EVOH Barrier Resins Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 41.4% concentration. The top five assignees account for 626 of the 1,511 records in scope — a field where claim space near the leaders is already dense.
- Filing has plateaued. Filings rose from 30 in 2017 to a peak of 67 in 2022, then eased off — this is a maturing claim landscape, not a growing one.
- Layered products dominate the IPC mix. B32B laminate claims cover 75.2% of all records, meaning most EVOH protection is filed as part of a multilayer structure, not as a standalone resin claim.
What the EVOH barrier resin patent record shows
EVOH copolymer chemistry has been a known route to oxygen-barrier packaging for decades, and the patent record reflects a technology being refined and re-claimed inside multilayer structures rather than reinvented. The search set covers 1,511 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, built around oxygen barrier performance, ethylene content selection, coextrusion processing and retort recovery — the operating parameters that determine whether an EVOH layer survives real packaging lines. Most claims sit inside laminate and container architecture filings rather than pure resin composition claims, which shapes where freedom-to-operate risk actually concentrates.
Filing activity climbed steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2022, and has since leveled off — a pattern consistent with a field where the core barrier chemistry is settled and remaining filings target processing tolerances, additive packages and recyclability workarounds rather than new base polymers. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent year understates true filing activity.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,511-record set: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filings plateaued after a 2022 peak
Annual filings rose from 30 in 2017 to a peak of 67 in 2022, the effective midpoint of the trend line, before easing — a flat-to-declining pattern rather than sustained growth. The 2026 figure of 2 is a partial year and should not be read as a collapse.
Laminate and container classes dominate
B32B (layered products) appears on 75.2% of records and B65D (containers/packaging) on 35.7%, confirming that EVOH claims are overwhelmingly filed as part of packaging structures. Polymer composition classes C08L (29.8%) and C08J (16.9%) trail well behind, and additive-focused C08K (13.4%) is smaller still — since a record can carry multiple classes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the 1,511 records.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,511 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on EVOH Barrier Resins with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about evoh barrier resins and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Ultra High Oxygen Barrier Films and Articles Made Therefrom (US20020172833A1)
Oxygen barrier films exhibiting high oxygen scavenging capability suitable for extended shelf-life, packaging applications. These films comprise a polyamide homopolymer, copolymer, or blends thereof; an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer; an oxidizable polydiene; and at least one metal salt catalyst. These films are particularly suited to making high barrier, retortable packaging structures such as pouches, containers etc.Filed by AdvanSix Resins & Chemicals; combines EVOH with a scavenging polydiene and metal salt catalyst rather than relying on EVOH barrier properties alone.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6083587A | Multilayered polymer structure for medical products | 382 |
| 2 | US4284674A | Thermal insulation | 198 |
| 3 | US4724185A | Oxygen barrier oriented film | 168 |
| 4 | US4755419A | Oxygen barrier oriented shrink film | 164 |
| 5 | US4405667A | Retortable packaging structure | 156 |
| 6 | US4701360A | Heat sealable barrier material for improved juice packaging (EVOH) | 144 |
| 7 | US5491009A | Amorphous nylon composition and films | 135 |
| 8 | US6068933A | Thermoformable multilayer polymeric film | 132 |
| 9 | US4746562A | Packaging film | 119 |
| 10 | US4561920A | Biaxially oriented oxygen and moisture barrier film | 118 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations inside this corpus — read them as a signal of influence, not current relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Concentration, a flattening trend and a laminate-heavy IPC mix each point to a different practical consequence for anyone scoping new EVOH work.
Freedom-to-operate risk clusters early
With 626 of 1,511 records held by five assignees, core EVOH barrier-layer and coextrusion claims are likely already covered near the top of the ranking. New entrants should expect the densest prior art around oxygen barrier layer construction rather than around niche additive or processing claims.
A mature, not a growing, field
Filings grew from 30 in 2017 to a 2022 peak of 67 and have since flattened. That pattern signals a technology where the fundamental barrier chemistry is established and most new filings are incremental — additive packages, recyclability fixes, or processing-window claims.
Structure claims outnumber resin claims
Three-quarters of records touch B32B laminate classification versus 29.8% for C08L polymer composition claims. Most protection sits at the level of the multilayer packaging structure, which means a resin-only innovation may still need a structure claim to be commercially defensible.
