Smart fabrics newsletter article final

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SMART FABRICS 29-Apr-14

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Transcript of Smart fabrics newsletter article final

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SMART FABRICS

29-Apr-14

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SMART FABRICS

Table of Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Market Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 5

3. Global Overview of Smart Fabric Patents............................................................................................ 5

3.1 Priority Trend...................................................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Priority Country Distribution ............................................................................................................. 6

3.3 IPC Classification................................................................................................................................. 7

4. Technology Segmentation ................................................................................................................... 8

4.1 Smart Fabrics’ Classification .............................................................................................................. 8

4.2 Manufacturing .................................................................................................................................. 10

4.2.1 Fiber Development .................................................................................................................... 10

4.3 Technology ....................................................................................................................................... 11

4.3.1 Interface Technologies .............................................................................................................. 12

4.3.2 Communication ......................................................................................................................... 14

4.3.3 Power Supply Sources ............................................................................................................... 15

4.4 Application........................................................................................................................................ 15

5. Assignee Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 16

5.1 Geographical Analysis of major assignees....................................................................................... 16

5.2 Key Inventors .................................................................................................................................... 17

5.3 Major Assignees ............................................................................................................................... 18

5.3.1 Konink Philips Electronics ......................................................................................................... 18

5.3.2 Kolon Glotech Inc ...................................................................................................................... 20

5.3.3 Silveray Co. Ltd. ......................................................................................................................... 21

6. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 23

About Us ..................................................................................................................................................... 24

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List of Figures Figure 1: Evolution of Smart Fabrics over time ........................................................................................... 4

Figure 2: Year wise Patent Priority Trend .................................................................................................... 6

Figure 3: Locations of Priority of 'Patent Applications'............................................................................... 7

Figure 4: IPC Classifications with maximum occurrences ........................................................................... 7

Figure 5: Top IPC Classification Trend Analysis ........................................................................................... 8

Figure 6: An increasing growth for the fiber manufacturing techniques over technology integration .... 9

Figure 7: Classification based on type of technological incorporation in traditional textiles ................... 9

Figure 8: Classification based on type of manufacturing techniques ....................................................... 10

Figure 9: Types of fibers used in Smart Fabrics ......................................................................................... 11

Figure 10: Division based on the type of technology integrated with Textiles........................................ 11

Figure 11: Types of Interface Technologies based on direction of information flow in the textile ........ 12

Figure 12: Flowchart detailing the classification of Input Interface Technologies .................................. 13

Figure 13: Types of Input Interfaces .......................................................................................................... 13

Figure 14: Types of Output Interfaces ....................................................................................................... 14

Figure 15: Communication classification based on whether it is Inter Device or Intra Device ............... 15

Figure 16: Types of Power Supply Sources used in various Smart Textiles .............................................. 15

Figure 17: Depiction of the various fields of applications of Smart Fabrics ............................................. 16

Figure 18: Top inventors based on the number of individual filings ........................................................ 17

Figure 19: Major assignees in the resultant patent set ............................................................................ 18

Figure 20: Geography wise patent protection available to Philips .......................................................... 19

Figure 21: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation ..... 19

Figure 22: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio .................................................. 20

Figure 23: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio .................................................. 20

Figure 24: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation ..... 21

Figure 25: Geography wise patent protection available to Kolon Glotech Inc. ....................................... 21

Figure 26: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation ..... 22

Figure 27: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio .................................................. 22

Figure 28: Geography wise patent protection available to Silveray Co. Ltd. ........................................... 23

List of Tables Table 1: Table showing the geographical analysis of patent filing activity by top assignees .................. 16

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1. Introduction

Smart Fabrics, also known as intelligent textiles, electronic textiles or e-textiles, have attracted

considerable attention worldwide due to their potential to bring revolutionary impact on human life. These

are the fabrics with the ability to react to different physical, mechanical, electrical, thermal and chemical

stimuli. Smart Textiles are also defined as Smart fabrics and Interactive Textiles (SFIT).

Smart Clothing, wearable technology, wearable computing and intelligent clothing projects involve the use

of e-textiles. Smart fabrics are distinct from wearable computing because emphasis is placed on the

seamless integration of textiles with electronic elements like microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators.

Smart Fabrics need not be wearable. For instance, they are also found in interior design.

Smart Fabrics can be broadly categorized into two categories namely embedded and integrated. The

classical electronic devices such as conductors, integrated circuits, LEDs, and conventional batteries are

embedded into garments. Also, the passive electronics such as conductors and resistors or active

components like transistors, diodes, and solar cells are integrated into the fabrics.

