Packaging, Films & Bioplastics – Subtopic Landscape

A synthetic biology perspective

The subset of SynBio – packaging, films & bioplastics related patents were further investigated to identify subtopics and assess trending areas. The topic model leverages a hybrid approach based on the optimised extractive summary for each publication. Using a combination of topic discovery via fine-tuned transformer based deep learning and ground truth cross referencing via keyword and classification codes. The process enables a patent to belong to more than one topic for accurate multi-classification trends, accounting for multiple invention embodiments. Please see the topic model page for further details regarding the topic model methodology to avoid duplication here.

Subtopic landscape

The synthetic biology – packaging, films & bioplastics topic model is visualised in figure 15.9, based on the dimensionality reduction of vector embeddings to map each patent to a contextually relevant x & y coordinate, the categorical clusters are colour coded to support review. The visual is based on patents assigned to one key subtopic for simplicity. However, trend analysis also enables a patent to belong to more than one subtopic which is consistent with the topic model methodology throughout this project.

Subtopic model – technology cluster totals

The hybrid topic model methodology identified 10 diverse topics which are ranked based on the total number of published applications in figure 15.10. A patent application can be counted more than once as it can belong to multiple topics.

In figure 15.10, the analysis enables multilabel classification for each patent application, to account for multiple invention embodiments. During the 20 year publication period 2004-2023, 91% of documents identified were classified within the biopackaging topic. The biodegradable and compostable packaging market is forecast to grow at 8.8% CAGR to 2029. Growth is fuelled by the need for sustainable biobased alternatives to historical plastic packaging. Almost 80% of the documents identified are classified within the bio- or photodegradable, biocompostable topic. Regarding document classification, the following distributions were observed:

  • Around 75% of documents are classified within the bioplastics & renewable based material topic. Whilst 62% of documents are classified within the disintegrable or dissolvable topic.
  • Almost a third of documents are classified in the films or biofilms topic, indicating the importance of biobased materials, etc. for hydrogels, etc.
  • Regarding feedstocks, around 32% of documents are classified in the cellulose / lignocellulose topic, a major source of materials. Approx. 20% of documents are classified in the waste or recycled material topic and 17% of documents are classified in the starch based topic.
  • Regarding polymers, around a third of documents were classified in the polyester based topic.

The packaging, films & bioplastics subtopic publication year trends are shown in figure 15.11. Publication trends discussed below are based on EP A1/A2 applications, identified patents can belong to more than one subtopic due to multiple invention embodiments.

In figure 15.11, all 10 subtopic areas are growing above a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reflecting the fast growth of the packaging films and bioplastics area from a synthetic biology perspective. Paper or cardboard related patents are the fastest growing subtopic at 29.2% during 2014-23, driven by the biopackaging growth and repurposing of waste or recycling materials. The second fastest growing subtopic, polyester based, grew at 22.6% and is a prominent growth area within bioplastics or renewable materials (21.9%). The cellulose/lignocellulose related subtopic is an important feedstock which grew at 21% CAGR, whilst waste or recycling related grew at 17.3%.

Films and biofilms are growing just below the 20% CAGR threshold at 19.6%. The starch based subtopic is a smaller area but has grown at 14.9%. All identified subtopics have grown rapidly in recent years, there is now an increase in the research & development within this area as bio-based alternatives are becoming increasingly important for their biodegradability and environmental friendliness, providing a more sustainable alternative to traditional plastics. This is also reflected in the fast growth of the bio- or photodegradable, biocompostable, etc. subtopic (17.4%) and the disintegrable / dissolvable subtopic (15.2%) during 2014-23.

Subtopic top 20 assignees distributions (2014-23)

The patent portfolios of the top 20 assignees within the SynBio – packaging, films & bioplastics dataset are analysed in figure 15.12. The portfolios are restricted to publications during 2014-23, mapped to the 10 subtopics identified, the counts represent total EPO publications.

The heatmap in figure 15.12 reveals the distribution of the top 20 packaging, films & bioplastics assignees during 2014-23, publications can be assigned to more than one subtopic, reflecting multiple invention embodiments. NOVAMONT and STORA ENSO are standout assignees with patenting activity across the 10 subtopics identified. However, NOVAMONT has larger distributions in some topics when compared with STORA ENSO, such as films or biofilms, polyesters and a larger portfolio of biopackaging related subtopics (biodegradable etc.). STORA ENSO and LIVINGUARD are the largest assignees within the paper or cardboard subtopics in figure 13.1. PULPAC, VERICOOL & NESTLE have the largest distributions within waste or recycling based products amongst the top 20 assignees.

