Propolis and its Cosmetic Applications: A Technological Prospection

Objective: Due to the growing interest and commercialization of products derived from propolis, the present investigation aimed to carry out a prospective study based on the patenting of these products with cosmetic purpose in intellectual property banks in Brazil and worldwide. Methods: There were searched patents with propolis formulations deposited until 2018 at the intellectual property banks: National Intellectual Property Institute (INPI) - Brazil, United States Patent and Trademark Office - United States, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) -Europe and Espacenet. For the search, all patents that included the term "propolis and "acne" were considered and only the patents for dermatological products were selected. The relevant informations in the patent documents was extracted and organized into tables and graphs generated in the GraphPad Prism program. Results: WIPO was the bank with the largest number of deposits (43.7%), whereas in the INPI there were found only three deposits (2,9%). The number of patent deposits over the years has been increasing, accentuating from 2014, with expressiveness mainly of China (40.8%), United States (29.1%) and South Korea (20.4%). Regarding the type of product, there were mainly creams and masks, but most of the documents did not have specifications of the product. Conclusion: China is the country that has been depositing patents for dermatological use of propolis, where masks and creams are the most deposited formulations. The number of deposits is still modest, but growth is remarkable and significant.