Active Food Packaging Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 82.4% concentration. The top five assignees hold 126 of the 153 records in scope — a field where a handful of filers set the terms for oxygen scavenger and antioxidant packaging claims.
- Flat, not falling, filing. Filings held at 2 in both 2021 and 2024 (0% change) — read the 2025-2026 dip as publication lag, not a cooling field.
- Polymer chemistry dominates the claim map. C08K and C08J additive/processing classes cover 44.4% and 39.2% of records respectively, while indicator and sensing classes stay comparatively thin.
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (2) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 153 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Active and intelligent food packaging sits at the intersection of polymer science and shelf-life management: oxygen scavengers, antimicrobial release systems, freshness indicators and time-temperature indicators all appear in the search construct behind this dataset. The 153 records in scope span filings from 2015 through the current data cut-off, giving a working view of where claim density has built up and where it has not.
Most of the activity documented here is chemistry-first: resin formulations, additive packages and layered laminate structures rather than electronic sensing. That skew matters for anyone scoping freedom-to-operate, because it means the physical scavenging and release mechanisms are the most heavily claimed part of the field, not the consumer-facing indicator layer.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 153-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year on year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 0 in 2017 to a peak of 6 in 2020, then settled into a lower, flatter pattern — 2 filings in 2021 and 2 in 2024, a 0% change over that span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete: publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent two years will fill in as more records publish.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C08K (use of additives in polymers) and C08J (polymer processing and solutions) lead at 44.4% and 39.2% of the 153 records respectively, with B29B (plastics preparation) close behind at 35.9%. A61K and C07K, both above 20%, point to a meaningful overlap with medicinal-preparation and peptide chemistry — likely driven by antimicrobial and antioxidant active-agent claims rather than packaging structure itself. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to well over 100% and should be read individually, not added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 153 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Active and Intelligent Food Packaging with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about active and intelligent food packaging and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
US20180290811A1 — Antioxidant active food packaging
Food packaging material comprising a polymeric material and a natural antioxidant, which may be extracted, isolated and/or derived from plant material. A method for forming the packaging material is also provided, comprising forming a mixture of a natural antioxidant and a polymeric resin and processing that mixture into a food packaging material.Filed by International Consolidated Business Group Pty Ltd, published 2018-10-11.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7541091B2 | Compartmentalized resin pellets for oxygen scavenging | 134 |
| 2 | WO2017049364A1 | Antioxidant active food packaging | 36 |
| 3 | WO2005110694A1 | Compartmentalized resin pellets | 32 |
| 4 | US20100178268A1 | Biocidic packaging for cosmetics and foodstuffs | 27 |
| 5 | US20050261126A1 | Compartmentalized resin pellets | 24 |
| 6 | WO2016087569A1 | Pharmaceutical product with increased stability comprising immunoglobulins | 23 |
| 7 | US7550203B2 | Compartmentalized resin pellets | 23 |
| 8 | US20060261307A1 | Water Activated Organic Scavenger | 19 |
| 9 | US20180290811A1 | Antioxidant active food packaging | 14 |
| 10 | US20180264111A1 | Pharmaceutical product with increased stability comprising immunoglobulins | 13 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older filings such as the oxygen-scavenging pellet patents lead the table by volume of citations, not by current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Read alongside the concentration and IPC figures, three patterns stand out for anyone assessing where to file or challenge.
A small group sets the claim boundaries
With 126 of 153 records held by the five leading assignees, most of the core oxygen-scavenger and antioxidant packaging space is already occupied by a handful of filers. New entrants are more likely to find room at the formulation or application-specific edges than in the core mechanism claims.
Flat filing, not a retreat
Filing volume held steady at 2 per year between 2021 and 2024 after peaking at 6 in 2020. Given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, 2025-2026 counts are still incomplete and should not be read as a slowdown.
Chemistry claims outweigh indicator claims
The heaviest IPC classes — C08K, C08J, B29B — are all polymer formulation and processing categories. Consumer-facing intelligent packaging elements such as time-temperature or freshness indicators are present in the search scope but do not dominate the classification mix the way scavenger and antimicrobial chemistry does.
