Fastest
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/diaper-absorbent-core-construction-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Absorbent Hygiene ProductsDiaper absorbent core construction patents: who holds the ground and where it opens up
- 88.3% concentration. The top 5 of 56 ranked assignees account for 316 of the 358 records in scope — this field is not a level playing field for a new entrant.
- Filings peaked in 2019 at 50. Activity has since cooled, with the 2021-to-2024 span down 73% (15 to 4) on the most recent complete years.
- A61F dominates at 93.9%. But B32B, D21C and D04H sit far behind, each under 11% of the 358 records — signalling narrower, less-crowded claim territory.
358
Published Records
88%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-73%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (15 records) with 2024 (4) — 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 358 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this patent set covers
This landscape covers 358 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that claim diaper absorbent core construction — fluff pulp ratios, core wrap, channel embossing, rewet performance, distribution layers and core thickness. The search string ties absorbent-core structural claims to these specific performance and construction terms, so the set is narrower than general diaper or absorbent-article filings; it captures the engineering layer that sits between the topsheet and backsheet rather than the whole product.
Filing activity in this set is heavily concentrated: a small number of assignees hold most of the record volume, and the IPC composition shows one dominant class (A61F, implants and prostheses, which covers absorbent article structure) alongside several much smaller classes tied to materials and treatment. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the last one to two years in any trend chart will read lower than the true filing rate once later records publish.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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 Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 358-record set: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend: a 2019 peak, then a pull-back
Filings ran from 10 in 2017 up to a peak of 50 in 2019, then eased through the early 2020s. The 2021-to-2024 window shows a 73% drop, from 15 to 4 records — the last full years before publication lag starts understating the count. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as still filling in rather than as evidence the field has gone quiet.
Technology composition: one dominant class, several niches
A61F (implants and prostheses, covering absorbent article structure) appears in 93.9% of the 358 records, confirming this is fundamentally a structural-claims field. A61L (sterilising/disinfecting, 20.9%) and B32B (layered products, 10.6%) are the next most common, with D21C, D04H, D06M, C12P and B29C each under 9% — these are the material-science and processing classes riding alongside the core structural claims, not competing with them.
Shares are the percentage of the 358 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 Diaper Absorbent Core Construction covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about diaper absorbent core construction and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey Patents
Most-cited records and a representative recent filing
Representative Recent Filing
Absorbent article with high permeability sap (US20230285206A1)
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
Filed by The Procter & Gamble Company and published 2023-09-14, this record claims an absorbent core built from superabsorbent polymer (SAP) particles held in a core wrap, largely without cellulose fibre mixed in, paired with an acquisition-distribution system that is substantially free of unbonded cross-linked cellulose fibres. The SAP particles carry a specified minimum permeability (UPM) value and an EFFC threshold, with optional channel-forming areas in the core.Illustrates the current direction: reducing fluff pulp dependence in favour of high-permeability SAP with defined performance thresholds.
Highest-cited records in the set
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20070219521A1 | Absorbent article comprising a synthetic polymer derived from a renewable resource and methods of producing s… | 791 |
| 2 | US5234423A | Absorbent article with elastic waist feature and enhanced absorbency | 560 |
| 3 | US20110139657A1 | Absorbent Article Comprising A Synthetic Polymer Derived From A Renewable Resource And Methods Of Producing S… | 529 |
| 4 | US20110139658A1 | Absorbent Article Comprising A Synthetic Polymer Derived From A Renewable Resource And Methods Of Producing S… | 483 |
| 5 | US20110152812A1 | Absorbent Article Comprising A Synthetic Polymer Derived From A Renewable Resource And Methods Of Producing S… | 472 |
| 6 | US6068620A | Absorbent laminate | 467 |
| 7 | US20110139659A1 | Absorbent Article Comprising A Synthetic Polymer Derived From A Renewable Resource And Methods Of Producing S… | 398 |
| 8 | US20110139662A1 | Absorbent Article Comprising A Synthetic Polymer Derived From A Renewable Resource And Methods Of Producing S… | 296 |
| 9 | US6667424B1 | Absorbent articles with nits and free-flowing particles | 196 |
| 10 | US6562743B1 | Absorbent structures of chemically treated cellulose fibers | 169 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate them — read this as a map of influential prior art, not a ranking of current importance.
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 Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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
Run it yourself
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Where to run it
For builders
MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →Insights
What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three figures from this dataset carry direct implications for where a new filing would land and how defensible it would be.
Concentration
88.3%
of 358 records held by top 5 of 56 assignees
The core structural claims are largely spoken for
With 316 of 358 records held by five assignees, most of the fundamental core-wrap, layering and channel-forming claim space has already been staked out. New filings aimed squarely at those same structural claims will run into dense, well-cited prior art rather than open ground.
