material technology in Japan

Fig. 4.

Evolution mapping of new textile material technology in the USA

As mentioned above, the innovation strength of new textile materials in Japan is at the forefront the world, and since 2004, it has been particularly prominent in technologies such as D06M, D01F, and D04H (the results as shown in Figure 5), with a more pronounced bubble presentation. This is mainly due to the country's early policy support for new materials. As early as the 1980s and 1990s, the Japanese government began to take a series of measures to promote the development of new materials, proposing the development goal of „focusing on the practicality of new materials, taking into account the coordinated development of the environment and resources,” and so in the global market for carbon fiber technology, new chemical materials and man-made fibers as well as other market positions began to play a significant role. After 2016, the government strengthened business alliances, such as Nihon Keidanren, highlighting its own advantages and emphasizing innovative models such as international cooperation with the United States and the European Union. Therefore, D03D (woven fabrics; weaving methods; looms), C08L (polymer compound composition), D01D and D02G, and other technologies also showed strong market competitiveness.

Fig. 5.

Evolution mapping of new textile material technology in South Korea

Fig. 6.

Evolution mapping of new textile material technology in Europe

To maintain its global leadership in the field of new materials science and technology, the United States has formulated a series of development goals for comprehensive strategic planning, including the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) [8], which was launched in 2000, the Materials Genome Initiative[46, 47] for Global Competitiveness, launched in 2011, and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (now known as Manufacturing USA) [48, 49] in 2012, which took the lead in completing the layout for the integration and development of patented technologies in the world. Therefore, from 2001 to 2010, D01F, D04H, D02G, and D03D technology had obvious advantages, with DuPont, 3M and Dow Global Technology Company, and other representatives of the garment and advanced material production and chemical material enterprises, providing an important guarantee for the United States in the development of the new textile material industry to maintain the global leadership position. After 2010, the digital revolution and the rapid development of Internet of Things technology, the United States re-recognized and positioned the development trend of the textile industry, especially multi-material and multi-structure smart fibers and revolutionary fibers & textiles that integrate multiple functions, giving birth to the important industry of „Smart Fabrics”. Consequently, technologies such as D01D, D06M, C08L, C08K (using inorganic or non-polymeric organic substances as ingredients), and D06P (dyeing or printing of textiles) became the focus of research and development.

In the mid-1990s, the technological level of South Korea's spinning, weaving, dyeing and printing, garment production, and textile machinery manufacturing was recognized worldwide, with D01F, D01D, D06M, and D04H becoming the focus of its new textile material technology development. After 2012, policies and plans such as the „Nanofusion 2020 Project”, „Third Basic Plan for Science and Technology”, and „Korea's Future Growth Power Plan” were formulated to promote the reform and restructuring of large enterprise groups, play a centralized role, and encourage a „government civilian integration” model of collaborative innovation among all employees. This led to the emergence of global aramid fiber and new chemical material production enterprises represented by Kelon Industrial Co., Ltd. and LG Chem. Technologies such as D02G, D03D, C08L, D06C (fabric finishing, sizing, stretching or elongation) and D06B (liquid phase, gas phase or steam treatment of textile materials) were also rapidly developed. This has enabled South Korea to maintain global competitiveness in new textile material technologies.

The development of textile new material technology in Europe is similar to that of the United States and Japan, with a strong focus on the construction of industrial clusters with their own characteristics, establishingt and improving the industrial standardization system based on core technology and core manufacturing, fostering and promoting strong alliances and high-quality development of basic science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Thus, ,before 2008, D04H, D01F and D06M had obvious technical advantages. After 2010, with the growing strength of textile technology in Asian countries, its new textile material innovation model focused on industrial demand, emphasizing the enhancement of the added value of textile materials. In order to maintain the advantages of EU industry and improve its future competitiveness, the European Commission systematically researches the advantages of EU industry and the future development direction. In June 2011, six major technologies, including advanced materials, were identified as Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) [50] for EU industry, with material and nanomaterial technology funding and layout as an important research area. New Textile material technologies became increasingly important in the field of EU science and technology development. After 2014, Germany established a national strategy called the „Textile of the Future” project, which identifies the textile industry as one of the most innovative and dynamic industries in Germany by creating new industries, products, and services based on new materials, energy efficiency, environmental protection, and smart products. Therefore, technologies such as D01D, C08L, D03D, and D02G have gradually become an important part of the field of new textile material technology.