High Moisture Extrusion Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
A patent landscape review of high moisture extrusion for alternative proteins: who holds the ranked leadership positions, how filings rose and fell since 2017, which IPC branches carry the claim density, and where white
Filing growth = 2021 (23 records) → 2024 (2); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 90 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
High moisture extrusion (HME) is the processing route behind most fibrous meat-analog products on the market: a wet protein slurry is cooked and sheared through a die to build the anisotropic, muscle-like texture that distinguishes a textured protein from a dry meat substitute. This landscape covers 90 published records filed or published between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, drawn from claims and titles that combine high-moisture extrusion process language with plant, alternative or general food-protein substrates.
The scope spans process patents (feed rate control, die geometry, cooling), product claims (fried nugget analogs, cheese analogs, whole-cut formats) and a smaller set of equipment and formulation patents that sit at the edges of the core extrusion claim. Because a single record often claims across process and product, the IPC composition below adds up to more than the record count — that is expected and is explained where it appears.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 90 records: how filing activity has moved year on year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density once every record is tagged against its classification codes.
A sharp 2021 peak, then a fall that predates the publication window
Filings rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2021, then fell to 2 by 2024 — a 91% decline over that three-year span. That drop is real over the 2021-2024 window, but 2025 and 2026 counts are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; treat the tail of the chart as a floor, not a ceiling.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Protein and shaping classes dominate; dairy, feed and medicinal uses trail
A23J (proteins and food peptides) appears on 72.2% of the 90 records, and A23P (food shaping/forming) on 50.0% — the two classes that define the core HME process-and-product claim. A23L (general foods) sits at 44.4%. Adjacent classes are thinner: A23C (dairy, 12.2%), A23K (animal feed, 11.1%), B29C (plastics shaping, 7.8%), A22C (meat/fish processing, 5.6%) and A61K (medicinal preparations, 5.6%) each cover a small minority of records.
Shares are the percentage of the 90 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Try EurekaThe records the field cites and builds on
Systems and methods for high moisture extrusion of bacterial proteins for meat analog food products
The filing describes a high moisture extrusion system for turning bacterial proteins into meat-analog products, built around an automatic, dynamic feedback loop that controls output conditions during extrusion. A dry feed system doses bacterial protein at a defined baseline rate while a separate water feed system meters moisture into the process, letting the system hold texture and yield targets even as feed composition varies.Filed by The LiveKindly Company Switzerland GmbH, published 2023-03-02.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5922392A | Textured proteic fiber matrix with included solid, liquid or gaseous particles | 123 |
| 2 | WO1996034539A1 | Textured proteic fiber matrix with included solid, liquid or gaseous particles | 31 |
| 3 | US20220046951A1 | Plant protein-based whole-cut fried chicken nugget and preparation method thereof | 7 |
| 4 | WO2022024119A1 | Injection molding of meat-like food products | 7 |
| 5 | WO2023021428A1 | Plant-based cheese product | 6 |
| 6 | WO2020079440A1 | Food alternative product and process | 5 |
| 7 | WO2023212122A1 | Processes and compositions for preparation of whole-cut meat analogues | 4 |
| 8 | US20230284653A1 | Method for Producing Novel Plant-Based Whole Cut Meat Analogue | 4 |
| 9 | US20230034165A1 | Dosing and Mixing Interim Plate | 4 |
| 10 | US20220202041A1 | Rework process for plant-based food production | 4 |
Citation counts favour older records that have had more time to accumulate references inside this corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a ranking of current commercial importance. The two oldest entries, both describing a textured proteic fibre matrix, dominate the citation count by a wide margin over anything filed since.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three findings that should shape where a new filing or freedom-to-operate check starts.
Leadership is concentrated, but the ranking has a long tail
Five assignees hold 56.7% of all 90 records and ten hold 74.4%, with the leader alone on 14. The ranked list runs to 40 companies, so beyond the top ten the field thins out quickly into single- and double-filing entrants — a pattern typical of a technology that consolidated fast around a small set of early movers.
