Internal Curing SAP Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Concentrated top tier. The five most active filers together hold 43.3% of all 90 records in scope, and the top ten hold 63.3% — a field where a handful of assignees set the claim boundaries.
- Filings peaked in 2020. Activity ran from 4 filings in 2017 to a high of 14 in 2020, then eased to 6 by 2021, with 2024's complete count showing a -50% pull-back from that 2021 level.
- Cement chemistry dominates the IPC mix. 98.9% of the 90 records sit in C04B (ceramics, cement & refractories), while adjacent classes like coating processes and catalysis each cover under 5% of records — a sign of where claims have not yet spread.
Filing growth compares 2021 (6 records) with 2024 (3) — 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 90 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
This landscape tracks patent families addressing internal curing of concrete and cementitious materials through superabsorbent polymer admixtures, internal curing agents, and prewetted lightweight aggregate. The search string pairs these curing-agent terms with the technical effects practitioners actually claim against: autogenous shrinkage, water release kinetics, residual void structure, internal relative humidity, strength reduction, and cracking mitigation. The scope spans 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with 90 published records forming the basis for every figure on this page.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be. Treat 2024 as the latest year with a reasonably complete count, and read 2025-2026 as still filling in rather than as a genuine decline.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 90-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A 2020 peak followed by a cooling filing rate
Filings rose from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 14 in 2020, then fell back to 6 by 2021. The complete-year comparison from 2021 (6) to 2024 (3) shows a -50% pull-back — a real signal, though 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of that decline.
Cement chemistry carries nearly every record
C04B (ceramics, cement & refractories) appears on 98.9% of the 90 records, confirming this is fundamentally a cement-materials field. Smaller shares in C08F (addition polymers, 6.7%), E04C (structural components, 5.6%), B05D (coating processes, 4.4%), C09K (misc. materials, 4.4%), C01F (alkaline-earth/Al/rare-earth compounds, 3.3%) and B01J/B29B (2.2% each) mark where internal curing chemistry has started to reach into adjacent processing and materials domains, but has not yet built dense claim coverage.
Shares are the percentage of the 90 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Internal Curing with Superabsorbent Polymers with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about internal curing with superabsorbent polymers and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe records other filings build on
Concrete-forming composition
A concrete-forming composition for producing a concrete article including at least one internal curing agent based on a water-insoluble crosslinked cellulose ether, positioned as having higher water adsorption capacity than typically used superabsorbent polymers, combined with a cementitious material, plus the process for making the composition and the resulting concrete article.Filed by DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, published 2022-02-17 as US20220048820A1.
View full filing| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN102358773A | 一种保水耐盐耐碱性混凝土内养护剂的制备方法 | 49 |
| 2 | US20070246857A1 | Methods for internally curing cement-based materials and products made therefrom | 32 |
| 3 | US20170030077A1 | Microencapsulation of materials using cenospheres | 28 |
| 4 | US20150135997A1 | Internal curing composition for concrete mixtures | 28 |
| 5 | CN102173629A | 一种水泥基材料的体积稳定剂及其使用方法 | 20 |
| 6 | US20160326054A1 | Cementitious mixtures, compositions for use in cementitious mixtures, and methods of producing cementitious m… | 15 |
| 7 | CN105439490A | 一种混凝土内养护剂的制备方法 | 15 |
| 8 | WO2017025770A1 | Castable material based on cementitious material with shrinkage resistance | 13 |
| 9 | US20180230053A1 | Castable material based on cementitious material with shrinkage resistance | 12 |
| 10 | WO2013177318A2 | Internal curing composition for concrete mixtures | 11 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations within this corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current technical importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
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 →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 →What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting claims in this space.
A narrow leading group sets the boundaries
With the leader alone credited with 13 records and the top five combined holding 43.3% of the 90-record set, freedom-to-operate searches in core internal-curing-agent claims should start with the ranked leaders rather than assume a fragmented field.
Activity has cooled from its 2020 high
The run from 6 filings in 2021 down to 3 in 2024 (-50%) suggests the core superabsorbent-polymer-in-cement claim space is maturing, with several leading assignees showing zero filings in the latest tracked year.
