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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/antimicrobial-surfaces-in-healthcare-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Infection PreventionAntimicrobial surfaces in healthcare: patents, leaders and where filing has cooled
- 17.5% concentration at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 203 of 1,159 records in scope (17.5%) — a leadership cluster, not a single dominant filer.
- Filing fell 67% from 2021 to 2024. Activity dropped from 45 records in 2021 to 15 in 2024, the last year the data treats as complete — a real pullback, not a lag artefact.
- Sterilising and biocide classes dominate. A61L and A01N each cover well over a third of records, while implant-surface claims under A61F sit at just 7.2% — a narrower, less crowded lane.
1,159
Published Records
18%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-67%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (45 records) with 2024 (15) — 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 1,159 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent set covers
This landscape tracks patent families filed against antimicrobial and self-disinfecting surface technology for healthcare settings — copper alloy surfaces, contact-killing coatings, and materials claimed for biofilm resistance or cleaning durability. The search combines surface-technology terms with functional and regulatory terms like contact killing, biofilm formation and regulatory claim, so the set skews toward records that tie a material property to a clinical or compliance outcome rather than pure chemistry disclosures.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the mid-2026 data cut-off, with 1,159 published records in scope. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years understate true filing activity and should be read as provisional.
Filing activity by year, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,159 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A peak in 2019, then a steady pullback
Filings peaked at 74 in 2019 and have declined since; the 2021-to-2024 window alone shows a 67% drop, from 45 records down to 15. Readers should treat 2025 and 2026 figures as still filling in rather than confirmation of further decline.
Sterilising and biocide classes carry the claim density
A61L (sterilising & disinfecting) appears in 42.2% of records and A01N (biocides/agrochemicals) in 37.2% — the two largest classes by a wide margin. Coating-process and polymer classes (B05D, C08F) sit in single digits, and implant-specific claims under A61F cover only 7.2%, suggesting narrower prior art there relative to surface chemistry generally.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,159 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records in this set
Recently Published
Screening compounds for efficacy against biofilm formation
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE
Disclosed herein are methods, systems and devices for screening compounds for efficacy against biofilm formation. These methods have the advantage over the prior art, in that the biofilm formation (or inhibition thereof) is tested directly on the material of interest, thereby providing a high throughput system for testing antimicrobial formulations against corrosion. Also disclosed is a peg assembly, and kits comprising a peg assembly, wherein the pegs are composed of a material of interest.Filed by Battelle Memorial Institute, published April 2026 — this record sits at the leading edge of the dataset's coverage window.
Highest-citation records
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20070003603A1 | Antimicrobial silver compositions | 359 |
| 2 | US20070207335A1 | Methods and compositions for metal nanoparticle treated surfaces | 253 |
| 3 | US5817325A | Contact-killing antimicrobial devices | 224 |
| 4 | US20090155335A1 | Non-leaching non-fouling antimicrobial coatings | 187 |
| 5 | US6126931A | Contact-killing antimicrobial devices | 174 |
| 6 | US20100152708A1 | Non-fouling, Anti-microbial, Anti-thrombogenic graft-from compositions | 157 |
| 7 | US6264936B1 | Contact-killing non-leaching antimicrobial materials | 146 |
| 8 | US20100145286A1 | Layered non-fouling, antimicrobial antithrombogenic coatings | 145 |
| 9 | US20110305872A1 | Non-fouling, Anti-microbial, Anti-thrombogenic graft-from compositons | 139 |
| 10 | US20070166344A1 | Non-leaching surface-active film compositions for microbial adhesion prevention | 136 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they've had longer to accumulate citations — treat this as a signal of influence within the corpus, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting new claims in this space.
Concentration
17.5%
of all 1,159 records held by top 5 assignees
Leadership is clustered, not singular
The leading assignee holds 45 records against a fifth-place figure of 33 and a tenth-place figure of 27 — a gradual taper rather than one dominant player. That shape means freedom-to-operate work needs to clear several mid-sized portfolios, not just the top name.
Based on the ranked assignee table
Momentum
-67%
filing change, 2021 to 2024
The filing wave has passed its peak
Volume peaked at 74 records in 2019 and has fallen steadily since, with the 2021-to-2024 window showing a 67% decline. That does not mean the technology is exhausted — it means the easiest claims were likely staked out earlier in the cycle.
