Photo-Printed Perfume Glass: Inside Eng Kah’s Patents and Souvenir Plan

Eng Kah Corporation Berhad holds granted patents in several countries for laser-printing photographs onto glass. Here is what the patent family covers, how the method works, and what seven annual reports show about the souvenir-fragrance business built on it.

Article type: Market report. Scope: Eng Kah’s glass-printing patents and its tourism/souvenir product plan, Malaysia and patent jurisdictions worldwide. Research period: 13–14 Sep 2026. Patent statuses are as displayed on Google Patents on 14 Sep 2026; statements from annual reports are labelled company-stated.

Quick answer

Eng Kah, the Bursa-listed Penang perfume and cosmetics contract manufacturer, holds a patent family for laser-printing photographic images onto glass containers, first filed in Malaysia on 16 December 2015 with founder Ewe Eng Kah as inventor. Google Patents shows grants in Europe, Australia, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia; the US application was abandoned and the Korean filings lapsed. The company calls it “3D printing on glass” and has pitched photo-printed souvenir fragrance to hotels and tourist markets in seven of its eight annual reports from FY2018 to FY2025. The limitation: no revenue from it is disclosed, and group revenue fell over the same years. Brand owners should treat it as a sampling option, not a proven channel.

Key takeaways

• The core patent is “Laser printed photo on glass article method thereof,” priority 16 Dec 2015 (MY PI2015704589), applicant Eng Kah Enterprise Sdn Bhd (Google Patents, verified).
• European patent EP3391153B1 was granted on 12 Jun 2024 with unitary effect and no opposition filed; its expected expiry is 15 Aug 2036 (Google Patents/EPO data).
• “3D” here means a raised, photo-realistic printed effect, not additive 3D printing. The method coats the glass, then laser-prints CMYK toner onto it and cures the layer.
• The souvenir plan appears in the FY2018–FY2022, FY2024 and FY2025 annual reports, but not FY2023; COVID-19 paused hotel sales in 2020–2021 (company-stated).
• No souvenir revenue is reported. Eng Kah reports only two segments, personal care and household, and group revenue fell from RM49.1m (FY2019) to RM31.5m (FY2025) (audited).

Who this is for

Hotel, attraction and gift-shop buyers looking at personalised fragrance; brand owners who want premium glass decoration without screen-printing minimums; and investors or analysts tracking whether the glass technology in our Eng Kah Corporation Berhad company profile has become a business.

What exactly did Eng Kah patent?

Eng Kah patented a method of laser-printing photographs onto glass articles, and it filed that one invention with about 15 patent offices. The applicant is the operating subsidiary Eng Kah Enterprise Sdn Bhd and the inventor is Ewe Eng Kah. The Malaysian priority filing is dated 16 December 2015, and the international (PCT) application WO2017105214A1 followed on 15 August 2016 (Google Patents, checked 14 Sep 2026).

This matches the company’s own claim only in part. A 2021 MATRADE export profile said Eng Kah has “its own patented printing technology in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Russia and China” (Exclusive From Malaysia, 2021 Issue 10, company-stated). We found grants for Taiwan, Australia and Russia. We found no Indonesian record, the Singapore status is not displayed, and the Chinese glass-printing application is not granted. A later Chinese filing for a printed-photo glass product, CN111645426A (2020), shows as rejected after publication.

How does the method work, in plain terms?

The method turns a glass bottle into something a laser printer can print on. According to the patent abstract, the process is: “pre-treating said glass article with acid or alkali solution, coating a layer of composition on said article, ageing said article surface under room or ambient temperature, laser-printing on said glass article surface… and surface finishing said glass article surface by heating process” (WO2017105214A1).

1. Clean and etch. The glass is treated with an acid or alkali solution so the coating grips.
2. Coat. A layer of pigments, resins, binders and additives is applied and left to age at room temperature.
3. Print. A laser printing device lays CMYK toner onto the coating. The patent claims resolution of “3,000+ pixels per inch.”
4. Finish. Heat, with optional UV curing, washing or lamination, fixes the image. The related filings state the printed layer resists sunlight, alcohol, perfume and water (patent text, company-stated).

The “3D” in Eng Kah’s wording refers to a “3D or emboss effect” on the printed image, as the abstract puts it. It is a decoration technique, not additive manufacturing of the bottle.

How is it different from screen printing and decals?

Laser photo printing competes on short runs and personalisation, not on cost per bottle at volume. The patent’s own background says silk-screen and hydro-transfer printing “cannot achieve sharp photographic clarity” or 3D effects (KR20210036894A abstract, company-stated). The table below is our general explanation of the common options.

What else did Eng Kah file around the same idea?

Eng Kah filed three related inventions that extend the printed-glass idea into air care and apps, and they have fared unevenly. According to Google Patents (checked 14 Sep 2026):

• Fragrance-releasing cap: WO2017007300A1 (priority 8 Jul 2015). China CN108966644B active; European application withdrawn.
• Laser-printed photo on an air freshener: WO2018156008A1 (priority 21 Feb 2017). The PCT application ceased; the Malaysian filing MY200917A shows no status.
• Audio-visual response from a printed bottle: WO2019088820A1 (priority 2 Nov 2017). A phone app recognises the printed image and plays linked video or music. Malaysia MY201798A active; Australia abandoned.