The scope of smart fabrics industry is potentially enormous in terms of different types of the materials

available, usable technologies and potential applications, and eventual market size. This field includes

phase change, electrically conductive, shape memory, and chromic materials and the enabling

technologies include polymer development, nanotechnology and the embedding of components into

fabrics. The potential sectors to which smart/intelligent fabrics can be applied include commercial, retail

and industrial with applications such as location monitoring devices, entertainment, communications,

actuation & environmental response and sensing & biophysical monitoring.

It is an interesting time for the field of smart fabrics. As the industry matures and develops there is an

increasing drive to turn search results into commercial opportunities.

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Figure 1: Evolution of Smart Fabrics over time

[Source]

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2. Market Analysis

Smart Fabrics generate a significant body of research with deep implications on everyday life, consumer

market and applications requiring remote sensing, processing and actuation. This has led to a huge

research in this field. According to the Reuters, “The analysts forecast the Global Smart Fabrics in

Interactive Textiles market to grow at a CAGR of 20.91 percent over the period 2012-2016.”1

The current landscape study explores the recent developments in the research of Smart Fabrics. The

focus is to capture the patents published since 2004 in countries such as US, South Korea, Canada,

India, Great Britain China, Australia and so forth.

Three main avenues exist for the Smart Fabrics market:

The advances involving the manufacturing of the smart fabrics.

The type of technology implemented.

The applications of the smart fabrics.

Rather than debating the benefits and drawbacks of this technology, the aim of this study is to establish a

panorama of the intellectual property and the research going on in the field of Smart Fabrics by

systematic study of a relevant patent set extracted by the research team.

3. Global Overview of Smart Fabric Patents

The aim of this section is to study the overall environment of the intellectual property concerning the

development of the Smart Fabrics.

The patent search was conducted using the keywords: textile, smart electronic, fabric, cloth, fiber,

wearable PCB, woven, electric, optic yarn, based on publication date since 2004. The search conducted

for patents from the countries such as US, South Korea, Canada, India, Great Britain China, Australia and

so forth, led to extraction of around 1765 patent applications published since April 2004. Out of these a

total of 520 relevant patent families have been analyzed.

3.1 Priority Trend

The research work in the field of Smart Fabrics started in the year 2001 and grew at a steady pace of

around 3-4 patents per year. The technology accelerated after this era when some of the biggest firms of

the technology world started investing in R&D for Smart Fabrics. The technology became of utmost

importance for the firms when they realized about its deep implications on everyday life, consumer market

1 Research and Markets: Global Smart Fabrics in Interactive Textiles Market 2012-2016: Incorporation of

Modern Technologies into SFITs Expected to Positively Influence the Growth. Reuters [LINK]

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and applications requiring remote sensing, processing and actuation. Since then a lot of firms (both small

and large) have started investing in this field and the number of patents filed have gone up enormously.

The number of patent application filings touched a peak in the year 2009 with the maximum patents

having their priority date in this year. However, the fall in 2012-13 does not signify a fall in the number of

patents filed. The fall in the graph is attributed to the fact that only a small percentage of patent

applications filed during the above mentioned period are available in public domain. The rest of the

applications are undergoing processing and are yet to be published by their respective patent offices.

Figure 2: Year wise Patent Priority Trend

Figure 2 shows the patent filing trend (based on priority year) in the field of Smart Fabric Technology.

Research and development had been underway in this field since the start of the 21st century but

accelerated sharply around the year 2009 due to advancements in the electronics domain.

3.2 Priority Country Distribution

An analysis of the location of the priority of patent applications is shown in the figure shown below. The

figures give an overview about all the countries that have initiated R&D related to Smart Fabrics. It can be

observed that USA is the country with most number of priority filings with South Korea at the second

place.

Among the applicants, it is interesting to note that though the maximum amount of work (patents) on

Smart Fabrics has been done in the developed countries like USA and South Korea. In the recent past,

some developing countries like China and Taiwan have also acknowledged the importance of Smart

Fabrics technology and a huge amount of money has been spent on the research in this field.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Figure 3: Locations of Priority of 'Patent Applications'

3.3 IPC Classification

The research team analyzed the resultant patent set and discovered that the following IPC Classes had

maximum occurrences. Their definitions were studied and they also reflected the shifting trend of the

industry from technology integration to specialized manufacturing techniques.

Figure 4: IPC Classifications with maximum occurrences

The figure below shows the number of patent application filings, classified according to the IPC Classes

for a cluster of three years. There has been an overall increase in the number of patent applications filed

as time progresses which is evident from the increasing length of the horizontal bars. The IPC Class

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distribution is also a proof of the shift in the industry trend from technology integration to specialized

substrate manufacturing.