2024 is the last year treated as complete in this dataset
Composition
7.2%
of records fall under A61F implants & prostheses
Implant-specific surface claims are comparatively thin
Against A61L's 42.2% and A01N's 37.2%, the implant and prosthesis class covers a much smaller share of records. Combined with C08F (addition polymers) at 8.3%, this points to less-crowded claim territory around implant-surface polymer chemistry specifically.
IPC subclass shares, out of 1,159 records
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to antimicrobial surfaces in healthcare, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Who's Filing
The assignee landscape
The ranked table covers 100 companies, counted in patent families — it is the full set the data endpoint returns, not a curated top tier.
Leader
45
records held by the top-ranked assignee
One name ahead, but not by a wide margin
The leading assignee's 45 records sit well ahead of the field, but the gap to fifth place (33) is modest enough that several organisations are filing at comparable volume.
Ranked assignee table
Mid-field
27
records at tenth place
A dense mid-field of repeat filers
Positions six through ten still hold meaningful volume, meaning the technology isn't gated by a single portfolio — multiple organisations have built defensible positions worth checking before filing.
Ranked assignee table
Collaboration
33
shared records in the strongest co-assignee pair
Co-filing is concentrated in a small cluster
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the data, with one pairing sharing 33 records — evidence of a specific, sustained collaboration rather than broad cross-licensing across the field.
Co-assignee pair analysis
Recent-year filing momentum
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Semprus BioSciences Corp | 0 | — |
| Nano Safe Coatings Inc | 0 | — |
| ZHANG ZHENG | 0 | — |
| LOOSE CHRISTOPHER R | 0 | — |
| University of Washington | 0 | — |
| Avent Inc | 0 | — |
| Inhibit Coatings Ltd | 0 | — |
| C. R. Bard, Inc. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field past its filing peak but still structurally open in specific branches. Here's how to act on it.
Map freedom-to-operate against the mid-field
With volume spread across several assignees rather than one dominant filer, a workable FTO check needs to clear the leader plus the mid-field cluster around tenth place, not just the top name.
Run an FTO search in EurekaProbe the implant-surface gap
A61F coverage sits at 7.2% against A61L's 42.2%, suggesting implant-specific surface chemistry claims are comparatively under-filed relative to general disinfecting surfaces.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch the 2025–2026 window before concluding the field is shrinking
Publication lag means the most recent years are still filling in. Treat any apparent continued decline past 2024 as provisional until later data confirms it.
Track filing trends in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on this landscape
The ranked assignee table covers 100 companies by patent family count, with the leading assignee holding 45 records. The next four assignees combined bring the top-5 total to 203 records, or 17.5% of the 1,159 records in scope. That spread means leadership is clustered among several organisations rather than dominated by one, so competitive monitoring needs to track a handful of portfolios rather than a single company.
Filing peaked in 2019 at 74 records and has declined since, with the 2021-to-2024 window showing a 67% drop from 45 down to 15 records. 2024 is the last year in this dataset treated as complete, because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. That means the apparent decline is real through 2024, but the 2025 and 2026 figures should not yet be read as confirming a continued slowdown.
The two largest IPC subclasses are A61L (sterilising and disinfecting), covering 42.2% of the 1,159 records, and A01N (biocides and agrochemicals), covering 37.2%. Coating and polymer classes such as C09D, B05D and C08F each cover under 20%, and implant-specific claims under A61F cover just 7.2%. Since a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be summed into a single total.
Relative to the dominant sterilising and biocide classes, implant-surface polymer chemistry (the overlap between A61F and C08F) and coating-process durability under repeated cleaning both show thinner coverage in this dataset. That doesn't guarantee an application will clear examination, but it does mean fewer competing families are staking claims in those specific combinations compared with general contact-killing or disinfecting surface chemistry. A freedom-to-operate search focused on those narrower combinations is a reasonable next step.
The highest-citation record in this dataset, US20070003603A1 on antimicrobial silver compositions, has been cited 359 times, followed by a metal-nanoparticle surface treatment record cited 253 times and two contact-killing device records cited 224 and 174 times respectively. High citation counts in an older record reflect accumulated influence over time, not necessarily current commercial relevance, since older filings simply have had longer to be cited. Anyone drafting claims in silver-based or nanoparticle antimicrobial coatings should review these records directly rather than relying on citation count alone.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Antimicrobial Surfaces in Healthcare covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.