Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Barrier Properties Patent Snapshot
The CFRP barrier-properties space is a small, highly concentrated field led by Wisk Aero LLC and The Boeing Company, with aerospace laminate structures dominating the technology mix. Annual filings peaked in 2018 and have since eased, placing the field in a post-peak phase with selective entry by new applicants in the most recent window.
Wisk Aero and Boeing control a heavily concentrated niche
Wisk Aero LLC holds the top position with 14 patent families, nearly double the second-ranked. The Boeing Company at 8 patent families. Together they anchor a field where the five largest filers account for 68% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total.
The concentration is striking for a corpus of this size: a two-player tier — Wisk Aero and Boeing — sits well above a second tier of six applicants each holding 2 patent families, with the remaining players holding a single family each. This steep drop-off leaves limited room for challengers to close the gap without significant filing acceleration.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wisk Aero LLC | 14 | |
| 2 | The Boeing Company | 8 | |
| 3 | Genesee Valley Innovations LLC | 2 | |
| 4 | University of Tennessee Research Foundation | 2 | |
| 5 | Korea Institute of Materials Science | 2 | |
| 6 | HUAZHONG UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 7 | Airbus Operations SL | 2 | |
| 8 | University of Southern California | 1 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Rolls-Royce Electrical Norway AS | 1 | |
| 10 | Wuxi Xinhua Petroleum Products Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 11 | Jilin University | 1 | |
| 12 | LG Chem Ltd. | 1 | |
| 13 | Southeast University | 1 | |
| 14 | Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad | 1 | |
| 15 | North China University of Science and Technology | 1 | |
| 16 | INST OF OPTICS & ELECTRONICS CHINESE ACAD OF SCI | 1 |
The leaders’ positions signal that barrier-property innovation in CFRP is being driven primarily by aerospace platform builders rather than materials suppliers, pointing to application-specific rather than platform-agnostic development. Entrants focused on materials chemistry (polymer processing, coatings) have so far captured only a minority share.
Filing counts for 2023 onward should be treated as preliminary; publication lag means the most recent 18–24 months are under-counted and the apparent low activity in that window does not necessarily reflect reduced invention.
A 2018 filing spike gave way to a fragmented but technically diverse Snapshot
The annual filing trend reveals a sharp pulse in 2018 followed by reduced and irregular activity, while the technology-branch breakdown shows that layered-product and aerospace classes are visible in but several adjacent materials-science branches carry meaningful minority shares.
Annual filing trend
Filings surged to 14 in 2018 — the field’s peak — then fell sharply, with only isolated activity in subsequent years. The 2022 uptick to 6 families suggests episodic rather than sustained reinvestment. Data from 2023 onward is subject to publication lag and should not be read as the final level of activity.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Layered products and laminates (B32B) is the visible class, reflecting a focus on multi-layer barrier constructions. Aerospace applications (B64C) and polymer processing (C08J) form the next tier, together confirming that the field centers on structural-plus-barrier performance in flight hardware. Smaller shares in polymer additives (C08K), plastics shaping (B29C), polymer compositions (C08L), and jet propulsion (F02K) indicate technically adjacent but under-developed directions.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Preparation method and product of carbon fiber rei…
The disclosure discloses a preparation method and product of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites with a designable characteristic structure. The method includes: (a) choosing carbon fabrics as raw material, where a predetermined number of the fabrics are selected to deposit the reinforcement phase; (b) coating all carbon fabrics with resin matrix… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low volatility, high efficiency gas barrier coatin… | 15 |
| 2 | 碳纤维增强聚合物基复合板材及其制备方法 | 5 |
| 3 | 电机转子套筒 | 4 |
| 4 | Preparation method and product of carbon fiber rei… | 4 |
| 5 | Exterior materials for automobiles and preparation… | 2 |
| 6 | 一种提高碳纤维复合材料（cfrp）镜面光学加工性能的方法 | 2 |
| 7 | Low volatility, high efficiency gas barrier coatin… | 2 |
| 8 | Composition for reinforcing interlaminar shear str… | 2 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment
The combination of high concentration, a post-peak filing curve, and narrow technology focus creates a landscape where entry points exist primarily in adjacent materials and processing branches rather than in the established laminate core.