Figure 5: Top IPC Classification Trend Analysis

4. Technology Segmentation

4.1 Smart Fabrics’ Classification

Taxonomy was developed by the research team to further analyze the patent set based on the

technology involved, the level of its sophistication and its applications. A change in trend was discovered

during our research that highlighted a shift in the Smart fabrics‟ industry from smartly integrating

technology in existing textiles to manufacturing of smarter fabrics to be converted to textiles. In short, the

earliest advancements in the field simply tried to combine existing electronics with existing textiles to

serve multiple purposes whereas technology at later stages focused more on manufacturing fibers with

inherent electrical properties.

A41D (Protective Garments)

D06M (Treatment of fibres, yarns)

D03D (Weaving of fabrics)

A61B (Diagnosis, surgery, identification)

H05K (Printed circuit boards)

2000-2002

2003-2005

2006-2008

2009-2011

2012-

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Figure 6: An increasing growth for the fiber manufacturing techniques over technology integration

The shift towards development in manufacturing occurred because clothing and other textile products

must be washable, which subjects the smart elements to water and chemical immersion, physical stress,

and extreme temperatures; the current state of the art tends to be too fragile for this treatment. Hence,

the rate of increase in the number of patent applications for the field of fiber manufacturing was found to

be much higher than the same for the field of technology integration as can be seen in the graph.

The first level classification is based on the same concept. Further classifications narrow down the

specific technologies in both the fields as explained in detail below.

Figure 7: Classification based on type of technological incorporation in traditional textiles

39%

61%

'Smart Fabrics' - Classification

Technology Integration

Manufacturing Method

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4.2 Manufacturing

Fabric components like the fibers, filaments, films etc. are the beginning stages of a textile. Fabric

components are manufactured into the fabric or textile in several different ways. Fabrics may be woven or

non-woven via adhesive or thermal bonding, tufting, felting, or mechanical interlock. Smart Fabrics and

Interactive Textiles (SFIT) enabling components include electronic components and fabric components

which may provide any or all of the following functionalities: Data processing; Power supply; Input/output

Interfaces; Display; Data communication etc. The conductivity may be added in the fibers at the fiber

manufacturing level, or in the yarn after the fiber is manufactured or as a coating material to be directly

attached on the textile substrate.

Figure 8: Classification based on type of manufacturing techniques

4.2.1 Fiber Development

Multifunctional fibers add useful properties to traditional textile fibers. With various ways to add

conductivity and other properties, fibers may be further classified into the following categories.

Fibres

Yarns

Coating Materials

Fibres Yarns Coating Materials

No. of patents 177 51 30

Manufacturing Technoques

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Figure 9: Types of fibers used in Smart Fabrics

4.3 Technology

The scope of Smart Fabrics is very broad to be able to concisely define but the closest attempt may be

saying “traditional fabric with integrated active functionality”. The earliest innovations in the field of smart

fabrics took a rather literal meaning by directly integrating various electronic components with textiles.

Their classification is based on the specific purposes they serve. We have broadly categorized the

technology into three segments: Interface Technologies, Communication and Power Supply Sources.

Their meanings will be further explained in further detail.

Figure 10: Division based on the type of technology integrated with Textiles

11%

53% 9%

20%

7%

Fiber Type

Carbon Fibres

Conductive Fibres

Optical Fibres

Others

Silicon-on-insulator fibres

73%

18%

9%

Technology Distribution

Interface Technologies

Communication

Power Supply Sources

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4.3.1 Interface Technologies

The interface technologies can be described as the point of communication between the user, his

environment and the electronics of the smart textile. They encompass all the electronic devices and

methods that accept data from the user or the environment and/or provide an output. So, they have been

classified accordingly as Input and Output Interface technologies. The division amongst the two is uniform

as intuitively expected.

Figure 11: Types of Interface Technologies based on direction of information flow in the textile

4.3.1.1 Input Interface

Various input interfaces have been classified as shown below. The first classification is based on whether

the input is coming from the user via textile based buttons and keyboards or whether the input is being

received by textile based body monitoring sensors and electrodes. The „Others‟ category comprises other

interface methods such as audio interface via a microphone etc. The Body Monitoring sensors can be

further sub-divided according to the type of information they sense namely, physiological information, i.e.

the heart rate, pulse rate etc, impact detection information and the body movement/position monitoring

information. The last of the three is performed by few specialized sensors which are classified accordingly

as tilt sensor and pressure sensor.

