ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. 653
References .......................................................................................................................... 653
Since a research group at Eastman Kodak [1] reported the discovery of an organic light-
emitting diode (OLED) in 1987, more than 100 companies worldwide have directed their
research and development resources to explore the attractive attributes of a new generation of
OLEDs such as broad viewing angle (165-1708), lightweight, low driving voltage (5-10V), high luminous efficiency, a brighter image without backlights (>100 cd=m2), potentially low cost and long life, and possibly full-color displays. According to the projection of iSup-
pli=Stanford Resources [2], the fast-growing flat-panel display market, now dominated by liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panel technologies, will lose a significant
share to the OLED technology in a few years. There have been challenges to develop better
materials for OLEDs. The multiple layer structure of OLEDs requires materials with different
functions for each layer, ranging from emitters to hole transporters. However, out of the five
layers of materials, light-emitting materials are the most important, yet the most difficult to
create, for devices with better color hues and longer lives. Efforts have been made to explore
more robust emitters, especially for blue color, before they can compete with LCDs. That is
why almost 25% of the OLED patents are on the subject of electroluminescent materials; this
is based on the analysis of all the International Patent Classification codes associated with
patents dealing with OLED technology in the World Patent Index [3]. A full study of the
patent estates of all active participants in OLED technique is beyond the scope of this
chapter. This chapter will focus only on the analysis of the intellectual property (IP) of the
seven emerging companies: Eastman Kodak, Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), Uni-
versal Display Corporation (UDC), Dow Chemical, Covion, Idemitsu Kosan (IK), and
DuPont on the OLED emitting materials. The technology of each of these companies is
discussed in more detail below.
