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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/drinking-water-treatment-membrane-biofouling-control-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Water & Environmental TechnologiesMembrane Biofouling Control Patents in Drinking-Water Treatment
79
Published Records
70%
Top-5 Share of All Records
0%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 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 79 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Membrane biofouling control sits at the intersection of water treatment chemistry and membrane engineering: keeping reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes free of biofilm without degrading flux or membrane life. This landscape draws on 79 published patent records filed against IPC class C02F (water and wastewater treatment) where the claims or title-abstract text address membrane biofouling control directly. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, though filings from the most recent 18 months are still working their way through publication.
The dataset is small enough that a handful of assignees define the shape of the field, and dense enough at the top that a new entrant's freedom-to-operate analysis should start with the ranked leaders rather than the wider prior art.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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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The data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 79 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 and has since held flat
Filings rose to a peak of 14 in 2020, then settled lower. The comparable full years 2021 and 2024 both show 5 filings — a 0% change across that span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as undercounts; publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so recent-year totals will keep rising as more records publish.
Membrane engineering runs alongside water chemistry
Every record in scope carries C02F by definition. B01D (separation processes, including filtration) appears in 49.4% of the 79 records, confirming that biofouling control is filed as much as a membrane-hardware problem as a chemical-dosing one. A01N (biocides) and G01N (analysis and testing) each sit at 8.9%, and single-digit classes such as C12R, C01B, G05B and G06T mark smaller, more specific claim branches.
Shares are the percentage of the 79 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 Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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 anchor the prior art
Representative filing
Water treatment system, water treatment method
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINEERING, LTD.
A water treatment system includes a pretreatment device generating primary treated water; a membrane separation device with a reverse osmosis membrane separating the primary treated water into concentrated and permeable streams; a first sensor detecting the onset of biofouling from the primary treated water ahead of the membrane; and a second sensor detecting scale precipitation from the concentrated water downstream of the membrane.Filed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd., published 2019-05-23.
Most-cited patent records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20120193287A1 | Packed bed bioreactor for biofouling control of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes | 43 |
| 2 | WO2011026521A1 | Packed bed bioreactor for biofouling control of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes | 26 |
| 3 | US20090039035A1 | Method for controlling microbial bioflim in aqueous systems | 26 |
| 4 | US7824557B2 | Method for controlling microbial biofilm in aqueous systems | 22 |
| 5 | US8784659B2 | Method for controlling microbial biofilm in aqueous systems | 16 |
| 6 | WO2009020694A1 | Method for controlling microbial biofilm in aqueous systems | 16 |
| 7 | JP2020039993A | Water treatment method and water treatment facility | 14 |
| 8 | JP2005081269A | Treatment method and treatment apparatus for organic substance-containing wastewater | 14 |
| 9 | WO2010107533A1 | Biodelivery systems | 13 |
| 10 | KR1020090069086A | Membrane bioreactor process for water treatment using enzyme for inhibiting biofilm formation | 11 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and favour older filings; they are not a measure 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 Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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 numbers mean for a filing decision
Three signals from the ranking and the citation data that matter more than the raw record count.
Concentration
69.6% of 79 records
held by the top 5 assignees
This field is already claimed at the top
With five companies accounting for 69.6% of the 79 records in scope, and the top ten reaching 96.2%, most of the useful claim space near the core biofouling-control approaches is occupied. A new filer's search should focus on where the leaders have not filed, not on general prior art around the core mechanism.
Source: assignee ranking, 26 companies
Filing pace
0% change, 2021→2024
flat, not declining
Activity has plateaued after a 2020 peak
Filings peaked at 14 in 2020 and have since settled to a lower, flat rate — 5 filings in both 2021 and 2024, a 0% change across the comparable full years. That reads as a mature, steady-state field rather than one accelerating or winding down.
Source: filing trend, 2017-2026
Technology mix
49.4% also carry B01D
separation-process overlap
Membrane hardware claims run alongside chemistry claims
Nearly half of the 79 records also sit in B01D (separation processes), meaning many biofouling-control claims are written around physical membrane or filtration design rather than dosing chemistry alone. A01N (biocide) and G01N (sensing/testing) classes each cover under a tenth of records, suggesting narrower, more defensible niches.
Source: IPC composition, 8 subclasses
Influence
43 citations
on the leading record
The oldest core patents still anchor citation networks
The most-cited record in scope, on packed-bed bioreactor biofouling control for reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes, carries 43 citations — well ahead of the next tier. High citation counts here reflect an early, foundational filing rather than current commercial dominance.
Source: most-cited records table
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to drinking-water treatment: membrane biofouling control patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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
The dataset points to a concentrated field with a few open branches. These are the practical next steps for turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate position.
Map claims against the top ten leaders
With 96.2% of the 79 records held by ten assignees, a targeted claim chart against those filers will tell you more than a broad prior-art search.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in Patsnap EurekaWatch the smaller IPC branches
Sensing and control classes (G01N, G05B, G06T) each cover only a handful of the 79 records — a sign of open claim space around monitoring and automated response rather than the core biocide or membrane mechanisms.
Explore adjacent classes in Patsnap EurekaTrack the next 18 months of publications
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025-2026 filings are still arriving. Revisit the trend once those years settle before concluding the field has plateaued for good.
Set a filing alert in Patsnap EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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 membrane biofouling control patents
The assignee ranking covers 26 companies across 79 records, and it is heavily front-loaded: the leading assignee alone accounts for 16 records, and the top five combined hold 69.6% of all 79 records in scope. By the tenth-ranked company the combined share reaches 96.2%, which leaves very little activity outside the ranked group. Anyone assessing competitive position in this space should treat the ranked leaders, not the wider universe of water-treatment filers, as the relevant competitive set.
Filing activity peaked at 14 records in 2020 and has since settled to a lower, steady rate. Comparing the two most recent complete years, 2021 and 2024 both show 5 filings — a 0% change, indicating a plateau rather than growth or decline. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those years should not yet be read as a drop-off.
Every record in this dataset sits in C02F (water and wastewater treatment) by construction of the search, but 49.4% of the 79 records also carry a B01D separation-process classification, covering filtration and membrane-hardware design. Smaller overlaps appear with A01N (biocides, 8.9%) and G01N (analysis and testing, 8.9%), with niche appearances in microorganism indexing, inorganic chemistry, control systems and image processing. This spread shows biofouling control is claimed from both the chemical-treatment side and the physical membrane-system side.
US20190152801A1, filed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, describes a water treatment system that pairs a reverse-osmosis membrane separation stage with two sensor devices: one detecting the onset of biofouling in the water feeding the membrane, and a second detecting scale precipitation in the concentrated stream leaving it. The claim value lies in coupling upstream biofouling detection with downstream scale detection around a single membrane stage, rather than in either sensor alone. Anyone designing a monitored RO/NF system should check whether their sensor placement and control logic fall inside this combination.
The technology composition data points to sensing, control and automated-response branches — IPC classes G01N, G05B and G06T each appear in only one or a few of the 79 records, far below the core water-treatment and separation classes. That gap suggests monitoring-driven and automated biofouling-response approaches are comparatively under-claimed relative to the core chemical and membrane-design routes, which are already concentrated among the top-ranked assignees. A first claim in this space would likely combine a specific biofouling-detection signal with a defined automated membrane-response action, rather than claiming detection or response in isolation.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Drinking-Water Treatment: Membrane Biofouling Control Patent Landscape 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.