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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/membranes-and-separation-polymers-pervaporation-polymer-membranes-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Pervaporation Polymer MembranesPervaporation Polymer Membrane Patents: Who Leads and Where the Field Is Still Open
2,753
Published Records
25%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-17%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (53 records) with 2024 (44) — 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 2,753 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What the pervaporation membrane patent record actually shows
Pervaporation membranes separate liquid mixtures by selective permeation and evaporation across a polymer film, and the patent record built around this technique spans 2,753 records filed between 2015 and mid-2026. The search combines pervaporation-specific language with broader polymer and membrane-separation terms, which pulls in adjacent filings on membrane construction, module design and downstream processing alongside pervaporation-proper claims. That breadth is deliberate: it captures how pervaporation membrane innovation sits inside a wider separation-technology ecosystem rather than as an isolated niche.
Filing activity is spread across chemical majors, materials specialists and research institutes, with receiving offices led by the United States, Japan and the European Patent Office. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity; the 2024 figures are the last that can be read as essentially complete.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape 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
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,753-record dataset: filing volume by year, and the IPC subclasses those records fall into. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares below sum to well over 100% of the record total.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 76 in 2017 to a peak of 105 in 2023, then eased to 44 in 2024 (down 17% from 53 in 2021), with 2025-2026 still filling in as publications catch up to filing dates. The pattern reads as a maturing wave rather than an abrupt drop-off.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
B01D (separation processes) sits on 72.8% of all records, making it the dominant class by a wide margin. C07C compounds appear on 21.5%, with water treatment (C02F), polymer processing (C08J), hydrocarbon refining (C10G), condensation polymers (C08G), fermentation chemistry (C12P) and inorganic compounds (C01B) each present on roughly 5-8% of records — a set of secondary classes rather than a second dominant one.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,753 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 Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited prior art and the most recent published filing
Representative Recent Filing
US20250312742A1 — Membrane separation system and method for operating membrane separation device
NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
Filed by Nitto Denko, this application covers a membrane separation system built around a pervaporation membrane that splits a fermented liquid containing a volatile organic compound and the microorganism producing it into a permeated and a non-permeated fluid. The system adjusts the membrane separation device's temperature so that the temperature differential across the process stays within a controlled range, aimed at producing a non-permeated fluid clean enough to reuse.Published 2025-10-09 — illustrates current fermentation-adjacent claim drafting, not a historical baseline.
Most-cited records in this dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5472607A | Hollow fiber semipermeable membrane of tubular braid | 385 |
| 2 | US5635055A | Membrane process for increasing conversion of catalytic cracking or thermal cracking units (LAW011) | 305 |
| 3 | US20070031954A1 | Ethanol recovery process | 170 |
| 4 | US20130313193A1 | Metal-organic framework supported on porous polymer | 160 |
| 5 | US7313926B2 | High efficiency absorption heat pump and methods of use | 158 |
| 6 | US20090277837A1 | Fluoropolymer Coated Membranes | 145 |
| 7 | US6755975B2 | Separation process using pervaporation and dephlegmation | 143 |
| 8 | US7732173B2 | Ethanol recovery process | 133 |
| 9 | US5275725A | Flat separation membrane leaf and rotary separation apparatus containing flat membranes | 121 |
| 10 | US4968430A | Composite membranes, processes for their preparation and their use | 121 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations inside a searched corpus; treat this table as a map of foundational prior art, not of current filing activity.
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 Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape 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 concentration and citation data mean for filing decisions
Three figures matter most for anyone deciding where to file next: how concentrated the leaderboard is, how citation weight is distributed, and how the technology classes overlap.
Concentration
24.7%
of 2,753 records held by the top 5
Moderate concentration, long tail below it
The leading assignee alone accounts for 240 records, and the top 5 combined hold 681 of 2,753 records in scope (24.7%). The top 10 extend that to 924 records, 33.6% of the field. Below tenth place, filing counts fall off quickly, which points to a wide field of smaller filers rather than a two- or three-company duopoly.