We found no patents under the souvenir subsidiary EK Universal Marketing Sdn Bhd; the filings sit with the manufacturing company.

What do the annual reports say, year by year?

The souvenir plan has been restated in most annual reports since 2018, and the language grew more ambitious even as revenue fell.

Sources: Eng Kah annual reports FY2018–FY2025, Prospects sections and FY2024 Chairman’s Statement (engkah.com Investor Relations; AR2025).

Why does souvenir fragrance matter?

Souvenir fragrance is one of the few places where a bottle’s decoration is worth more than its juice. A tourist buying a Penang heritage scent, or a hotel ordering 300 bottles printed with its lobby, pays for the image and the memory. That favours short runs, many designs and fast turnaround, which is where screen printing is weakest and a print-from-file method is strongest. Eng Kah has two things that fit: a patent family covering the decoration, and a fragrance-heavy factory, with 160 of its 389 active NPRA cosmetic notifications in perfume or fragrance (oemreview NPRA extract, 6 Sep 2026). Its fragrance work is covered in our fragrance contract manufacturers in Malaysia shortlist and the fragrance and aromatherapy category.

Has the souvenir business moved revenue?

No, not in anything Eng Kah has published. The company reports two segments, personal care and household, and does not disclose sales from souvenirs or from EK Universal Marketing, the subsidiary set up in 2015 to market “perfumery, personal care, home fragrance and aromatherapy souvenir collections” (AR2023, company no. 201501023940). The Star named EK Universal as a growth driver in 2015 (The Star, 21 Dec 2015). Since then, group revenue has fallen:

Source: Group Financial Highlights, AR2019, AR2021 and AR2025 (audited). The decline is explained in the reports by lower orders from overseas customers and a steep fall in household products, not by souvenirs. Our reading: after seven years, the glass technology is a well-protected capability with no visible commercial scale. The story of the founder who invented it is in our profile of Ewe Eng Kah.

What should brand owners and hotel buyers do with this?

Use Eng Kah’s printed glass for gifting, hospitality and limited editions, and test it before you scale. Ask for printed samples on your chosen bottle, and run your own rub, alcohol and sunlight tests, because durability figures come from the patent text, not independent testing. Ask the minimum order per design and per print run separately. If you plan to sell in the US, Korea or China, note the patent is not in force there, so a competitor may use similar methods. Brands that want exclusivity should ask whether Eng Kah will license the design or the method, not just the bottle.

Frequently asked questions

Does Eng Kah really hold patents for printing on glass?

Yes. Google Patents shows granted patents in Europe (EP3391153B1, 2024), Australia, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia for a laser-printed photo on glass method, with Ewe Eng Kah as inventor. The US application was abandoned and Korean filings lapsed. Confirm current status on the EPO Register or the national office before relying on it.

Is Eng Kah’s “3D printing on glass” real 3D printing?

No, not in the additive-manufacturing sense. The patents describe laser-printing toner onto a coated glass surface to create a photo image with a “3D or emboss effect.” The bottle itself is standard glass. Think of it as high-resolution decoration.

Can I order custom photo-printed perfume bottles from Eng Kah?

The annual reports say souvenir products have been on the market since around 2018, through the subsidiary EK Universal Marketing. Eng Kah does not publish prices or minimum orders for them. Contact the company directly and ask for per-design MOQ, lead time and printed samples.

How long does the European patent last?

Google Patents estimates expiry on 15 August 2036, 20 years from the 2016 international filing, provided renewal fees are paid. Several European states already show lapses for non-payment or missing translations, so coverage is not uniform across Europe.

Has the souvenir strategy helped Eng Kah’s results?

There is no evidence of it in the filings. Souvenir revenue is not disclosed separately, and group revenue fell from RM49.1 million in FY2019 to RM31.5 million in FY2025. Management’s explanations for the decline point to overseas orders and household products.

How we searched

On 14 Sep 2026 we searched Google Patents for applicant “Eng Kah”, inventor “Ewe Eng Kah” and “Eng Kah Ewe”, and applicant “EK Universal” (no results for the last). WIPO PATENTSCOPE and Espacenet did not allow our automated queries, so Malaysian and European statuses are as mirrored on Google Patents. Annual-report quotations were checked against the FY2018–FY2025 reports.

Sources

• Google Patents: WO2017105214A1, EP3391153B1, HK1254697B, KR20210036894A, CN111645426A, WO2017007300A1, WO2018156008A1, WO2019088820A1.
• Eng Kah Corporation Berhad annual reports FY2018–FY2025, engkah.com Investor Relations; Annual Report 2025.
• MATRADE, Exclusive From Malaysia 2021, Issue 10.
• The Star, “Eng Kah boosts output”, 21 Dec 2015.
• oemreview NPRA cosmetic-notification extract, 6 Sep 2026.

Limitations

Patent statuses come from Google Patents, which is a secondary index and not a legal opinion; the Singapore, Philippine and Saudi entries show no status. We did not test printed bottles or visit the plant. Durability claims come from the patent text. Revenue from souvenir products is not disclosed, so we cannot size it.

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