Company patents
Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology Inc. demonstrates a clear focus on Dentistry, comprising 84.9% of its patent portfolio, with a notable 35.4% growth in 2024 before a partial year decline in 2026. Surprisingly, the company also shows significant investment in underlying technologies like Computer Vision and Machine Learning & AI, which saw rapid growth of 100.0% and 110.0% respectively in 2024, indicating a strategic push into advanced computational methods to support its core medical device innovations, even as patenting activity across most categories has slowed so far in 2026.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
1,192 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 28 themes
Development of new materials, designs, and manufacturing methods for dental prostheses, restorations, and implants, focusing on aesthetics, durability, biocompatibility, and integration with oral structures.
Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) techniques, including additive manufacturing (3D printing) and subtractive manufacturing (milling), for producing custom dental appliances and prosthetics.
Technologies for acquiring and processing three-dimensional digital representations of the oral cavity, teeth, and surrounding structures, often involving scanners, image stitching, and surface differentiation algorithms.
Processes for creating or manipulating three-dimensional digital representations of objects or environments, including mesh generation, surface fitting, and depth estimation from multiple views.
Electrically powered or mechanically actuated devices for daily oral care, such as toothbrushes and flossers, often incorporating features for enhanced cleaning, user feedback, or automated dispensing.
Utilizing machine learning, particularly deep learning, to analyze medical data such as images, sensor readings, or physiological signals for disease prediction, diagnosis, or treatment assessment.
Techniques for combining multiple materials or layers, often with specialized surface treatments, coatings, or assembly methods, to create functional or aesthetically enhanced plastic articles, including consumer goods and encapsulated electronics.
Techniques for building three-dimensional metal objects layer-by-layer using metal powders, including powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition. This theme encompasses process mechanics, equipment design, and operational control for AM systems.
Integration of additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing (e.g., machining, cutting) or other traditional processes within a single system or workflow to create parts with improved features, surface finish, or material properties, or to enable new manufacturing paradigms.
Light-initiated polymerization processes used to create structures, coatings, or components, particularly for electronic devices, displays, or additive manufacturing, often involving photoinitiators and specific monomer/oligomer compositions.
Polymer compositions tailored for medical and biological applications, including implantable devices, drug delivery systems, and diagnostic tools, emphasizing properties like biocompatibility, hydrolysis resistance, optical clarity, and specific mechanical characteristics.
Systems and methods for real-time sensing, modeling, and closed-loop control of additive manufacturing parameters to ensure part quality, consistency, and process efficiency. This includes thermal management, atmospheric regulation, and precise material deposition.
Development and application of polymer compositions designed for reprocessability, recyclability, or incorporating sustainable additives, often featuring reversible bonds or bio-based components.
Systems and methods that use imaging technologies, computer vision, and augmented reality to provide real-time guidance, localization, and visualization during surgical procedures or for detailed anatomical assessment.
Digital platforms and systems that deliver tailored therapeutic interventions, guidance, or recommendations to patients based on their individual health data, biometric feedback, and computational models (e.g., AI/ML, physiological simulations).
Polymers incorporating reversible bonds or crosslinks that enable reprocessing, self-healing, or tunable mechanical properties, often responding to stimuli like heat, light, or pH for de-crosslinking and re-crosslinking.
Processes involving the application of heat and pressure to shape thermoplastic or elastomeric materials, often using molds or presses, to achieve specific forms or material properties.
Methods and apparatus for improving the visual fidelity, resolution, or compression efficiency of video signals, often through advanced processing, up-scaling, or neural network-based filters.
Computational methods and design principles for generating optimized geometries, internal structures (e.g., lattices, minimal surfaces), or functional features that are specifically enabled or enhanced by the capabilities of additive manufacturing.
Polymer compositions incorporating inorganic or organic filler materials to impart specific functional properties such as thermal conductivity, flame retardancy, electrical conductivity, or enhanced mechanical strength and dimensional stability.
Systems and methods for non-invasive or minimally invasive collection and analysis of physiological data (e.g., blood pressure, electrolytes, genetic markers, B cell repertoire) to assess patient health status, screen for conditions, or aid in diagnosis.
Techniques for rendering, interacting with, and managing content within augmented or virtual reality environments, including spatial tracking, gaze interaction, and dynamic multi-application display management.
Systems that integrate digital technology, sensors, or connectivity to monitor, track, or automate aspects of medication administration, often providing data feedback, personalized recommendations, or secure logging.
Novel methods and reactor designs for polymer synthesis, focusing on improving efficiency, achieving continuous production, or controlling specific polymer architectures and product morphologies like particle size or sheet formation.
Focuses on the mechanical design, articulation, and actuation of hand-held or robotic surgical instruments, including improvements in stapling, cutting, grasping, and tissue manipulation.
Design and application of devices that are inserted into the body or implanted to treat diseases, modulate physiological functions, or repair anatomical structures.
Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.
Development of devices and methods for non-invasive or minimally invasive collection and analysis of physiological data, often from wearable sensors, to monitor health, activity, or specific conditions.
Patents
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