Advanced Oxidation Process Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 19 records and has since flattened toward 8 by the 2022 midpoint, with no renewed upward trend visible in the data.
- China and the US lead filing volume at 38 and 36 records respectively, ahead of PCT, South Korea, Europe and India.
- Support functions remain thin filtration, mixing/dosing and real-time monitoring subclasses each sit far below the 159-record water-treatment core.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 159 patent families filed under advanced oxidation process, photocatalytic water treatment and ozonation treatment search terms, cross-referenced against claim language on hydroxyl radical generation, mineralization, byproduct formation, energy consumption and catalyst stability. The classification anchor is C02F, the water and wastewater treatment IPC subclass, which every record in the corpus falls under, alongside secondary activity in catalysis, filtration, mixing and electrolytic production.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s to a peak in 2020, then flattened into the low double digits by 2022. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent years in this trend understate real filing activity, but the broader pattern is one of a technology with an established core and comparatively quiet recent momentum among its most active historical filers.
Filing trends and technology composition
Filings in this corpus rose to a peak in 2020 before flattening, and the technology composition shows a dominant water-treatment core surrounded by thinner supporting subclasses.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Filings climbed from 11 in 2017 to a peak of 19 in 2020, then declined toward a midpoint of 8 in 2022. The most recent year is partial and undercounts true filing activity because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
IPC subclass distribution
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) anchors the entire corpus at 159 records, with catalysis (B01J), filtration (B01D), mixing (B01F) and electrolytic production (C25B) forming a secondary tier, and analytical/monitoring (G01N) and niche applications (A01K, B08B) trailing well behind.
Shares are the percentage of the 159 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Advanced Oxidation Processes with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about advanced oxidation processes and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this landscape
Monitoring hydroxyl radical scavenging in water via real-time multi-fluorescence and parallel factor analysis
The system monitors a hydroxyl radical scavenging index in water using a real-time multi-fluorescence analyzer paired with parallel factor analysis, replacing the older rhodamine-B indicator method with a continuous flow analysis approach. Filed by Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, it is built for water treatment systems that apply an advanced oxidation process using ozone, ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide.Abstract condensed from the original filing for length.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5593598A | Method and apparatus for closed loop recycling of contaminated cleaning solution | 126 |
| 2 | US20050171390A1 | Wet oxidation process and system | 45 |
| 3 | US20130299361A1 | System and Method for Treatment of Wastewater to Destroy Organic Contaminants by a Diamond Activated Electroc… | 37 |
| 4 | WO1997014657A1 | Advanced oxidation of water using catalytic ozonation | 37 |
| 5 | US20210032136A1 | Method and System for Purifying Water Using Photocatalysis | 36 |
| 6 | EP1686095A1 | Photocatalytic reactor with a modular configuration and advanced oxidation process for purifying and disinfec… | 29 |
| 7 | US20170225971A1 | Apparatus and method for water treatment | 21 |
| 8 | CN104724852A | 一种吹脱氧化降解含高浓度硝基苯废水的方法及装置 | 18 |
| 9 | KR100541573B1 | Apparatus and method for treating water using advanced oxidation process | 17 |
| 10 | CN104710000A | 一种超重力场中催化臭氧降解硝基苯类废水的方法及装置 | 16 |
Citation counts are drawn from the searched corpus and favor older filings; use them as a signal of influence on subsequent art, not of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Citation weight, jurisdiction spread and co-filing patterns together point to a field with mature core chemistry and thinner activity around its support technologies.
Prior art on closed-loop oxidation runs deep
US5593598A, a closed-loop contaminated cleaning solution recycling method, carries 126 citations, the heaviest in this corpus. That depth signals long-standing prior art on general process architecture for oxidation-based water recycling, which any new filer in that specific space needs to search closely.
Filing is split across two lead markets, not concentrated in one
China and the United States sit close together as the top two receiving offices, with WIPO PCT filings at 18 indicating a real share of applicants pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than filing domestically only.
Every record sits under the water-treatment core classification
C02F anchors the entire dataset, with catalysis, filtration, mixing and electrolytic production forming a secondary tier well behind it. Monitoring and niche application subclasses trail furthest, marking the thinnest claim density in the corpus.