Post-peak field with eased annual volume
The lifecycle evidence places this field in a Decline stage: annual filings peaked in 2018 and have eased since, with a recent-window growth rate of –30%. For an R&D planner, this signals that the core laminate-barrier concept is technically mature and that incremental improvements in the visible approach face a crowded prior-art landscape. Investment in adjacent, less-filed branches may offer better freedom to operate.
Lifecycle: DeclineTwo-player tier is visible in; second tier is thin
Wisk Aero LLC and The Boeing Company together hold the overwhelming majority of the top-ranked filings, with all remaining applicants holding two families or fewer. This extreme concentration means that any new entrant or challenger must differentiate by technology route — materials chemistry, additive manufacturing, or coatings — rather than by volume in the laminate core. The thin second tier also suggests that licensing or collaboration with the leaders may be more efficient than direct competition in their visible subclasses.
High concentrationNo co-filing activity detected in this corpus
The collaboration data returns no co-applicant pairs within this 36-family corpus. The field appears to be pursued through independent proprietary programs rather than joint-development arrangements, which is consistent with the aerospace-platform-builder profile of the top filers. This absence of cross-entity collaboration may itself represent an opportunity: a consortium or supply-chain partnership targeting barrier coatings or polymer additives could establish a differentiated position.
No co-filing detectedUS leads; China and Europe are secondary filing destinations
The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction with 9 patent records, followed by China with 8 and Europe (EPO) with 5. Canada, Japan, and South Korea each host smaller shares. The US-China parallel filing pattern reflects the dual commercial hubs for both aerospace CFRP and advanced materials manufacturing. Applicants seeking broad protection should ensure EPO and PCT coverage, as WIPO filings number only 2 records, suggesting incomplete international prosecution by several filers.
US-led, globally fragmentedGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Wisk Aero LLC
Wisk Aero holds 14 patent families — the largest position in this corpus — concentrated in layered-product laminates (B32B 27 and B32B 3) and aerospace structures (B64C 11, aeroplanes and helicopters), consistent with its electric vertical take-off and landing platform program. Momentum data does not show recent new filings in the evidence window, suggesting its portfolio was built in the 2018 surge period.
14 patent familiesThe Boeing Company
Boeing holds 8 patent families with technology emphasis spanning layered-product laminates (B32B 27, B32B 3) and polymer processing (C08J 7), indicating a broader materials-science reach than Wisk Aero. Its momentum trend is marked as a new entrant in the recent filing window, suggesting renewed or redirected activity in this specific barrier-properties niche despite its established aerospace heritage.
8 patent familiesFrequently asked questions
The corpus contains 36 patent families in scope. This is a small, specialized field rather than a broad technology area, and the limited corpus size should inform expectations about the density of prior art.
Wisk Aero LLC leads with 14 patent families, followed by The Boeing Company with 8. These two applicants together represent a commanding share of the field, with all other applicants holding 2 families or fewer.
The field is in a Decline stage based on filing evidence: annual filings peaked in 2018 at 14 families and have eased significantly since. The recent-window growth rate is -30%. This does not mean innovation has stopped, but the core laminate-barrier approach appears technically mature.
The United States leads with 9 patent records, followed by China with 8 and Europe (EPO) with 5. Canada, Japan, and South Korea each host smaller shares. WIPO (PCT) coverage is thin at 2 records, suggesting some applicants have not pursued full international prosecution.
No co-applicant filings are detected in this corpus. All activity appears to be pursued through independent proprietary programs, which is consistent with the aerospace platform-builder profile of the top filers.
The sparsest branches relative to the visible laminate class are coating processes (B05D, 4 records), jet and reaction propulsion applications (F02K, 5 records), polymer additives (C08K, 6 records), plastics shaping (B29C, 5 records), and polymer compositions (C08L, 5 records). These represent adjacent areas with lower prior-art density, though each requires a freedom-to-operate assessment before R&D commitment.
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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.
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