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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/flexible-foam-and-comfort-applications-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Flexible Foam & Comfort ApplicationsFlexible polyurethane foam patents: who holds the ground and where it is still open
- 37.8% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees together account for 650 of the 1,719 records in scope — a field with a defined core group, not a fragmented one.
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. Activity ran from 43 records in 2017 to a peak of 54 in 2019, then fell from 36 in 2021 to 12 in 2024 — a 67% drop over that three-year span.
- Condensation-polymer chemistry dominates the claims. C08G appears in 85.2% of all records, meaning most protection sits on core polyol/isocyanate chemistry rather than downstream shaping or additive work.
1,719
Published Records
38%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-67%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
EP
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (36 records) with 2024 (12) — 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 1,719 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent set covers
This landscape covers flexible polyurethane foam and moulded foam patents that touch on comfort-critical performance properties: hardness, hysteresis, cell opening, emission of volatiles, demould time, density reduction and fatigue durability. These are the properties that separate a foam grade fit for automotive seating or bedding from one that is not, and they show up repeatedly in claim language across the corpus.
The 1,719 records in scope span filings from 2015 through the current data cut-off, with publication activity concentrated in the mid-2010s through early 2020s. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart understate real filing activity and should be read with that in mind.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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 Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,719 records: how filing activity has moved year on year, and how it distributes across IPC subclasses. Both use the full record set as their denominator.
Filing trend: a 2019 peak followed by a real pullback
Records rose from 43 in 2017 to a peak of 54 in 2019, then declined to 36 by 2021 and to 12 by 2024 — a 67% fall over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under the publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of that decline on their own.
IPC composition: chemistry-heavy, shaping and additives secondary
C08G (condensation polymers) touches 85.2% of records, with C08J (polymer processing) at 34.1% and C08L (polymer compositions) at 15.0% well behind. Shaping (B29C, 9.1%) and additive use (C08K, 7.8%) are present but comparatively thin, and seating-specific art (A47C, 3.7%) is a small fraction of the whole — each record can carry more than one class, so these shares add up past 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,719 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 Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications with Eureka
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Most-cited records and a representative filing
Representative Filing
US20190185667A1 — Polyol composition for molding flexible polyurethane foam, and flexible polyurethane foam
TOSOH CORPORATION
The application addresses a specific formulation problem: keeping a polyol composition stable over time even when a large amount of water is blended in, while still producing a low-density, fatigue-durable flexible foam. The route claimed combines a polyol component, catalyst, foam stabiliser, foaming agent and a compatibilizing agent — specifically an anionic surfactant carrying an alkali-metal-salt hydrophilic portion paired with an aromatic or otherwise structured hydrophobic portion.Filed by Tosoh Corporation, published 2019-06-20.
View full filingHighest-citation records in this corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5348778A | Sandwich elements in the form of slabs, shells and the like | 481 |
| 2 | US5145883A | Methods for producing polyether ester polyols and polyurethanes | 264 |
| 3 | EP1678232A2 | Flexible polyurethane foams prepared using modified vegetable oil-based polyols | 232 |
| 4 | WO2005033167A2 | Flexible polyurethane foams prepared using modified vegetable oil-based polyols | 180 |
| 5 | US20070221890A1 | Phosphorus Containing Compounds Useful for Making Halogen-Free, Ignition-Resistant Polymer | 157 |
| 6 | WO2003016372A1 | Process to manufacture flexible polyurethane foams | 145 |
| 7 | US20050070620A1 | Flexible polyurethane foams prepared using modified vegetable oil-based polyols | 123 |
| 8 | US5194453A | Method for the manufacture of flexible polyurethane foam | 117 |
| 9 | US6922863B2 | Adjustable foam mattress | 107 |
| 10 | US5124369A | Process for preparing soft flexible polyurethane foams and a polyol composition useful in said process | 96 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus — read them as a measure of influence on subsequent filers, not as a signal of which patents matter most today.
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 Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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 data indicates for filing strategy
Three read-outs from the concentration, class and citation figures above, translated into what they mean for someone deciding where to file next.
Concentration
37.8% / top 5
of 1,719 records
A defined core, not a fragmented field
The top five assignees hold 650 of the 1,719 records in scope, and the top ten extend that to 906, or 52.7%. That leaves a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants competing for the remaining claim space outside the core chemistry.
Based on the full 100-company ranking
Chemistry weight
85.2% C08G
of all records
Core polyol/isocyanate chemistry is the densest ground
C08G's presence in 85.2% of records means most active claims sit on condensation-polymer chemistry itself, ahead of processing (C08J, 34.1%) and formulation (C08L, 15.0%). New entrants attempting a chemistry-first claim are filing into the most crowded part of the field.