Claims are still overwhelmingly cement-classified
Only a handful of records reach into coating processes (B05D), catalysis (B01J) or plastics preparation (B29B), each under 5% of records — these adjacent classes carry far less claim density than the cement core.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to internal curing with superabsorbent polymers, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The assignee ranking covers 36 companies drawn from the full 90-record set — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, but the complete ranking the dataset returns.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 13 of the 90 records, roughly matching what fifth place (5) and tenth place (3) show about how quickly the count tapers once past the leader.
A long tail beyond the top ten
Once the top ten's combined 63.3% share of records is accounted for, the remaining 26 ranked assignees split the rest — mostly universities and single-filing entrants rather than repeat commercial filers.
Cross-filing is rare, and mostly academic
Only two co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, both university-to-university or university-to-inventor links rather than corporate joint filings, suggesting most work here is done and claimed independently.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Cemex Research Group AG | 0 | — |
| SUVERSOL INT LLC | 0 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| Purdue Research Foundation | 0 | -100% |
| CEMEX INNOVATION HLDG LTD | 0 | — |
| University of Alabama | 0 | — |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | 0 | — |
| Suversol Int LLC | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to concrete next steps depending on whether you are clearing a filing or scouting a licensing target.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the leading assignees
Given that the top five hold 43.3% of the 90 records, any new internal-curing-agent claim should be checked against the leader's and the top-ten's filings before drafting.
Explore assignee filings in EurekaProbe the under-claimed adjacent classes
Coating processes, catalysis and structural-component classes each cover under 6% of records — thin enough to warrant a deeper prior-art pull before assuming the space is open.
Search IPC white space in EurekaTrack the post-2021 filing pull-back
The -50% move from 2021 to 2024 is a real complete-year signal; watch whether 2025-2026 filings (still incomplete) confirm or reverse it as more publications land.
Monitor filing trends in EurekaCommon questions on internal curing SAP patents
Internal curing uses materials such as superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) or prewetted lightweight aggregate mixed into concrete to hold water internally and release it gradually as the cement hydrates. This offsets autogenous shrinkage, which occurs when a mix self-desiccates during hydration and cracks before it can be cured from the surface. Patents in this space typically claim the SAP or aggregate formulation, the water release kinetics, or the resulting reduction in cracking or void structure, rather than the base concrete mix itself.
The assignee ranking behind this dataset covers 36 companies and research institutions, with the leading assignee credited with 13 of the 90 records in scope. The field is concentrated at the top: the five most active filers together account for 43.3% of all records, and the top ten account for 63.3%. Beyond that, filing activity spreads thinly across a long tail of universities and single-filing entrants.
Filing activity rose from 4 records in 2017 to a peak of 14 in 2020, then declined; the most reliable complete-year comparison, 2021 (6) to 2024 (3), shows a -50% drop. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures in any dataset will look artificially low and should not yet be read as confirming a continued decline. The honest read is that the core claim space cooled after 2020, with the trajectory since 2024 still unresolved.
Almost all records in this space, 98.9% of the 90 tracked, classify under C04B for cement and ceramics chemistry. Smaller but meaningful overlaps appear with addition polymers (C08F, 6.7%), structural building components (E04C, 5.6%), coating processes (B05D, 4.4%) and materials for miscellaneous applications (C09K, 4.4%). These adjacent classes carry much lower filing density and represent areas where claim space is comparatively open.
US20220048820A1, assigned to Dow Global Technologies LLC and published 2022-02-17, claims a concrete-forming composition using a water-insoluble crosslinked cellulose ether as the internal curing agent, positioned as having higher water adsorption capacity than typical superabsorbent polymers. It covers the composition itself, the process for making it, and the resulting concrete article. Anyone developing a cellulose-ether-based internal curing agent for concrete should review this filing's specific composition and process claims closely rather than assume standard SAP prior art clears the way.
Research Internal Curing with Superabsorbent Polymers in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole internal curing with superabsorbent polymers 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.