56%

44%

Interface Technologies

Input Interface

Output Interface

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Figure 12: Flowchart detailing the classification of Input Interface Technologies

Majority of the input interfaces were found to be textile based body monitoring sensors and electrodes

signifying that the majority of the work has been in the field of wearable textiles i.e. clothes. Smart clothes

are poised to have a pivotal presence in the field of sports, fitness, outdoor, leisure, leisure and health

care in the not too distant future.

Figure 13: Types of Input Interfaces

Input Interface

62

Buttons and Keyboards

10

Body Monitoring Sensors

44

Physiological Information

8

Impact Detection

1

Body Movement/ Position

14

Tilt Sensor

2

Pressure Sensor

9

Others

3

Others

5

Body MonitoringSensors

Buttons andKeyboards

Others

44

10 5

Input Interface

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4.3.1.2 Output Interface

As the name suggests, this classification identifies the types of outputs a smart fabric may provide. It may

be a visual output in the form of an LED, a display or even glowing fabrics. Other types of output may

include tactile or auditory interfaces.

Figure 14: Types of Output Interfaces

As seen from the graph, an overwhelming majority of the patents reveal visual interfaces in the forms

mentioned above. Though with time, there has been an increase in other type of output interfaces as well.

4.3.2 Communication

The research team tried to create further classifications based on the mode of communication, whether

wireless or wired, embedded or woven and some other parameters. However, communication is an

intrinsic aspect of every electronic component in a smart fabric and hence a better classification strategy

was to divide the communication based on the device level namely: Inter device and Intra device.

VibrationInterface Visual Interfaces

Others

3

41

2

Output Interface

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Figure 15: Communication classification based on whether it is Inter Device or Intra Device

4.3.3 Power Supply Sources

Any form of electronic component requires power to function. However, conventional power supply

sources are inefficient to be used in a smart textile due to their size and other factors. Button batteries are

one easy option. Other types of sources are being explored in this regard.

Figure 16: Types of Power Supply Sources used in various Smart Textiles

4.4 Application

The applications of smart fabrics are growing manifold with time and they will be an integral part of our

everyday lifestyle in the near future. The research team identified various fields of application which are

40%

60%

Communication

Inter device

Intra device

0 1 2 3 4

Thermoelectric

Solar Energy

Storage Battery

Power Supply Sources

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represented diagrammatically below. Some of the patents have applications that fall under multiple

categories. As we can see, monitoring of body functions and movements and related applications

comprise the highest percentage of applications.

Figure 17: Depiction of the various fields of applications of Smart Fabrics

5. Assignee Analysis

5.1 Geographical Analysis of major assignees

Assignee WO KR US CN EP JP TW RU CA

Konink Philips Electronics 45 12 17 18 19 18 9 3

Kolon Glotech Inc. 3 28 3 1 2 2

1 1

Silveray Co. Ltd. 2 18 2 2 2 2

Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute

7 3 1

IndustryAcademic Cooperation Foundation Yonsei University

9 2

Board of Regents The University of Texas System

7

1

Table 1: Table showing the geographical analysis of patent filing activity by top assignees

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5.2 Key Inventors

Figure 18: Top inventors based on the number of individual filings

The key inventors identified in Smart Fabrics patent portfolio are shown in Figure 5.

The most prolific inventors in terms of filings is Park Sung Mee (Kolon Glotech Inc. , 26 Patents).Also,

something noteworthy is the adept inventor started filing patents 2007 onwards. Also, Kyung Hee Chung,

second in the list has assigned his 25 patents to Kolon Glotech Inc.

Rabin Bhattacharya and Kwang Su Cho have applied for 19 patents each. All of the former‟s patents are

with Philips as Assignee while those of the latter belong to Kolon Glotech Inc.

Jeon Byung Ok (16 patents) has rendered his work to Silveray Co. Ltd. & Van Pieterson Liesbeth (14

patents) has his patents belonging to Kolon Glotech Ltd. Other inventors like Koen Van Os (7 patents) for

Konink Philips Electronics, Hyung Sun Lee (6 patents) for Electronics and Telecommunication Research

Institute & Joo Hyeon Lee (6 patents) have filed application for Industry-Academic Cooperation

Foundation Yonsei University in collaboration with Samsung.

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5.3 Major Assignees

Figure 19: Major assignees in the resultant patent set

Clearly, Konink Philips Electronics, Kolon Glotech Inc and Silveray Co. Ltd. have emerged as big players

in development of Smart Fabrics Technology. Also, Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation Yonsei

University has two of its patents in collaboration with Samsung.

