Sub-Total: $0.00
Epson Wins Prize for Piezoelectric Inkjet Printhead
17 June 2026
Epson has announced that its patented Piezoelectric Inkjet Printhead has received the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Prize at the 2026 National Commendation for Invention.
This invention enables a compact, cost-effective inkjet printhead by configuring an actuator that ejects ink via the displacement of a piezoelectric element with a minimum number of constituent layers.
In conventional inkjet printheads, the interlayer insulating film and protective film of the actuator limit the displacement of the piezoelectric element. Consequently, achieving a sufficient ink ejection volume inevitably led to larger, more costly inkjet printheads.
In contrast, this invention integrates multiple functions into a piezoelectric layer composed of a thin-film piezoelectric material and the electrode structure, eliminating interlayer insulating and protective films while simplifying the structure and reducing the number of constituent layers. The resulting increase in the piezoelectric element’s displacement enables the miniaturisation of the actuator, thereby achieving a compact, cost-effective inkjet printhead.
Furthermore, in regions where stress is concentrated, local stiffness is increased through optimising the electrode arrangement and refining the wiring structure. This suppresses crack formation and ensures high reliability.
This invention is used in Epson’s PrecisionCore Micro TFP printheads and is incorporated into a wide range of Epson-branded inkjet printers for office, commercial, and industrial applications.
This is Epson’s first WIPO Prize. It is also the company’s fifth recognition at the National Commendation for Invention since 2019 and its first in two years following the Prize of the President of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association in 2024.
An awards ceremony was held on 15 June at The Okura Tokyo, Minato Ward, Tokyo.
The National Commendation for Invention is held to encourage and foster inventions, and to contribute to the improvement of science and technology and the development of industry in Japan by honouring those who have completed outstanding Japanese inventions and designs, as well as those who have achieved in the implementation and encouragement of invention.
The WIPO Prize, which was awarded this time, is a special prize given for inventions recognised as particularly excellent in the first award category, which targets inventions with an outstanding scientific and technological inventive step and remarkable effects upon implementation.
Epson has previously received a special prize in the National Commendation for Invention for an invention related to inkjet printers in 2022, when it was awarded the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize for its “Invention of method to reduce printing unevenness during bidirectional printing with inkjet printer,” making this the first such recognition in four years.
The WIPO Prize is a special prize of the National Commendation for Invention, newly established in 2023 with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It is awarded to outstanding inventions and designs.