Europe and the US anchor filing activity
The EPO leads receiving offices with 369 filings, followed by the United States at 303; Canada, Japan, Australia and WIPO PCT filings trail behind. Clearance searches should prioritise these jurisdictions before broader PCT-only searches.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to evoh barrier resins, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ranked lead, and where the ranking thins out
The ranking covers 100 companies counted by patent family, from a leader with 173 records down to single-digit filers — a concentrated head followed by a long tail.
A clear leader ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 173 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 74 and the tenth at 33. That gap suggests the leader's portfolio has broader claim coverage rather than a narrow set of core patents.
Sharp drop-off after the top five
Filing counts fall from 74 at fifth place to 33 at tenth, more than half, before the long tail of the remaining ranked companies thins out further. Mid-tier players compete on narrower, more defensible claim territory than the leaders.
Historic leaders have gone quiet recently
Several of the highest-ranked historical assignees show zero filings in the latest year, consistent with the overall plateau in filing activity. This does not necessarily mean withdrawal from the space — publication lag of roughly 18 months means recent activity is undercounted.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Kuraray Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company | 0 | — |
| W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. | 0 | — |
| Cryovac, Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Stora Enso Oyj | 0 | — |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is clearance, whitespace scoping or competitive tracking.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on laminate claims
Given that 75.2% of records touch B32B layered-product classification, any new EVOH packaging structure should be checked against laminate architecture claims first, not just resin composition claims.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Scope the recyclability and additive white space
Filing has flattened since the 2022 peak, but recyclability and additive-package claims remain comparatively under-filed against the laminate core — a candidate area for a defensible first claim.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Track the leader's recent activity despite reported inactivity
Several top-ranked assignees show zero filings in the latest year on record; given an 18-month publication lag, confirm whether this reflects a real slowdown or filings still working through the pipeline.
Explore in Patsnap Eureka →Frequently asked questions
The ranking covers 100 companies by patent family, with the leading assignee holding 173 records compared with 74 at fifth place and 33 at tenth. The top five assignees combined account for 626 of the 1,511 records in scope, or 41.4% of the field, indicating a concentrated head followed by a long tail of smaller filers. Names commonly associated with EVOH barrier film and packaging technology, including Kuraray, Mitsubishi Chemical and DuPont, sit among the historically active filers in this space. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at both the raw ranking and recent-year filing momentum, since some historically dominant filers show no filings in the latest year.
No — filings rose from 30 in 2017 to a peak of 67 in 2022, and have flattened or declined since, with the partial 2026 figure showing only 2 filings so far. This pattern is typical of a technology where the core chemistry is established and most remaining innovation is incremental, covering processing tolerances, additive formulations and recyclability improvements. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will always look artificially low. The 2022 peak is the more reliable signal of underlying momentum than the 2025-2026 tail.
The IPC composition shows that 75.2% of records carry B32B laminate classification and 35.7% carry B65D container classification, meaning most claim density sits in multilayer packaging structures rather than pure resin chemistry. Additive-related C08K classification appears on only 13.4% of records, and recyclability-specific and mono-material coextrusion claims are comparatively thinner across the dataset. A first claim targeting ethylene content selection for high-humidity retort conditions, or additive packages compatible with post-consumer recyclate, is likely to face less prior art density than a general oxygen-barrier-layer claim.
This filing, assigned to AdvanSix Resins & Chemicals, claims oxygen barrier films combining a polyamide homopolymer or copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, an oxidizable polydiene, and at least one metal salt catalyst, aimed at retortable packaging such as pouches and containers. It is a scavenging-film architecture rather than a pure EVOH barrier claim — the oxidizable polydiene and metal salt catalyst are what enable active oxygen scavenging alongside the passive EVOH barrier. Anyone designing a similar multi-component scavenging film for retort packaging should review this claim scope closely, though it does not block simpler EVOH-only barrier layers that omit the scavenging components.
The European Patent Office leads receiving offices with 369 filings, ahead of the United States at 303, followed by Canada, Japan, Australia and WIPO PCT filings at lower but meaningful volumes. This split suggests that clearance and monitoring work should prioritise EPO and USPTO records first, then extend to Canadian and Japanese filings for regional packaging manufacturers. The presence of a substantial WIPO PCT count also indicates that a meaningful share of applicants are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than filing nationally only.
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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.