Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The global push for miniaturization and energy efficiency in electronics, coupled with increasing demand for non-invasive medical solutions, is creating a critical need for high-performance smart materials. Regulatory pressures for sustainable product design also favor materials that reduce energy consumption. This technology offers a timely solution, enabling product differentiation and addressing key market demands across diverse industries.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Enables rapid shape change at low drive temperatures, significantly reducing energy consumption and contributing to product miniaturization and weight reduction.

02

Achieves high deformation rates, enabling precise motion control and flexible designs for diverse applications such as medical ligatures, sutures, and advanced wearable devices.

03

Provides stable performance through a unique crystalline cured product derived from specific curable compounds 1 and 2, ensuring reliable operation.

Market Opportunity
Medical and Healthcare
$350M–$3.5B globally (AI est.)
Driven by increasing demand for minimally invasive treatments and improved patient quality of life in an aging society, alongside the expanding market for medical polymer materials. This technology could apply to surgical materials like ligatures and sutures, as well as implantable devices such as catheters and stents.
Medical device manufacturers Surgical instrument suppliers Biomaterial developers
Wearable Devices
$450M–$4.5B globally (AI est.)
Demand for smartwatches, smart clothing, and other integrated lifestyle devices is expanding. This technology's low power consumption and flexible shape-changing capabilities could extend battery life and enable more natural fit and movement, potentially revolutionizing user experience.
Consumer electronics OEMs Smart textile innovators Sports and fitness tech companies
Industrial Robots and Precision Equipment
$200M–$2.0B globally (AI est.)
The advancement of automation and labor-saving in manufacturing drives increased demand for smaller, high-precision actuators. This technology's low drive temperature and high deformation rate could offer new design freedom and efficiency in applications requiring precise positioning and complex movements.
Industrial robotics manufacturers Precision actuator developers Automation solution providers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a broad technical scope across 17 claims, covering specific compound compositions, cured products, shape memory members, ligatures, sutures, and wearable devices. The patent's strength is evidenced by its successful navigation of examiner rejections, indicating robust and difficult-to-invalidate claims, which provides licensees with a stable foundation for business development and competitive advantage.

Competitive White Space

This patent focuses on the specific compound composition and its cured product. White space exists in novel manufacturing processes for these materials, advanced integration methods into complex systems, or applications in areas like smart textiles beyond simple wearables.

Economic Impact
~$150K/year estimated operational cost reduction per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

When integrated as an actuator in wearable devices, this technology could reduce annual power consumption by approximately 25% compared to conventional shape memory materials. For example, a company operating 100,000 devices could save ~$1.50/device annually in electricity costs (AI est.), leading to an estimated ~$150K/year in total operational cost savings (AI est.). Indirect cost reductions from shorter surgical times are also anticipated in the medical sector.

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
As a research outcome from a national R&D institute, the fundamental material properties are already established. This significantly reduces the time required for basic research, material selection, and property evaluation that a licensee would need for similar in-house development. With specific compound compositions identified, product development can focus on design and application validation rather than material optimization, potentially shortening time-to-market by approximately 2.5 years.
Competitive Positioning

X: Shape Memory Performance Reproducibility
Y: Low Temperature Drive Efficiency

Business Models & Applications
📄 Licensing Model
This model involves granting licenses for the patented technology, allowing licensees to integrate it into their products and generate royalty revenue. It offers a low barrier to entry for a wide range of companies.
🤝 Joint Development Model
This model focuses on co-developing products with licensees for specific application areas. It combines the technology holder's expertise with the licensee's market insights to rapidly launch high-value products.
📦 Material Supply Model
In this model, the cured material itself is supplied to licensees, who then process it into finished products. Providing high-quality materials consistently establishes a supply chain advantage.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🏥 Medical Implants
Temperature-Responsive Stents & Catheters
Applying this technology to stents and catheters could enable shape changes in response to body temperature, allowing for safer and less invasive placement or retrieval within blood vessels. The low drive temperature is highly effective in minimizing biological burden.
👕 Smart Apparel
Climate-Adaptive Smart Clothing
Integrating this technology into fibers could lead to smart apparel that automatically adjusts breathability or changes shape to fit the body based on ambient temperature and humidity. This has the potential to significantly enhance user comfort.
🤖 Soft Robotics
Biomimetic Actuators for Soft Robotics
Leveraging low drive temperature and high deformation rates, this technology could be applied as an actuator for soft robots that mimic human muscles or biological movements. This could enable the development of robots capable of more delicate and safer interactions.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 24-Month Deployment
Technology Evaluation and Requirements
Duration: 3 months
Product development teams and technology experts collaborate to define specific product concepts, application scope, and performance requirements. Initial data sharing and evaluation are conducted.
Prototype Development and Validation
Duration: 9 months
Based on defined requirements, prototype materials are molded and processed using this technology, followed by preliminary functional validation. Optimization of material composition and processing conditions is pursued to achieve target performance.
Design for Commercialization and Production
Duration: 12 months
Final product design is confirmed based on prototype validation results. Preparation for mass production, including establishing manufacturing processes and quality control systems, is initiated. Final evaluations and certification preparations for market launch are conducted.
Technical Feasibility
This technology, a crystalline cured product derived from specific curable compounds, is expected to have high compatibility with existing resin molding and processing technologies. The patent claims specify concrete compound formulas, providing clear guidance for material design. This suggests that licensees could integrate this technology with relatively minor modifications to existing material manufacturing lines and equipment, streamlining product development.
Success Scenario
Upon adoption, licensees could offer less invasive ligatures and sutures in the medical field, potentially reducing average surgical times by 15% and shortening post-operative recovery periods, thereby improving healthcare efficiency and patient satisfaction. In wearable devices, this technology could extend battery life by 25% and enhance product miniaturization and comfort.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-056339
REGISTRATION NO.
7669026
FILING DATE
2021/03/30
GRANT DATE
2025/04/18
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/03/30
PATENT HOLDER
国立研究開発法人物質・材料研究機構
Examination History
2023年11月28日
出願審査請求書
2024年10月08日
拒絶理由通知書
2024年12月04日
手続補正書（自発・内容）
2024年12月04日
意見書
2025年04月01日
特許査定