Conformance Control Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 72.8% concentration. The top five assignees hold 110 of the 151 records in scope — a field where the claim space at the top is already occupied.
- Filings down 81% from peak. Activity ran from 26 records in 2021 to 5 in 2024, the last year with complete publication data.
- C09K dominates, E21B trails. 78.8% of records sit in materials-for-misc-applications claims versus 48.3% in well-treatment method claims — most protection is on the chemistry, not the wellbore process.
Filing growth compares 2021 (26 records) with 2024 (5) — 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 151 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
Conformance control and water shutoff technology addresses a persistent production problem: fluid moving too easily through high-permeability zones instead of sweeping oil out of the reservoir. The patents in this set span crosslinked gelant placement, preformed particle gels, colloidal silica systems and thief zone plugging — chemistries designed to reduce water or gas production while leaving oil-bearing zones untouched. Most of the activity is claimed as a material composition rather than a wellbore method, which shapes where the freedom to operate actually sits.
The 151 records in scope span filings from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, drawn from receiving offices led by the United States, with meaningful volume through the EPO, WIPO/PCT, Australia and Canada. That spread indicates the intended markets are conventional and unconventional operating regions rather than a single jurisdiction play.
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Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 151 records: how filing activity moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density. Both use the full record count as their denominator, so the technology shares add to more than 100% because a single record can carry multiple classes.
A sharp rise and an equally sharp pullback
Filings climbed to a peak of 26 records in 2021, then fell to 5 by 2024 — an 81% decline over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirmation the field has gone quiet; they simply have not finished publishing yet.
Materials claims outweigh method claims
C09K (materials for miscellaneous applications) appears in 78.8% of records, well ahead of E21B (earth and rock drilling / wells) at 48.3%. The polymer-chemistry classes — C08F, C08J, C08K, C08L — together account for a large share of the remaining claim volume, confirming that most of the intellectual property in this space is chemistry-first rather than equipment- or process-first.
Shares are the percentage of the 151 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Conformance Control and Water Shutoff with Eureka
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Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this set
Preformed particle gel for enhanced oil recovery (Kemira)
Re-crosslinkable preformed particle gels and compositions containing, e.g., those further comprising at least one re-crosslinking agent are provided, as well as the use thereof, e.g., in methods, processes, and techniques related to enhanced oil recovery, e.g., conformance control, wherein the use of said re-crosslinkable preformed particle gels when re-crosslinked may improve hydrocarbon recovery, e.g., by improving sweep efficiency. These re-crosslinkable preformed particle gels and compositions are also useful in water and gas shutoff, fluid loss control, zone abandonment, water and gas coning, squeeze and recompletion, chemical liner completions and lost circulation during drilling.Filed by Kemira, published 2019-04-25 — illustrates the re-crosslinking approach to particle gel durability that later filings in the set reference.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6454003B1 | Composition and method for recovering hydrocarbon fluids from a subterranean reservoir | 286 |
| 2 | US6764981B1 | Well treatment fluid and methods with oxidized chitosan-based compound | 173 |
| 3 | US20140158354A1 | Viscous settable fluid for lost circulation in subterranean formations | 138 |
| 4 | US3749172A | Methods of using gelled polymers in the treatment of wells | 122 |
| 5 | US20130292120A1 | Biodegradable activators to gel silica sol for blocking permeability | 107 |
| 6 | US6984705B2 | Composition and method for recovering hydrocarbon fluids from a subterranean reservoir | 85 |
| 7 | US20070204989A1 | Preformed particle gel for conformance control in an oil reservoir | 83 |
| 8 | US7954549B2 | Methods of using colloidal silica based gels | 80 |
| 9 | US7458424B2 | Tight formation water shut off method with silica gel | 78 |
| 10 | US9133386B2 | Viscous settable fluid for lost circulation in subterranean formations | 69 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a ranking of current relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the IPC mix are read together.
The top of the field is already occupied
With 110 of 151 records held by five assignees, a new entrant filing broad composition claims in conformance-control chemistry is filing into dense prior art. The leader alone holds 46 records — nearly a third of the entire set.