Early scavenger patents still anchor the field
The most-cited records, including US7541091B2 and WO2005110694A1, both cover compartmentalized resin pellets for oxygen scavenging — a mechanism filed well over a decade ago that still accumulates the most citations in the corpus. That reflects age and influence, not current filing activity.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to active and intelligent food packaging, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and what the gate looks like for new entrants
Thirty-two companies make up the entire ranked list returned for this dataset — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, the full set of assignees the search surfaces.
One filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 45 of the 153 records in scope, roughly six times the count at fifth place (7). That gap suggests a company that has built a broad formulation and process portfolio around its core scavenger or antioxidant chemistry rather than a single flagship patent.
The long tail starts fast
Combined, the top ten assignees account for 143 of 153 records. Past tenth place, filing counts drop to single digits quickly, meaning most of the remaining 22 ranked companies hold only one or two records each.
Filing is mostly solo, with one dense cluster
Co-assignment is limited across the dataset, but where it appears it concentrates around one group of inventor and corporate co-filings tied to a single Italian polymer producer's antioxidant packaging line. That cluster suggests an in-house inventor team working repeat filings rather than a joint venture pattern.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| CSL Behring AG | 0 | -100% |
| M&G Polimeri Italia S.p.A. | 0 | — |
| APG Polytech LLC | 0 | — |
| M&G USA Corp | 0 | — |
| Oplon Pure Science Ltd | 0 | — |
| International Consolidated Business Group Pty Ltd | 0 | — |
| Polyvalor LP | 0 | — |
| FERRARI GIANLUCA | 0 | — |
Where to take this from here
The landscape points to a concentrated core and a thinner indicator layer. Two directions follow naturally.
Map freedom-to-operate against the top holders
With 82.4% of records held by five assignees, any new formulation work in oxygen scavenging or antioxidant release should be checked against those portfolios specifically, not the field broadly.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTest the indicator white space
Time-temperature and freshness indicator claims sit outside the densest IPC classes in this dataset, suggesting room for a first-mover claim structured around consumer-facing sensing rather than the underlying polymer chemistry.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions on active and intelligent food packaging patents
One assignee leads with 45 of the 153 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 7 records. The top five assignees combined hold 126 records, or 82.4% of the total, meaning most core oxygen-scavenger and antioxidant packaging claims sit with a small group of filers. The remaining 22 companies in the 32-company ranked list each hold only a handful of records, so the field has a short list of dominant players and a long tail of smaller filers.
Filing volume peaked at 6 records in 2020 and has since settled to a flatter pattern, with 2 filings recorded in both 2021 and 2024 — a 0% change over that span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 appear lower, but publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so those years are still incomplete rather than evidence of decline. The honest read is a plateau after a 2020 peak, not a downward trend.
Polymer additive and processing classes dominate: C08K (use of additives in polymers) appears in 44.4% of the 153 records, C08J (polymer processing and solutions) in 39.2%, and B29B (plastics preparation) in 35.9%. Medicinal-preparation and peptide-related classes, A61K and C07K, each appear in just over 20% of records, reflecting antimicrobial and antioxidant active-agent chemistry. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages overlap and do not sum to 100%.
US20180290811A1, filed by International Consolidated Business Group Pty Ltd and published in October 2018, covers a food packaging material combining a polymeric material with a natural antioxidant derived from plant material, along with a method for forming that mixture into packaging. It is a representative rather than uniquely dominant filing in this space, since the same assignee and close peers hold other related records. Anyone working with plant-derived antioxidants blended directly into packaging resin should review this filing's claim scope specifically before finalizing a formulation.
The classification data shows claim density concentrated in polymer additive and processing chemistry, while consumer-facing indicator technology — time-temperature indicators, freshness labels and their calibration methods — shows comparatively thinner coverage in this dataset. Migration-limit compliant antimicrobial carriers and sensor-integrated laminate structures also sit outside the densest classes. These are reasonable starting points for a first claim, though any filing strategy should be checked against the specific portfolios of the leading assignees first.
Research Active and Intelligent Food Packaging in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole active and intelligent food packaging corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.