Essity Hygiene and Health Aktiebolag has secured a US patent on a sanitary article constructed around a shaping element within an absorbent core, with the grant issued on September 8, 2026. The filing, dated December 29, 2020, names three Gothenburg-based inventors — Oscar Lipschutz, Louise Eliasson, and Philip Blomström — and assigns the resulting IP to the Swedish hygiene group.

What does the patent cover?

The claims describe a three-layer construction: a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between them. The core itself divides along the longitudinal axis into three regions — a head portion, a body portion, and a neck portion. The neck portion forms a narrower transitional region between the head and the body, with a transverse width smaller than the maximum widths of either adjacent section. The head portion sits in the front section of the article; the body portion extends through the crotch and rear sections.

Where does the shaping element sit?

A shaping element runs through the absorbent core in the front portion of the article. Per the claim language, the shaping element may take the form of a compressed groove, a channel, or a low-density region. Its stated purpose is to promote folding or shaping of the sanitary article during use.

The patent also fixes the shaping element's position relative to the fastening wings. Two wings extend along the longitudinal side edges, each carrying an adhesive region on the garment-facing side. The rearmost point of the shaping element sits in the area of the absorbent core that extends between the frontmost border of either adhesive region and the maximum-width portion of the head portion. Beyond that rearmost point — and up to the rearmost border of either adhesive region — the absorbent core carries no shaping element.

How does the wing geometry interact with the core?

The patent maps the wing layout in detail. Each fastening wing extends along one longitudinal side edge between a front junction and a rear junction. The first wing carries a first adhesive region; the second wing carries a second adhesive region. Each adhesive region has its own frontmost border and rearmost border along the longitudinal axis. In the article's flat unfolded configuration, with both wings extended outward, the rearmost point of the shaping element falls inside the band defined by the frontmost adhesive border and the maximum-width section of the head portion. The patent explicitly excludes any additional shaping element between that rearmost point and the rearmost adhesive border — a structural no-shaping zone written into the claims.

Why does the timing matter for R&D tracking?

Roughly five years and nine months separate the December 29, 2020 filing date from the September 8, 2026 grant. All three named inventors — Lipschutz, Eliasson, and Blomström — list Gothenburg addresses, consistent with the company's R&D base in western Sweden. The assignment to Essity Hygiene and Health Aktiebolag, also Gothenburg, keeps the IP within the same corporate entity that employs the inventors.

What sourcing decision does the news force?

Patent grants of this type enter supplier conversations as freedom-to-operate references. Nonwovens producers supplying topsheet, backsheet, or absorbent-core substrates to Essity's sanitary lines should expect the firm's design team to invoke this patent when scoping shaping features on briefs, pads, or guards. The head/body/neck core geometry and the front-portion-only shaping rule, as written into the claims, now define a specific constructional pathway that converters and core-line suppliers must map against their own product portfolios. Any redesign work on absorbent lines targeting Essity supply should run through this claim set before sample submission.