5.3.1 Konink Philips Electronics

Koninklijke Philips NV, popularly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch diversified technology company

headquartered in Amsterdam with primary divisions focused in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer

Lifestyle and Lighting. With emerging trends, Philips has also ventured into the field of smart fabrics and

smart textiles. With one of the applications of smart textiles being an amalgamation of consumer lifestyle

and healthcare, it is hardly a surprise that Philips has already released few commercial products in the

field of Sports and Fitness monitoring such as Philips DirectLife.

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Figure 20: Geography wise patent protection available to Philips

In addition to possessing a very strong patent portfolio, it also has the highest number of patents filed in

this field with an increasing growth rate over the years.

Figure 21: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation

Judging by a relatively young patent portfolio, the research team can safely conclude that Philips is going

to play a central role when the smart textile commercialization hits critical user mass.

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Figure 22: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio

5.3.2 Kolon Glotech Inc

Kolon Glotech started out in 1954 as a nylon textile maker, helping to revolutionize the garment industry.

Over the years, they have diversified into specialty chemicals, construction, and other areas with rapid

growth and development in their quest to become a “Lifestyle Innovator”. They simultaneously work to

research, develop and produce chemicals, high-tech materials and biotech products that contribute to

safer, pleasant and healthier lives.

Figure 23: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio

Consistent with the industry trends, Glotech also observes a higher increase in the number of patent

applications for the fiber manufacturing techniques compared to technology integration.

Below 10 10 to 12years

12 to 15years

15 to 17years

Above 17years

7 %

14 %

48 %

21 %

10 %

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Figure 24: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation

Following graph depicts the geography wise patent application filings for Kolon Glotech Inc.

Figure 25: Geography wise patent protection available to Kolon Glotech Inc.

5.3.3 Silveray Co. Ltd.

Silveray Co. Ltd. applies the convergence technology to multiple industrial fields that merges the digital

device having both heating & essential functions with keeping the unique features of clothes through the

core technologies of flexible electric conduction woven fabrics & heating thread. Their focus is on future of

fabrics through the development of materials with future-oriented environment friendliness & functionality.

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Figure 26: Patent Filing trend comparing Manufacturing Techniques to Technology Incorporation

Silveray‟s patent portfolio‟s is relatively newer than the first two assignees. Their patent filing activity also

started later than than both Philips and Glotech by a margin of approximately six years and one year

respectively. Owing to their late entry in the smart textiles field, their patent portfolio is the newest with

patent protection remaining for periods as long as 17 – 18 years.

Figure 27: Remaining duration of validity for existing patent portfolio

Following graph depicts the geography wise patent application filings for Silveray Co. Ltd.

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Figure 28: Geography wise patent protection available to Silveray Co. Ltd.

6. Conclusion

This article postulates Smart Fabrics and its various applications, along with various other key features.

Smart Fabrics provide multiple applications in various spheres of technology. The landscape analysis

generates a clear view of the Smart Fabrics technology, thus giving insight of different market key

players. With regard to geographies and jurisdictions United States and South Korea are showcased as

the most dominant markets in this technology.

Interestingly, the technical analysis provides valuable knowledge about path of evolution of the

technology. As per the study, the use of Smart Fabrics for Body Monitoring has been the area where

most of the research has been concentrated. Research has also been done in developing Smart Fabrics

for other medical, military and sports. Another important area for research has been the media and

entertainment. The integration of smart fabrics with smart phones has a great research potential.

The analysis also brings to light the focus of the major key assignees under different technology heads

related to Smart Fabrics. Konink Philips Electronics, being the topmost assignee, has patents filed in a

diverse field ranging from light emitting textiles, smart bags, waste sorting to control devices. Kolon

Glotech Inc. has focused on electroluminescent and heat generation fabrication. Various other major

players like Silveray Co. Ltd., Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Industry-Academic

Cooperation Foundation Yonsei University and Board of Regents the University of Texas System have

emerged in the field of Smart Fabrics creating a highly competitive market.

The industry has seen a shift from the traditional PCB manufacturing techniques to the fabrication of

intelligent textiles. Through the analysis, one may infer that Smart Fabrics technology has witnessed

immense growth in recent years. Due to its immense potential with respect to applications, R&D will

further increase, which will eventually result in the use of Smart Fabrics in various spheres of technology.

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About Us

LexInnova provides advanced patent litigation consulting and technical services that allow innovative

clients to improve quality, drive profitability, and enhance the effectiveness of legal matters. LexInnova

draws on a combination of technical and project management expertise to solve the challenges that arise

at the intersection of technology and the law. From pre-litigation assessment through claim construction

and trial, LexInnova provides consulting services to help analyze, leverage and protect intellectual

property. For high-volume matters, we provide true project management – combining the ideal mix of

people, processes, and technology – to improve the ability of our clients to optimize their litigation.

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