Depth Filtration Broth Clarification Patents: Who Leads 2026
- 87.4% concentration. Five assignees hold 118 of the 135 records in scope, leaving a long tail of single- and double-filing entrants.
- Filing activity has cooled from its 2023 peak. Filings ran 2021=7 to 2024=1, an 86% drop across that span, though 2025 onward is still filling in due to publication lag.
- Separation-process claims are the thin layer. B01D (separation processes) appears in only 14.1% of records, well behind the C12N biological-process classes that dominate the corpus.
Filing growth compares 2021 (7 records) with 2024 (1) — 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 135 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Depth filtration broth clarification sits at the intersection of bioprocessing equipment and biological production: removing cells, debris and turbidity from a fermentation or cell-culture broth before downstream purification. The 135 records in scope span filtration hardware claims alongside a much larger body of biological-process and veterinary-instrument classifications, reflecting how often clarification steps are claimed as part of a larger production or therapeutic method rather than as standalone filter-train inventions.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years of filings are understated in any trend view and should not be read as a genuine slowdown until later data catches up.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 135 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend
Filings rose from a single record in 2017 to a peak of 12 in 2023, then declined through 2021's count of 7 to 2024's count of 1 — an 86% drop over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to normal publication lag and should not yet be read as a continued decline.
Technology composition
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) touches 90.4% of the 135 records, with G01N, C12M and A61D each present in over half. B01D, the classification most directly tied to filtration hardware itself, appears in only 14.1% of records — a sign that clarification claims are usually anchored in the biological process being protected, not the filter mechanics.
Shares are the percentage of the 135 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Depth Filtration Broth Clarification with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about depth filtration broth clarification and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Methods of cell culture clarification (AU2019409501A1)
The present invention relates to method of cell culture clarification. In particular the present invention discloses methods of cell culture clarification useful in the manufacturing process of biopharmaceutical molecules, such as antibodies.Filed by Ichnos Sciences, this record frames clarification as a manufacturing-process step for biopharmaceutical molecules rather than as a standalone filtration apparatus claim.
View full record| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US8343487B2 | Large-scale production of soluble hyaluronidase | 61 |
| 2 | WO2019212921A1 | Scalable clarification process for recombinant AAV production | 26 |
| 3 | WO2013090820A1 | Flocculation method | 8 |
| 4 | WO2015031465A1 | Bioactive compositions derivable from platelet concentrates, and methods for preparing and using same | 6 |
| 5 | EP2305172A2 | Apparatus and methods for providing sex-sorted animal sperm | 6 |
| 6 | EP2308420A2 | Apparatus and methods for providing sex-sorted animal sperm | 4 |
| 7 | WO2022108902A1 | Filtration device for bioprocessing | 3 |
| 8 | EP2357464B1 | Droplet interference system for cell sorting | 3 |
| 9 | EP2308418A2 | Apparatus and methods for providing sex-sorted animal sperm | 3 |
| 10 | US20230332201A1 | Cell culture methods for antibody production | 1 |
Citation counts favour older records inside this searched corpus and should be read as a signal of influence, not current relevance.
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 filing strategy
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting a new application in this space.
The field is not open at the top
Five assignees combined hold 118 of the 135 records in scope. A new entrant filing broad clarification-method claims is filing into dense prior art held by a small group, not into a fragmented field.
Everyone below fifth place files rarely
Fifth place holds 6 records and tenth place holds just 1, meaning the ranking drops off sharply after the leaders. This is a field where most participants file once or twice rather than building a sustained portfolio.
Filtration mechanics are the minority claim type
Only 14.1% of records carry the B01D separation-process classification, while 90.4% carry C12N. Most clarification claims are written as steps inside a larger biological production or therapeutic method, not as filter-hardware inventions in their own right.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to depth filtration broth clarification, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the openings are
The leader board is short and the tail is long. The openings sit in the classifications the leaders have not claimed densely.
One assignee dominates the ranking
The leading assignee holds 74 of the 135 records in scope, well ahead of the rest of the field. Freedom-to-operate work in this space should start with this portfolio before looking anywhere else.
Recent-year filing has gone quiet across the leaders
Every one of the leading assignees shows zero filings in the latest tracked year, including one leader down 100% year over year. Given publication lag, this reads as incomplete data rather than abandoned interest, but it means no leader is currently visibly active in the public record.
Most of the ranking is single-filers
Below the top five, filing counts fall fast, with tenth place holding a single record. That is consistent with a field where clarification is patented as part of a broader program rather than as a dedicated business line.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Inguran LLC | 0 | — |
| Amgen Inc | 0 | — |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Cook General Biotechnology LLC | 0 | — |
| EMD Millipore Corp | 0 | — |
| IGI Therapeutics SA | 0 | — |
| RegenXBio Inc | 0 | — |
| Sexton Biotechnologies Inc | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated leader board and a filtration-mechanics claim space that is thinner than the biological-process space around it.
Check freedom to operate against the leader
With one assignee holding 74 of 135 records, any new clarification method should be checked against that portfolio first, not against the field average.
Run a freedom-to-operate search in EurekaWatch the B01D gap
Filtration-hardware claims are comparatively sparse at 14.1% of records. A well-drafted apparatus claim may face less crowded prior art than a process claim would.
Explore B01D white space in EurekaTrack the next 12-18 months of publications
2025-2026 filings are still incomplete due to publication lag. Re-run this landscape once that window closes to see whether the 2023 peak was a real high point or a reporting artefact.
Set up a filing alert in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads the ranking with 74 of the 135 records in scope, a substantial margin ahead of the rest of the field. The top five assignees combined hold 118 records, or 87.4% of all records in scope, so the field is heavily concentrated at the top. Anyone entering this space should review that leading portfolio first, since it covers the largest share of prior art by a wide margin.
Filings peaked in 2023 at 12 in a given year, then fell from 7 in 2021 to 1 in 2024, an 86% decline over that span. However, publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not yet be read as a continued decline. A clearer picture of the recent trend will only emerge once those years finish publishing.
C12N, covering microorganisms and genetic engineering, appears in 90.4% of the 135 records in scope, making it by far the most common classification. G01N, C12M and A61D each appear in over half of records, while B01D, the classification tied most directly to filtration hardware, appears in only 14.1%. This pattern shows that clarification is usually claimed as a step within a larger biological production process rather than as a standalone filtration invention.
The clearest gap sits in filtration-mechanics claims themselves: B01D classifications cover only 14.1% of the 135 records, far behind the biological-process classes. Sub-areas such as flocculated-feed pre-treatment, multi-stage filter-train sequencing for viral vector broths, and turbidity-reduction sensing integrated with filter media show thinner claim density than the core biological-process space around them. A first claim in these areas would likely focus on the filter apparatus or process control step itself, rather than on the downstream biological product.
Very concentrated at the top: five assignees hold 87.4% of the 135 records in scope, and the top ten hold 97.8%. Below that, the ranking drops off sharply, with tenth place holding only one record, out of 19 ranked assignees total. This means most participants outside the leading group have filed only once or twice, rather than sustaining an ongoing portfolio in this specific claim area.
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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.