EVOH and Barrier Coating Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees account for 149 of 313 records in scope (47.6%), and the leading ten hold 67.4% — most of the field sits with a small group of filers.
- Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak. Activity peaked at 31 records in 2018; from 2021 to 2024, the last complete year, filings fell 50% (22 to 11), though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in due to publication lag.
- Layered laminates dominate the claim language. B32B (layered products) appears in 50.5% of records and B65D (containers) in 36.7% — coatings and additive chemistry (C09D, C08K, C08L) sit well behind as secondary claim territory.
Filing growth compares 2021 (22 records) with 2024 (11) — 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 313 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 313 published patent records filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine ethylene vinyl alcohol or barrier-coating film claims with functional test criteria — oxygen transmission rate, humidity sensitivity, coating weight, adhesion primers, recyclability impact, or layer thickness. That functional-claim framing is deliberate: it captures filings written around measurable barrier performance rather than composition alone, which is where much of the commercial dispute in flexible packaging and building-envelope coatings actually lives.
The assignee ranking returned by the data endpoint covers 73 companies, counted by patent family — the fairer unit here since a single barrier-coating platform is often refiled across multiple jurisdictions. Receiving-office data shows the EPO and the United States as the two largest single gateways, with India, Canada and the PCT route each carrying a meaningful secondary share.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 313 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim language.
Filing trend: a 2018 peak, then a cooling curve
Annual filings rose to a peak of 31 records in 2018, from 26 in 2017. The most recent complete comparison — 2021 (22 records) to 2024 (11 records) — shows a 50% decline. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not yet be read as a continuation of that decline.
Where the claims sit: layered structures lead
B32B (layered products & laminates) appears in 50.5% of the 313 records and B65D (containers & packaging) in 36.7%, confirming that most filings are structural — how the barrier layer is built and packaged — rather than purely chemical. C09D (coatings, paints & inks) at 24.9% and the polymer-processing classes C08J, C08K and C08L each sit in the 12-20% range, marking the chemistry side as a smaller but still active claim territory. Since records often carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add to more than 100% of the record total and should not be summed.
Shares are the percentage of the 313 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on EVOH and Coated Barrier Layers with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about evoh and coated barrier layers and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art in this space
Building assembly containing a water barrier coating film and method of making the building assembly
A building assembly can include a substrate and a water barrier coating film. The film combines a thermoplastic polymer with microporous particles, such as microporous glass beads, giving good protection against liquid water while still allowing water vapour to pass from the substrate outward. The filing specifies a vapour permeability threshold of at least 2 US perms under ASTM E96 (2014) at 21°C and 50% average relative humidity.Filed by CertainTeed Gypsum in 2017, this record frames the barrier-film claim around a quantified permeability test rather than composition alone — a pattern that recurs across the dataset's most defensible filings.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6232389B1 | Barrier coating of an elastomer and a dispersed layered filler in a liquid carrier and coated articles | 196 |
| 2 | US6087016A | Barrier coating of an elastomer and a dispersed layered filler in a liquid carrier | 179 |
| 3 | US20040256842A1 | Knee bolster airbag system | 76 |
| 4 | US7078453B1 | Barrier coating of a non-butyl elastomer and a dispersed layered filler in a liquid carrier and coated articl… | 71 |
| 5 | US7119138B1 | Barrier coating of a mixture of cured and uncured elastomeric polymers and a dispersed layered filler in a li… | 70 |
| 6 | US7040653B1 | Steering wheel assemblies for vehicles | 55 |
| 7 | US20040156724A1 | Thermal barrier coating material method of production thereof, gas turbine member using the thermal barrier c… | 55 |
| 8 | US6193827B1 | Oxygen and flavor barrier laminate including amorphous nylon | 55 |
| 9 | US20050228104A1 | Barrier coating mixtures containing non-elastomeric acrylic polymer with silicate filler and coated articles | 42 |
| 10 | WO1998056598A1 | Barrier coating of an elastomer and a dispersed layered filler in a liquid carrier and coated compositions, p… | 42 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings — read them as historical signal, not as current relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the concentration and citation data signal
Three patterns emerge from combining the assignee ranking, the citation table and the co-filing pairs.
