Ten years after their invention, electronic cigarette makers are racing to design and buy variations of a technology that has lit a billion-dollar boom, created a new vocabulary, and prompted a backlash from health officials worried about the impact of the new smokeless devices.

Research by Thomson Reuters shows that China – with over 300 million smokers – is the front-runner in the manufacture and development of so-called e-cigarette technology, while new versions being patented include a “pay as you go” computer-assisted device and others that can deliver caffeine instead.

In 2005 just eight e-cigarette inventions were described in published patents.

By 2014 the figure had already jumped to 650. A single invention may be covered by several patents. The original technology, involving battery-powered heating systems that vaporise nicotine-laced liquid, is credited to Hon Lik, a Chinese medical researcher with a 20-a-day habit, in 2003.

Both big tobacco firms and small entrepreneurs are falling over themselves to find new ways to “vape” – a verb suddenly so mainstream the Oxford English Dictionary named it 2014’s Word of the Year.

Part of the rush to create new devices can be explained by the prospect of stiffer regulation on existing ones after the World Health Organisation said it wanted to see this, along with bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors.

While proponents see e-cigarettes as important tools for harm reduction, critics fear the devices may instead fuel a new wave of nicotine addiction and cite a lack of long-term scientific evidence to support their safety.

Of more than 2,000 e-cigarette inventions tracked by Thomson Reuters, 64 per cent originate in China, where over half of men smoke. In second place is the US, with 14 per cent, followed by South Korea with nine per cent.

Some patented suggestions target smokers looking to regulate their nicotine intake and their spending. While offerings already on the market include thousands of e-liquid flavours from menthol to marshmallow, and even a smartphone app to show how much you are using, new patents go a step further.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International describes an e-cigarette that would allow users to “pay as you go” by buying a certain number of doses via computer application connected to their e-cigarette. Customers could also program the device to shut off after a certain number of puffs per use to help limit intake.

Other smaller players aim to deliver doses of caffeine and other additives instead of nicotine.

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