Basis: assignee ranking, 2,753 records
Citation weight
385 citations
on the single most-cited record
Foundational prior art sits on membrane construction, not chemistry
The most-cited record in this dataset covers a hollow-fiber semipermeable membrane built from tubular braid, and the second most-cited covers a membrane process for catalytic and thermal cracking conversion. Both predate the pervaporation-specific surge and set the mechanical and process baseline that later filings build on.
Basis: citation counts within this search corpus
Class overlap
72.8%
of records tagged B01D
Separation-process claims dominate the class map
B01D covers nearly three-quarters of records, with C07C compound chemistry the only other class above 20%. The remaining classes — water treatment, polymer processing, refining, condensation polymers, fermentation and inorganic compounds — each sit in the mid-single digits, suggesting most differentiation happens inside B01D claim language rather than by pulling the invention into an entirely different class.
Basis: IPC subclass tagging across 2,753 records
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to membranes & separation polymers — pervaporation polymer membranes patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape 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
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio benchmarking or identifying a filing gap.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leading assignee's 240 records
A single filer holds far more records than any other named party in this dataset. Any new filing that touches core membrane construction or module design should be checked against that assignee's claim scope before drafting.
Run a freedom-to-operate search in EurekaMap claim language inside B01D before assuming white space
72.8% of records carry a B01D tag, so apparent gaps in adjacent classes may already be covered by a B01D filing worded broadly enough to reach into fermentation, refining or wastewater use cases.
Explore IPC-level claim charting in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches as filing catches up
Fermentation-integrated and hydrocarbon-refining pervaporation both sit at mid-single-digit shares of the total. As 2025-2026 filings publish, these branches are worth revisiting for early movers.
Set up a monitoring alert in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape 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 about pervaporation membrane patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 240 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 83 and the tenth-ranked filer at 37. The top 5 assignees combined hold 681 of the 2,753 records in scope, or 24.7%, and the top 10 hold 924 records, or 33.6%. Below that point the ranking flattens into a long tail of smaller filers, so the field is led but not dominated by one or two companies.
Filing rose from 76 in 2017 to a peak of 105 in 2023, then pulled back to 44 in 2024, a 17% decline from the 53 filed in 2021. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart are still incomplete and should not be read as a continuing decline. The honest read through the last complete year is a cooling off a 2023 peak, not a collapsing field.
Separation-process claims under IPC class B01D appear on 72.8% of all 2,753 records, making it by far the dominant class. C07C compound chemistry is the only other class above 20%, at 21.5%. Water treatment, polymer processing, hydrocarbon refining, condensation polymer chemistry, fermentation and inorganic compounds each sit in the mid-single digits, which suggests most competitive differentiation happens within B01D claim drafting rather than by moving the invention into a different technical class entirely.
The classes furthest from the B01D core — fermentation and enzymatic synthesis (C12P), hydrocarbon refining (C10G), condensation polymers (C08G) and inorganic compounds (C01B) — each sit at only 5-8% of the 2,753-record total, meaning far fewer filings have staked claims there compared with core separation mechanics. That does not guarantee an open field, since a broadly worded B01D filing can still reach into these use cases, but it does mark where dedicated claim language is thinner. Fermentation-integrated pervaporation for bioethanol or biofuel recovery stands out as a specific branch worth checking closely.
US20250312742A1, filed by Nitto Denko and published 2025-10-09, covers a membrane separation system that uses a pervaporation membrane to split a fermented liquid containing a volatile organic compound and its producing microorganism into permeated and non-permeated streams, with temperature control across the device kept within a defined differential. It is narrow to that fermentation-recovery configuration and its specific temperature-control step, so it does not block pervaporation membrane work outside fermentation separation or without that temperature-differential control. Anyone filing in the fermentation-adjacent pervaporation space should still read its claims closely before drafting around the temperature-control language.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Membranes & Separation Polymers — Pervaporation Polymer Membranes Patent Landscape 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.