A small group controls the majority of filings
The five leading assignees hold 149 of 313 records (47.6%), and the leading ten extend that to 67.4%. For a new entrant, this means the highest-value claim space in barrier-layer structures is already occupied by a handful of established filers rather than spread thinly across the field.
Foundational elastomer-barrier claims still anchor the field
The two most-cited records in the dataset both describe barrier coatings built from an elastomer and a dispersed layered filler in a liquid carrier — one cited 196 times, the other 179. Their continued citation weight suggests any new elastomer-dispersion barrier claim should be checked against this lineage first.
A small inventor cluster drives one assignee's output
Among the 10 identified co-assignee pairs, the strongest recurring pairing appears 15 times, with two related pairings each at 14. This concentration among a small inventor group, rather than broad organisational output, is worth checking when assessing how defensible that assignee's portfolio is if key inventors move on.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to evoh and coated barrier layers, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where momentum has shifted
The leader in this dataset holds 54 records — well ahead of fifth place at 15 and tenth place at 11 — but recent-year momentum tells a different story than raw totals.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee's 54 records compare to 15 at fifth place and 11 at tenth, a steep drop-off that marks this as a field with one dominant filer rather than several evenly matched ones.
Recent activity has mostly gone quiet
Of the assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, most show zero filings in the latest year, and one shows a 100% year-on-year drop. Only one tracked assignee posted growth, moving to 3 records in the latest year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this likely understates true recent activity across the board.
Europe and the US anchor filing strategy
The EPO receives 99 filings and the United States 68, with India (22), Canada (20) and the PCT route (19) forming a secondary tier. A barrier-coating filer building global coverage should expect EPO and US prosecution to set the pace for the rest of the portfolio.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. | 3 | +50% |
| InMat Inc. | 0 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| Sappi North America Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Toppan Holdings Inc. | 0 | — |
| GOLDBERG HARRIS A | 0 | — |
| FARRELL MICHELE | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific follow-up questions rather than a single conclusion.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top 10
With 67.4% of records held by ten assignees, any new barrier-layer filing should be checked against that group's claims before drafting, not after.
Run a claim comparisonWatch the 2025-2026 publication window
The apparent post-2021 decline is only confirmed through 2024. Filings from 2025 onward are still publishing and could revise the trend.
Track recent filingsExplore the under-claimed branches
Pulp-based substrates and vapour-deposited coatings show lower record density than the core laminate classes, suggesting room for differentiated claims.
Explore white spaceCommon questions about EVOH and barrier coating patents
The dataset's assignee ranking, covering 73 companies counted by patent family, shows one clear leader with 54 records, well ahead of fifth place at 15 and tenth place at 11. Combined, the leading five assignees hold 47.6% of all 313 records in scope, and the leading ten hold 67.4%. That concentration means a small number of organisations control most of the claim territory in this specific search space, though the ranking reflects only records matching this dataset's functional-claim criteria, not the entire barrier-coating field.
Filings peaked at 31 records in 2018, and the most recent complete comparison shows a decline from 22 records in 2021 to 11 in 2024, a 50% drop. However, publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued slowdown. A fair read is that the field has cooled from its 2018 peak, with the most recent trend still an open question.
This CertainTeed Gypsum filing from 2017 covers a building assembly with a substrate and a water barrier coating film made from a thermoplastic polymer combined with microporous particles such as microporous glass beads. The claimed film is designed to block liquid water while still permitting water vapour to escape the substrate, with a specific permeability threshold of at least 2 US perms under ASTM E96 (2014) testing conditions. Anyone developing a vapour-permeable, liquid-blocking coating for building substrates should review this filing's specific test parameters before finalising claim language in that space.
Based on IPC subclass coverage across the 313 records, structural claims dominate: B32B (layered products) appears in 50.5% of records and B65D (containers) in 36.7%. Classes tied to pulp-based substrates (D21H) and vapour-deposited coatings (C23C) each appear in around 11% of records, notably lower than the structural classes, suggesting comparatively less claim density there. Since a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these figures should be read as relative density indicators, not as a strict ranking of crowdedness.
The EPO is the largest single receiving office in this dataset with 99 filings, followed by the United States at 68. India and Canada each show 20-22 filings, and the PCT route accounts for 19. This pattern indicates that European and US prosecution are the primary gateways shaping global barrier-coating patent strategy, with secondary activity split across a handful of other jurisdictions rather than concentrated in any single additional market.
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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.