Patent landscape analysis for materials based on fungal mycelium: a guidance report on how to interpret the current patent situation

TL;DR

This paper analyzes patents related to fungal mycelium-based materials to understand their current protection and potential for sustainable applications.

Contribution

The study provides a detailed patent landscape analysis and highlights dominant patent portfolios and claims in fungal mycelium-based materials.

Findings

There are 73 granted patents and 34 pending applications related to fungal mycelium-based materials.

Five dominant patent portfolios hold between six and 44 patents or applications.

Patent over-protection is suggested to be hindering the development of fungal materials as sustainable alternatives.

Abstract

Recent advancements in the collaboration between two scientific disciplines—fungal biotechnology and materials sciences—underscore the potential of fungal mycelium as renewable resource for sustainable biomaterials that can be harnessed in different industries. As fungal mycelium can be biotechnologically obtained from different filamentous fungi and is as a material very versatile, respective research and commercial application should be thriving. However, some granted patents in the field of fungal mycelium-based materials have caused uncertainty in the community as to which subject matter is patent-protected and for how long the protection is expected to last.

This opinion paper therefore maps the patent landscape of fungal mycelium-based materials with a specific focus on technical applications including building construction, insulation, packaging, and the like. We provide an overview of granted patents (73) and pending applications (34) related to granted patents, the dominant patent portfolios (five, with the number of patents and/or applications per owner between six and 44), the patent owners, and highlight the key claims formulated to protect the inventions. Additionally, we outline various options towards an increased activity in the field.

Patent developments in the field leave the impression that fungal materials, despite their high potential as renewable and biodegradable materials, have been held back due to patent over-protection. Considering the need for replacing current petroleum-based materials with renewable biomaterials, coordinated efforts may be called for to intensify efforts in the field.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40694-024-00177-2.

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