The 2021 peak has not been sustained, but read the tail carefully
Filings rose from nothing in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2021, then dropped 91% to 2 by 2024. That is a genuine pullback in a complete filing window, but 2025-2026 figures are still arriving given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, so the most recent bars understate real activity.
Process and shaping claims are the busiest, adjacent uses are thin
A23J and A23P together anchor the great majority of records, meaning the core extrusion process and its immediate product forms are heavily claimed. Dairy (A23C), animal feed (A23K) and medicinal preparation (A61K) uses each sit under 13% of records, suggesting these adjacent applications of HME are comparatively open.
Filing strategy is US- and PCT-led, with a smaller but real UK and Israel presence
The United States and the PCT route each carry more filings than any national office, with Europe third. The United Kingdom and Israel each register 6 filings apiece, a footprint worth checking specifically if a competitor's home base sits in either jurisdiction.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to alternative proteins: high moisture extrusion patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up work rather than a single answer.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top ten assignees
With 74.4% of records held by ten companies, a new filing in core HME process or product claims is more likely to run into prior art from this group than from the long tail. Start any clearance search there.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches before assuming they are open
Dairy, animal feed and medicinal-preparation uses of HME each sit under 13% of records — promising for a first-mover claim, but worth a targeted search before relying on the low count alone.
Run a white-space search in EurekaRe-check 2025-2026 filings once publication catches up
The apparent fall-off after 2021 is real through 2024 but the two most recent years are still filling in. Revisit the trend in six to twelve months before treating the field as in decline.
Track filing trends in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
High moisture extrusion is a cooking-and-shearing process that pushes a wet protein slurry through a heated barrel and die to build a fibrous, muscle-like texture, rather than the drier, denser texture produced by low-moisture extrusion. It is the process most commonly used to make whole-cut and chunk-style meat analogs because it can replicate the anisotropic fiber structure of animal muscle. In patent terms it sits at the intersection of process engineering (feed rate, die design, cooling) and product claims (the resulting food item), which is why records in this landscape carry both A23J protein and A23P shaping classifications.
The assignee ranking covers 40 companies across the 90 records in scope, with a clear concentration at the top: five assignees hold 56.7% of all records and ten hold 74.4%. The leading assignee alone accounts for 14 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 5 and the tenth-place holder at 3. Beyond the top ten, filings spread thinly across a long tail of single- and low-count entrants, which is typical once a technology's early movers have staked out the core process claims.
Filings rose sharply from zero in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2021, then fell 91% to 2 by 2024 — a genuine decline across a filing window that is complete enough to trust. However, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 counts in any chart are still incomplete and should not yet be read as confirmation that the field is shrinking further. A fair read is that the initial filing wave peaked in 2021 and has since normalized to a lower but not necessarily falling rate.
Within the IPC composition, dairy applications (A23C, 12.2% of 90 records), animal feed (A23K, 11.1%), plastics-shaping crossover (B29C, 7.8%), meat and fish processing (A22C, 5.6%) and medicinal preparations (A61K, 5.6%) all sit well below the 72.2% carried by core protein claims (A23J). These lower shares point to comparatively under-claimed application areas, though a low count is a starting signal for a targeted clearance search, not proof that the space is empty.
This filing, from The LiveKindly Company Switzerland GmbH and published 2023-03-02, describes a high moisture extrusion system for bacterial proteins that uses an automatic feedback loop to control output conditions, including a dry feed system for bacterial protein and a separate water feed system for moisture. It is specific to bacterial-protein feedstocks combined with dynamic feedback control of feed and water rates, not to high moisture extrusion of plant proteins generally. Anyone extruding a different protein source, or using static rather than feedback-controlled dosing, is working outside its narrowest claims, though a full claim chart is the only way to confirm freedom to operate.
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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.