Momentum has cooled since the 2020 peak
Filings rose to 19 in 2020 and had fallen to 8 by 2022, a pattern more consistent with a maturing filing wave than with an accelerating one, though the most recent years are understated by publication lag.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to advanced oxidation processes, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
Recent-year momentum across the assignees tracked in this corpus shows no active filer with continuing output in the latest year, pointing to a field where the historical leaders have gone quiet rather than one with a clear current frontrunner.
Leading historical filers show no recent output
Evoqua Water Technologies, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Teck Resources, National University of Singapore and Air Products and Chemicals all show zero filings in the latest tracked year, consistent with the broader flattening trend after the 2020 peak.
Co-filing is limited and institute-centered
The strongest co-assignee link in the corpus is Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology filing jointly with a Korean architecture and engineering consultancy, appearing three times. Co-filing overall is sparse across the dataset, suggesting most applicants file independently.
Filing strategy spans major markets plus PCT
With China and the United States as the top two receiving offices and 18 PCT filings recorded, applicants in this space are pursuing both direct national filing in large markets and multi-jurisdiction PCT strategies.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Evoqua Water Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| GREENTHREAD LTD | 0 | — |
| Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology | 0 | — |
| Teck Resources Limited | 0 | — |
| National University of Singapore | 0 | — |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Ebara Corporation | 0 | — |
| Nanjing University | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing data points to a field with settled core chemistry and open support-technology claims. The next steps depend on whether you are screening for freedom to operate or scouting where to file.
Screen the under-claimed branches
Filtration integration, dosing hardware and real-time monitoring all sit well below the core treatment claim density and are worth a dedicated freedom-to-operate pass before drafting.
Run a white space search in Eureka →Track the quiet historical leaders
The assignees with the deepest historical filing show zero output in the latest year; watch for renewed activity or new entrants filling the gap.
Set up assignee monitoring in Eureka →Map claims against the top-cited prior art
The most heavily cited records cover broad process architecture; any new filing near closed-loop recycling or wet oxidation should be checked against them directly.
Compare claim scope in Eureka →Frequently asked questions
In this dataset, advanced oxidation process filings are pulled using IPC codes C02F1, B01J35 and C02F101 combined with search terms covering hydroxyl radical generation, mineralization, byproduct formation, energy consumption and catalyst stability. This captures ozonation, photocatalytic water treatment and related oxidation-based water treatment methods rather than every mention of oxidation chemistry. The core classification, C02F, accounts for all 159 records in the corpus, confirming that water and wastewater treatment is the organizing category rather than a side application.
The assignee ranking in this corpus is not dominated by a single runaway leader; recent-year momentum data shows several tracked assignees, including Evoqua Water Technologies, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Teck Resources, National University of Singapore, and Air Products and Chemicals, all recording zero filings in the latest year. That pattern points to a field with distributed activity across universities, engineering institutes and industrial water-treatment companies rather than concentrated ownership by one corporate filer. Reviewing the full assignee table is the more reliable way to see relative filing volume than relying on any single name.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 at 19 records and has trended flat to declining since, with the 2022 midpoint sitting at 8. Because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the most recent years in any such trend understate true activity, so the apparent decline should be read cautiously rather than as confirmed slowdown. Even accounting for that lag, the absence of a renewed upward trend after 2020 suggests the field is not in an acceleration phase.
The clearest under-claimed areas sit outside the core C02F treatment claims: filtration integration (B01D, 11 records), mixing and dosing hardware (B01F, 11 records), and real-time analytical monitoring (G01N, 8 records) are all thin relative to the 159-record water-treatment core. Niche adjacencies like aquaculture-linked water treatment (A01K, 4 records) show almost no claim density at all. These gaps are more promising filing targets than the crowded core process claims, where citation-heavy prior art like closed-loop recycling and wet oxidation systems already occupies broad process-level ground.
China and the United States lead as receiving offices, with 38 and 36 records respectively, followed by WIPO PCT filings at 18, South Korea at 17, the European Patent Office at 13, and India at 12. This spread indicates the technology is being filed for protection across major industrial and manufacturing markets rather than concentrated in a single jurisdiction, and the PCT volume suggests a meaningful share of applicants are pursuing multi-country protection strategies from the outset.
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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.