Peak activity has passed, but the picture is incomplete
The field peaked at 26 filings in 2021 and had fallen to 5 by 2024. Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025-2026 numbers are not yet a reliable read on whether that decline continues.
Chemistry claims outnumber method claims
C09K materials claims appear in more than three-quarters of records, while E21B wellbore-method claims appear in under half. A design-around strategy focused purely on placement technique, without addressing the gel or particle chemistry itself, is working against the smaller share of the claim space.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to conformance control and water shutoff, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the activity has gone quiet
The ranking covers 38 companies across the 151 records in scope — the full list the data endpoint returns, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. Several of the most active historical filers show zero filings in the latest year, consistent with the field's post-2021 pullback rather than any single company's retreat.
One assignee holds close to a third of the field
The leading assignee's 46 records against a field of 151 sets the baseline any competitive filing strategy has to clear. Combined with the rest of the top five, that leaves comparatively little open ground in core composition claims.
A steep drop after the leaders
Fifth place sits at 7 records versus the leader's 46 — a gap that shows the concentration is front-loaded rather than gradual. Tenth place holds 4 records, meaning the tail beyond the top 10 is thin single- or double-digit filers.
Historic leaders are quiet in the most recent year
Several of the largest historical filers, including university and major oilfield-services assignees, show no filings in the latest year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this is more likely a reporting gap than a confirmed exit from the technology.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| The Curators of the University of Missouri | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Nalco Energy Services, LP | 0 | — |
| Ecolab USA Inc. | 0 | — |
| Phillips Petroleum Co. | 0 | — |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) | 0 | — |
| University of Regina | 0 | — |
| Eni S.p.A. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The landscape points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, white-space filing, or monitoring a competitor.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top five
With 72.8% of records held by five assignees, any new composition claim in gel or particle chemistry should be checked against their filings first, not the field average.
Run a freedom-to-operate checkWatch the 2025-2026 publication window
The apparent post-2021 decline is only confirmed through 2024. Filings made in 2024-2025 are still publishing, so re-check the trend once that window closes.
Track incoming publicationsExplore the under-claimed IPC branches
C04B and B01J carry a fraction of the record count that C09K does. That gap is either genuine white space or a sign the approach hasn't been commercially proven — worth investigating directly.
Explore white space with EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads with 46 of the 151 records in scope, and the top five assignees together hold 110 records, or 72.8% of the field. That level of concentration means most of the core gel and particle-gel composition space is already claimed by a small number of companies. Anyone evaluating this space should treat the leader's portfolio as the first thing to check for freedom-to-operate purposes, rather than assuming the field is open.
Filing activity peaked at 26 records in 2021 and had fallen to 5 by 2024, an 81% decline over that three-year span. However, patent publication typically lags the actual filing date by about 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete. The honest read is that the field cooled significantly after 2021, but it is too early to call the current trajectory beyond 2024.
Crosslinked gelant systems are pumped into the formation as a liquid and crosslink in place, while preformed particle gels are manufactured and crosslinked beforehand, then injected as discrete particles that swell and plug high-permeability channels. The preformed particle gel route appears repeatedly in the most-cited and representative filings in this dataset, including re-crosslinkable variants designed to improve durability under reservoir conditions. Each approach carries different placement and thermal-stability trade-offs, which is why both remain active claim areas rather than one displacing the other.
C09K, materials for miscellaneous applications, appears in 78.8% of the 151 records in scope, making it the dominant class by a wide margin. E21B, earth and rock drilling for wells, follows at 48.3%, and the polymer-chemistry classes C08F, C08J, C08K and C08L account for meaningful additional shares. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages add to more than 100%, but the pattern is clear: most protection in this field sits on the chemical composition rather than the wellbore method.
The IPC classes with the lowest record counts relative to the core C09K chemistry classes, such as C04B ceramics-based approaches and B01J catalytic systems, show comparatively thin claim density in this dataset. Thermal stability additives for high-temperature reservoirs and colloidal silica re-crosslinking chemistries are also less densely claimed than the mainstream gel-composition space. These are reasonable starting points for a novelty search, though thin claim density can also reflect a technically harder or commercially unproven approach, so it warrants direct investigation rather than assumption.
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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.