Source: assignee ranking, 358 records in scope
Filing momentum
-73%
2021 (15) to 2024 (4), last complete years
Activity has cooled from its 2019 peak
The peak year of 50 filings in 2019 was not sustained; by the last fully-published years the annual count had fallen to single digits. That does not mean the underlying problem is solved — it more often means the obvious variations have been claimed and remaining work is incremental or moving into adjacent material classes.
Source: filing trend, 2017-2026
Technology mix
93.9% vs 10.6%
A61F share vs B32B (layered products) share of 358 records
Structural claims dwarf materials/laminate claims
A61F's near-universal presence confirms every record touches absorbent article structure, but the sharp drop-off to B32B, D21C and D04H suggests the materials and layering side of core construction — nonwoven treatments, laminate configurations, pulp processing — is comparatively lightly claimed relative to the structural layer.
Source: IPC composition, 358 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 diaper absorbent core construction, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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
Players
Who is filing, and where the field opens up
The ranked leaders account for nearly all record volume, but the concentration is steepest at the very top and the technology mix points to specific sub-areas that remain lightly claimed.
Leader
217
records held by the top-ranked assignee
One assignee dominates volume
The leading assignee alone holds 217 of the 358 records in scope — well over half the entire dataset. Any freedom-to-operate review in this space has to start with that single portfolio before looking at anyone else.
Source: assignee ranking
Top 10
99.2%
of 358 records held by the top 10 of 56 ranked assignees
The tail beyond the leaders is thin
Once the top 10 assignees are accounted for, only 3 records remain across the other 46 ranked companies. This is a field where a handful of incumbents, not a broad competitive base, set the terms of prior art.
Source: assignee ranking, 358 records
Co-filing
10 pairs
co-assignee pairs identified, strongest at 7 joint records
Co-assignment is limited and individual-led
The strongest co-assignee pairs in this set link named individuals rather than corporate joint ventures, at single-digit joint record counts. Collaboration signals here are modest compared with the concentration at the corporate-assignee level.
Source: co-assignee pairs
Recent-year filing momentum
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Procter & Gamble | 0 | — |
| DSG Technology Holdings Ltd | 0 | -100% |
| Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Attends Healthcare Products, Inc. | 0 | — |
| BKI Holding Corp | 0 | — |
| Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| WRIGHT ANDREW | 0 | — |
| HIRD BRYN | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
This page maps the field at a point in time. Turning it into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going deeper on the specific claims and assignees that matter to your product.
Run a claim-level comparison against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 217 of 358 records, a targeted claim chart against that portfolio will tell you faster than a landscape view whether a specific core construction is clear to file.
Explore this in Eureka →Track the under-claimed material classes
B32B, D21C and D04H sit well below A61F in record share — worth a dedicated search if your innovation sits on the materials or nonwoven side rather than the core structure itself.
Explore this in Eureka →Source: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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 diaper absorbent core patents
One assignee holds 217 of the 358 records in scope, which is well over half the entire dataset. The next four ranked assignees bring the top-5 combined total to 316 records, or 88.3% of all records. Beyond that point the field thins out sharply, with the remaining 46 ranked companies sharing only a handful of records between them, so competitive intelligence in this space should start with the leader's portfolio.
Filings peaked in 2019 at 50 records and have declined since, with the last two complete years on record (2021 to 2024) showing a 73% drop from 15 to 4. This does not necessarily mean innovation has stalled; publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete. A more likely reading is that the core structural claim space has become dense enough that incremental filings have slowed relative to the 2019 surge.
A61F, covering absorbent article implants and structure, appears in 93.9% of the 358 records, confirming that nearly every filing touches core structure in some way. Materials and processing classes such as B32B (layered products, 10.6%), D21C (pulp treatment, 8.1%) and D04H (nonwovens, 5.9%) are much smaller, meaning searches focused only on the dominant class will miss materials-side prior art that sits in these adjacent classes.
This Procter & Gamble filing claims an absorbent core built primarily from superabsorbent polymer particles in a core wrap, largely without mixed-in cellulose fibre, combined with an acquisition-distribution system that is substantially free of unbonded cross-linked cellulose fibres. It specifies a minimum permeability (UPM) value for the SAP particles and an EFFC threshold, with optional channel-forming areas. Anyone designing a fluff-reduced or fluff-free core with high-permeability SAP should review this record's specific numeric thresholds before finalising a similar construction.
The clearest gap sits between the near-universal A61F structural claims and the much smaller materials and processing classes: B32B, D21C, D04H, D06M, C12P and B29C are all under 11% of the 358 records. Sub-areas such as enzymatic pulp treatment, nonwoven distribution-layer bonding and laminate-based channel embossing show comparatively light filing density. That said, thin filing density in a class does not guarantee an easy path to grant — it means less directly competing prior art, not an absence of relevant art elsewhere in the corpus.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Diaper Absorbent Core Construction 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
Research Diaper Absorbent Core Construction in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole diaper absorbent core construction corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.