The analysis does not account for earlier publications prior to 2014, which may have contributed to companies developing market share, etc. and potential licensing and acquisitions (subsidiaries). Data cleaning was carried out to clean names and consolidate. The analysis is an informative guide as some specific subtopics have strict content boundaries to enable differentiation, whilst others are broader to capture more generic areas.

Patent family territory analysis

The INAPDOC patent families comprising the identified packaging, films & bioplastics related EPO patents were analysed to identify the top 30 territories where patents are filed. Analysing the publication countries alone is insufficient as major countries such as France, the UK, Germany, etc. may not publish patents going through the European (EPO) route, especially when pending. To further supplement the available data, a bespoke analysis was conducted standardising the publication countries and including ‘protected countries’ to include patent rights which are pending or granted based on legal status. There are caveats which include:

  • The study methodology is focused on EPO patents and may not capture assignees/applicants that file only in home territories or don’t file in Europe via EPO filings.
  • The protected country data may not be fully up to date, due to INPADOC data availability and where EPO patents are recent filings.

The standardisation procedure ensures a territory is only counted once per family. The territory analysis is visualised in figure 15.13, EPO and WO (PCT) patents have been included for reference purposes. Despite the caveats, the analysis provides useful indicators regarding territories where applicants are filing patents within the packaging, films & bioplastics field, based on 2014-23 publications for a relatively recent perspective.

In figure 15.13, approx. 81% of the patent families identified had at least one US national filing. Other key territories with at least one national filing include China (60.5%). Below the 50% threshold, key territories include Japan (46.4%), Canada (45%), Australia (34.9%), Germany (34.8%), Brazil (30.8%) and the United Kingdom (30.1%).

Investigating keyword trends provides a different perspective beyond the packaging, films & bioplastics subtopic model. The smart summaries used during the topic model stage were data mined for the most contextually important keywords leveraging transformer based embeddings. Identifying keywords and phrases most similar to the document plus manual auditing for relevance to the SynBio project, visualised in figure 15.14. The visualisation indicates how the cumulative publication counts have changed between the publication periods during 2014-18 & 2019-23. The methodology aims to identify contextually relevant and reliable keywords as a source of ground truth, signify important keywords within the corpus and audit the topic model subtrend analysis already carried out.

In figure 15.14, the following key findings are observed and also support the trending areas identified by the subtopic modelling:

  • Packaging grew rapidly from 43 to 179 publications during 2019-23, film increased from 40 to 111 publications during 2019-23 and polymer increased from 42 to 106 publications during 2019-23.
  • Biodegradable is an important keyword noticeably increasing from 19 publications in 2014-18 to 92 publications in 2019-23. Specific packaging types such as capsules grew from 59 to 87 publications during 2019-23.

Subtopic keyword analysis

For a further perspective of contextually important keywords, a statistical procedure was applied selecting six subtopics from the corpus. The analysis contrasts how the usage or frequency of the keywords / phrases differs across the subtopics using a weighted log odds ratio. This aims to identify which differences are meaningful and weight the log odds ratio by a prior outlined in Monroe, Colaresi, and Quinn (2008). The statistical procedure requires the prior is estimated from the data itself rather than an uninformative prior, such as a Dirichlet prior. The procedure is an empirical Bayes approach with results identified in figure 15.15. A further motivation is to audit the subtopics for result relevance and transparency and provide insights into content. As a sidenote the transformer based keyword analysis provides powerful methods to review subtopics and extend the analytical power beyond procedures of evaluating a corpus such as TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency).

In figure 15.15, the keywords outlined are most characteristic of each subtopic based on the weighted log odds score which is labelled. Another implication of higher log odds scores is the ability to define the keyword identified as more likely to be used within the specific subtopic. This is interesting as some of the log odds scores are not very high, which is not surprising given the overlap encountered between the multiple subtopics identified within the specific topic landscape.

Some key findings observed are:

  • Waste or recycling related – producing biodegradable packaging and films, cellulose feedstock is an important source of materials.
  • Cellulose / lignocellulose based – material can be used for textiles and packaging amongst others, may be used alongside antimicrobial agents or materials with antimicrobial properties.
  • Biopackaging – highlighting packaging for beverages and the use of compostable pods and capsules.

It is difficult to distil and characterise the coverage of the subtopics via restricted keywords and phrases, this is also complicated by the weighting not always being frequency led but reflective of the terminology and context which is more characteristic of one subtopic in relation to others. It is fair to conclude that the subtopic model has successfully captured an extensive set of subtrends which are distinct, overlap exists but the trends are accurate once audited. The keywords are relevant to real word applications and suggest the insights identified are a useful tool to examine the specific topic landscape.