IPC subclass shares, multi-label records
Filing momentum
-67%
2021 → 2024
Activity has pulled back from its 2019 peak
Filings ran 36 in 2021 down to 12 in 2024, a real decline over a three-year window that is fully published. That is a genuine cooling in a field that peaked at 54 records in 2019, not an artefact of the publication lag — though the very latest years are still filling in.
2021–2024 complete-year comparison
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 flexible foam and comfort applications, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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
Competitive Landscape
Who is filing, and where the gate sits
The ranked leaders sit atop a long tail: 100 companies appear in the assignee ranking, but more than half of all activity concentrates in the top ten. Recent-year momentum among the historically largest filers has slowed to near zero, which changes who to watch going forward.
Leader
210 records
single largest filer
One assignee holds a clear lead
The leading assignee's 210 records sit well above fifth place at 58 and tenth place at 47, marking a steep drop-off rather than a gradual one. That gap is the clearest sign of where defensive filing has been heaviest.
Leader vs. fifth and tenth place
Mid-tier
58 → 47
fifth to tenth place
A tighter cluster below the leader
Positions five through ten sit close together, 58 down to 47 records, suggesting a group of comparably active filers rather than a second dominant player. This is the tier most likely to shift with a few years of renewed filing.
Ranking positions 5–10
Momentum
0 latest year
across historic leaders
Historic leaders show no recent-year filings
Several of the largest historic assignees show zero records in the latest year of this dataset. Given the publication lag, this does not necessarily mean these firms have stopped innovating — it may mean their newest filings have not published yet — but it does mean the visible pipeline from the traditional leaders has gone quiet for now.
Recent-year momentum by assignee
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| AGC Inc. | 0 | — |
| Huntsman International LLC | 0 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| BASF SE | 0 | — |
| Recticel NV SA | 0 | — |
| Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) | 0 | — |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Dow Chemical Company | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going claim by claim.
Map claims against the core chemistry classes
With 85.2% of records touching C08G, a chemistry-first filing needs a clause-level comparison against the densest prior art, not just a class-level check.
Explore claims in EurekaTrack the quiet leaders
Historic top filers show zero records in the latest year; confirming whether that is a real slowdown or a publication-lag gap needs a pipeline watch, not a snapshot.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaTest the white-space chips against your own formulation
Cell-opening control, low-emission additive systems and fatigue-durability testing methods show thinner IPC coverage than the core chemistry — worth a targeted search before assuming the space is open.
Run a white-space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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 flexible foam patents
The assignee ranking for this dataset covers 100 companies, with a single leader holding 210 records, well ahead of fifth place at 58 and tenth place at 47. Names commonly seen among the more active filers include AGC, Huntsman, Dow, BASF, Recticel and Tosoh, though the ranking's long tail includes many single- or few-filing entrants. The steep drop from the leader to the rest of the field suggests defensive, portfolio-scale filing at the top rather than a broadly distributed race.
Filing activity peaked at 54 records in 2019 and has declined since on completed-year data, falling from 36 records in 2021 to 12 in 2024 — a 67% drop over that span. The most recent one to two years in any such dataset are understated because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures should not yet be read as confirming or reversing that trend. Based on the fully published years through 2024, though, the decline from the 2019 peak is real.
Condensation-polymer chemistry (IPC class C08G) appears in 85.2% of the 1,719 records in scope, making it by far the densest area of claimed technology. Polymer processing and solutions (C08J) follows at 34.1%, with polymer compositions (C08L) at 15.0%. Shaping methods (B29C), additive use (C08K) and seating-specific applications (A47C) each appear in under 10% of records, marking them as comparatively less contested ground relative to the core chemistry.
US20190185667A1, filed by Tosoh Corporation and published 2019-06-20, covers a polyol composition for moulding flexible polyurethane foam that stays stable over time even with a large amount of water blended in, while producing a low-density, fatigue-durable foam. The claimed route combines a polyol component, catalyst, foam stabiliser, foaming agent and a specific compatibilizing agent — an anionic surfactant with an alkali-metal-salt hydrophilic portion and an aromatic hydrophobic portion. Anyone formulating a water-blown, high-water-content flexible foam system should check their surfactant chemistry against this claim structure specifically, since that combination is the narrow point the application is built around.
Relative to the 85.2% density of core condensation-polymer chemistry, several adjacent branches carry comparatively thin IPC coverage: cell-opening control agents, low-emission volatile-suppression additive systems, fatigue-durability testing methodology, and seating-integrated foam laminates all sit in the single-digit-percentage classes (B29C, C08K, A47C, B32B). These are not guaranteed to be open — thin IPC representation can also mean the work is done under trade secret rather than patent — but they warrant a targeted novelty search before assuming either way.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Flexible Foam and Comfort Applications 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.