CO2 Membrane Separation Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
Membrane Separation of Carbon Dioxide: Patents, Leading Filers and Open Claim Space
46.6% concentration. The five leading assignees account for 420 of 901 records in scope — a tight cluster followed by a long tail of single- and low-filing entrants. Filings peaked at 68 in 2017 and have declined since, falling from 23 in 2021 to 9 in 2024 — a 61% drop over that three-year span. The 2025 and 2026 figures are undercounted because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; they should not be read as confirmation the field has stopped.
- 1UOP LLC163
- 2LAIR LIQUIDE SA POUR LETUDE & LEXPLOITATION DES PROCEDES GEORGES CLAUDE87
- 3SAUDI ARABIAN OIL CO63
- 4MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY & RESEARCH INC63
- 5FUJIFILM CORP44
See the full membrane separation of carbon dioxide analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions about this landscape
Who holds the most patents in CO2 membrane separation?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 163 of the 901 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 44 and the tenth-ranked filer at 22. The top five assignees combined account for 46.6% of all records, and the top ten reach 64.6%. Below the tenth position the ranking of 100 companies thins quickly, with most remaining filers holding only a handful of records each, so competitive attention is best focused on the leading names first.
Is patent filing in this space growing or shrinking?
Filing activity peaked in 2017 at 68 records and has declined since, falling from 23 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, a 61% drop over that span. However, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset will understate real activity and should not be treated as confirmation of a continued decline until later filings publish. The honest read is that filing has cooled from a 2017 peak, not that the technology is being abandoned.
Which technical approach dominates the patent claims?
Almost all records, 90.6% of the 901 in scope, carry the B01D separation-processes IPC class, confirming that filtration mechanics form the common claim anchor regardless of membrane chemistry. Behind that, condensation polymer classes (25.1%) and polymer composition classes (12.2%) show material chemistry as the main axis of differentiation. Hydrocarbon compound, inorganic and fuel-related classes appear as supporting art in specific applications rather than as separate dominant approaches.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Membrane Separation of Carbon Dioxide covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.