A patented success: PPG’s David Feen receives milestone 50th U.S. patent

David Fenn’s journey to being granted his 50th U.S. patent earlier this year – one of the highest achievements a scientist can reach in industrial research – started with a child’s chemistry set and has been fueled throughout his career by a strong desire to learn something new every day.

“Playing with the chemistry set that my parents got me for Christmas one year really made me interested in science when I was very young,” said David, PPG senior scientist at our Coatings Innovation Center (CIC). “Going through school, I was already switched on to science topics because of that set. I was also a pretty serious musician, playing the trumpet. I very nearly took that as a profession but ended up studying science because I felt it was a bit more reliable income stream. I kept music as a serious hobby.”

David, who holds a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry, joined PPG in 1999 when we acquired ICI’s refinish business. He remained in the United Kingdom for a couple years to help transfer that company’s intellectual property and patents to PPG. He then crossed the pond and settled into CIC, where he has worked ever since on projects that span our various businesses. He currently develops resins for all key projects while also mentoring the next generation of budding scientists.

In 1995, David was granted his first patent for a cross-linking chemistry that replaces isocyanates in refinish products.

“It was nice when my first patent was granted, but the most exciting thing was that I had created an invention,” David said. “I took an idea and demonstrated that it really worked and had some utility. It was only a small thing in the whole universe of chemical ideas, but I knew something that no one else knew at that time. Even 37 years into my career, I still find it really rewarding when everything clicks and an idea that I have results in a commercialized technology that’s useful in the marketplace.”

Everything has clicked at least 50 times. His 50th patent, which was granted in January 2025, was for a component of our PPG AMBIENT REACTIVE EXTRUSION™ technology, which received a prestigious R&D® 100 award. David is especially pleased that this milestone patent is for the 3D printing solution since he initiated the idea that PPG should be working on additive manufacturing.

He has no single methodology for how he comes up with ideas, which can surface while working on a particular project in the lab or reading scientific literature on an airplane. What he does tell the future scientists that he mentors is to feel like you’ve learned something every day. If you’re not learning, seek out situations that you’ve never come across before so you can grow.

“My other piece of advice that I found hard to follow early on is to not be afraid to abandon an idea that’s not working out,” David said. “It could be tempting to keep plugging away on something, but it’s usually better to move on to the next thing as quickly as possible.”

He has moved on to plenty of “next things” and feels lucky to have worked on interesting projects with other scientists.

“When I look through the list of 50 patents that I’ve been granted, there are five where I’m the only inventor,” said David. “The other 45 patents have joint inventors. It’s a long and difficult process to turn an idea into a successful patent, and you can’t do that on your own. I’ve been fortunate to work with really great scientists, managers, patent lawyers and others. Without all this support, none of my patents would have happened.”