Gattefossé was awarded the Trophée Inpi 2022 in the export category at a ceremony held at the Institut de France. A fine reward for Gattefossé, which has made innovation a pillar of its growth by pursuing a determined and consistent industrial policy.
INPI Trophies: recognition for French innovation
Created in 1991, the Trophées Inpi (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle) reward companies that are emblematic of French innovation, and stand out for their exemplary industrial property strategy. This year, the Trophées honor fifteen SMEs, start-ups and Eti, competing in 5 categories: Export, Industry, Responsible Innovation, Partnership Research and Start-up. The jury for the 2022 edition is chaired by Bernard Reybier, Chairman of the Board of Fermob, winner of the Trophées in 2013.
An industrial property strategy to protect and perpetuate your ideas
Gattefossé's innovation policy is based on two pillars:
- In-house research, carried out at the Saint Priest site (Lyon metropolitan area) and at application laboratories in India, China and the United States by engineers and PhDs in pharmacy, chemistry and biology.
- Working together with public and private research centers worldwide.
"Intellectual property has always been at the heart of our concerns, which began over a century ago when my great-grandfather filed his first patents in the 1920s. We have put in place an organization and a development process that enables us to protect our innovations while sharing our know-how, a notion dear to the company.
To be awarded an INPI Trophy today is an honor and recognition of the efforts made by our research teams over the years. We are happy and proud to reap the rewards of this collective effort. explains Ségolène Moyrand-Gros, President of the Gattefossé Group.
This strategy makes it possible to carry out a wide variety of work simultaneously, This feeds our portfolio of potential new developments, and enables us to respond to market needs as quickly as possible.
"Our products are used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, but the related know-how is varied. These include chemical synthesis processes, plant extraction, chemical analysis or various pharmaceutical galenic and cosmetic forms.
Our innovation strategy and the patents we file therefore encompass all these areas of expertise. Having a solid industrial property strategy is essential if you want to be well protected. We therefore systematically file patents for all our new ingredients and technologies in all the countries that are key to our business, following a freedom-to-operate study. This is a guarantee of product quality and durability for our customers". says Jean-David Rodier, Oleochemistry R&D Manager.
To date, Gattefossé has a portfolio of 18 patent families and 195 trademarks protecting products, manufacturing processes and applications for its two markets. The patents cover several key countries, including France, Germany, the UK, the USA and China.
Innovations in ingredient development
Last April, Gattefossé launched a new natural plant-based active ingredient for the cosmetics industry, the fruit of a collaboration with with a research group specializing in the study of the effects of genotoxic stress. The product received industry recognition at in-cosmetics global, winning the Bronze Innovation Award in the Best Cosmetic Active Ingredient category.
Gattefossé was also one of the first suppliers of cosmetic ingredients to patent a technology based on hydrophilized plant waxes. enabling us to offer our cosmetics customers uniquely sensorial textures. This innovation has also been recognized by the industry with a number of innovation awards.
In pharmaceuticals, Gattefossé last year developed a new oil phase stabilizer for bi-gels, which was shortlisted in the "Finished Formulation" category at the CPHI Worldwide trade show earlier this month.
