Captive odorant

A captiver fragrance, or shortly captiv, is a fragrance that is retained by its original manufacturer for exclusive use in their own scents, that is not sold freely on the market.

Importance

Perfume formulations can not be patented, and since they are relatively easy to decode using modern analytical methods such as GC-MS, they can be easily copied if they only made ​​freely available on the market fragrance components such as essential oils and synthetic odoriferous substances exist. New fragrances patented the other hand, and if the corresponding company chooses not to offer a patented fragrance on the market, so they can through the use of this odorant in their perfume formulations extend the patent protection on their compositions, as only they patented connection may produce. As long as the patentee does not offer so releases the connection, its perfume compositions with this captiv may not be copied.

To be considered captiver fragrance to be usable, a connection must have particular specific odor characteristics that lend a certain signature of a composition. If this signature effect is not to imitate with other fragrances or fragrance mixtures, due to the introduction and use of captive a company a certain product protection and thus a distinct advantage over the competition, at least for the period in which the patent is valid. A captiv nears the end of its patent protection, the manufacturing company gives him mostly free and offers him myself on the market in order to keep the competition from production.

Since the development and introduction of new fragrances is very expensive, only large fragrance and perfume manufacturers such as Givaudan, Firmenich, IFF, Symrise and Takasago can afford this strategy.

Examples

Significant examples of now -counter captive odorants are Hedion in " Eau Sauvage " (C. Dior, 1966), Moxalon in " CK Be " ( Calvin Klein, 1996), or Dynascon in " Cool Water " ( Davidoff, 1988).