Mineral Wool Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 30% sits with five filers. The top 5 assignees combined account for 3,719 of the 12,382 records in scope — 30.0% of the field — while a long tail of ranked entrants each hold a single-digit share.
- Filing has pulled back from its 2017 peak. Annual filings ran from 741 in 2017 to 578 in 2021 down to 330 in 2024, a 43% drop across that three-year span; more recent years are still filling in as publications lag filing by roughly 18 months.
- Binder chemistry and building-structure claims dominate. Glass and enamel compositions (C03C) and ceramics, cement & refractories (C04B) are the two most-claimed IPC subclasses, each covering close to a fifth of all records.
Filing growth compares 2021 (578 records) with 2024 (330) — 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 12,382 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent activity at the intersection of mineral wool composition and the process variables that determine its performance: raw material selection, firing temperature, hydration reaction, binder composition and curing. The scope spans 12,382 published records filed between 2015 and 2026, drawn from filings that combine mineral wool terminology with process and materials-science language rather than insulation products generically described.
Coverage runs across major receiving offices, with the United States, the European Patent Office and the WIPO PCT route carrying the largest volumes, alongside meaningful filing activity in Canada and Australia. The mix of IPC classes shows this is not a single-technology field: glass and ceramics chemistry, nonwoven fibre processing and structural building components are all claimed against the same core mineral wool subject matter.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 12,382-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across the IPC subclasses that structure mineral wool patent claims.
A pullback from a 2017 peak
Filings peaked at 741 in 2017 and fell to 330 by 2024, a 43% decline from the 2021 level of 578. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued slowdown.
Composition claims lead, building structure follows
C03C (glass & enamel compositions) and C04B (ceramics, cement & refractories) are the two largest subclasses, each near a fifth of all 12,382 records. D04H (nonwovens & felts) and E04B (building structures) follow closely, showing that claims split fairly evenly between the fibre/binder chemistry and the structural end-use of the material. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% and should be read as coverage, not as a partition of the field.
Shares are the percentage of the 12,382 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Mineral Wool & Insulation Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about mineral wool & insulation patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Formaldehyde-free mineral wool growing media
Mineral wool plant substrates comprising mineral wool fibers bound by a binder formed from an aqueous binder composition that includes a cross-linking agent with at least two carboxylic acid groups, a polyol component, a nitrogen-based protective agent, and a small proportion of non-ionic surfactant. Manufacturing methods collect inorganic fibers on a substrate, apply the aqueous binder composition, and cure it at controlled temperature.Filed by Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC; published 2024-03-14.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4329162A | Diesel particulate trap | 796 |
| 2 | US20020164730A1 | Procedure for the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass using a new heat-tolerant yeast | 790 |
| 3 | US6342284B1 | Gypsum-containing product having increased resistance to permanent deformation and method and composition for… | 616 |
| 4 | US6632550B1 | Gypsum-containing product having increased resistance to permanent deformation and method and composition for… | 447 |
| 5 | US4417908A | Honeycomb filter and method of making it | 416 |
| 6 | US20100124583A1 | Processing biomass | 391 |
| 7 | US5389716A | Fire resistant cured binder for fibrous mats | 360 |
| 8 | WO2004007615A1 | Formaldehyde-free aqueous binder composition for mineral fibers | 322 |
| 9 | WO1999036368A1 | Compound for use as a mineral fibre binder and process for providing such | 299 |
| 10 | US20170259502A1 | Additive manufacturing of composite materials | 285 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus; treat them as a signal of influence within the searched set, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
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 says about the field
Three findings that shape how a freedom-to-operate or whitespace review of mineral wool patents should be scoped.
The field is moderately concentrated, not dominated by one player
The leader holds 943 records and fifth place holds 568 — a gap wide enough that no single company controls the space, but the top 5 combined still take 30.0% of all records in scope, and the top 10 take 42.2%.
Filing volume has cooled from its 2017 high
Annual filings fell from 578 in 2021 to 330 in 2024. Recent-year data for individual assignees shows year-on-year declines across several of the largest filers, though 2025-2026 figures remain incomplete due to publication lag.
Chemistry claims and structural claims run close in volume
Glass/enamel composition claims (C03C, 19.6%) and ceramics/cement/refractory claims (C04B, 17.4%) are the two largest subclasses, with nonwoven felt processing (D04H, 15.6%) and building structures (E04B, 14.7%) close behind.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to mineral wool & insulation patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Knauf Insulation SPRL | Knauf Insulation LLC (USA) | 213 |
| Saint-Gobain Isover | Saint-Gobain Isover | 23 |
| Rockwool International A/S | Rockwool A/S | 18 |
| Rockwool International A/S | Deutsche Rockwool Mineralwoll GmbH | 18 |
| Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC | Paroc Group Oy | 16 |
| Knauf Insulation LLC (USA) | KNAUF INSULATION DOO | 15 |
| Knauf Insulation SPRL | KNAUF INSULATION DOO | 14 |
| Knauf Insulation LLC (USA) | Knauf Insulation GmbH (Germany) | 13 |
Co-assignee pairing data shows the strongest links sit between regional arms of the same corporate group, most notably a pairing at 213 shared records between two Knauf Insulation entities — consistent with group-wide filing strategy rather than cross-company collaboration.
Who is filing, and where activity is slowing
Recent-year momentum diverges sharply from long-run leadership: several of the largest historical filers show double-digit year-on-year declines in the latest tracked year.
Rockwool holds the largest single portfolio
Rockwool's combined entities lead the ranked list, with the strongest co-assignee pairing among its own group entities at 18 shared records — evidence of consolidated group filing rather than joint ventures with outside parties.
Owens Corning's filing pace has slowed from a high base
Owens Corning filed 8 records in the latest tracked year against a much larger prior-year base, a 56% year-on-year decline. Its representative recent filing on formaldehyde-free binder chemistry suggests continued R&D investment even as raw filing counts ease.
Knauf Insulation's US and international arms file jointly at scale
The strongest co-assignee pairing in this dataset links Knauf Insulation's international entity with its US entity at 213 shared records, the largest such link found — well above the next-strongest pairs.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Rockwool Co., Ltd. | 9 | -50% |
| Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC | 8 | -56% |
| Saint-Gobain Isover | 2 | -71% |
| United States Gypsum Co. | 2 | 0% |
| Rockwool International A/S | 0 | — |
| Knauf Insulation SPRL | 0 | -100% |
| Knauf Insulation LLC (USA) | 0 | — |
| BASF SE | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or competitive tracking.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the top 10
With 42.2% of all 12,382 records held by the ten largest assignees, a targeted FTO search against that group's claims is a faster first pass than screening the full ranked list.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaMap claim language in the under-claimed branches
Binder curing kinetics and recycled-fibre feedstock show thinner filing density than the core glass and ceramics classes, suggesting room for a defensible first claim.
Search whitespace with EurekaTrack momentum, not just historical rank
Several top-10 assignees show year-on-year declines in the latest tracked year; watching quarterly filing pace is more informative than relying on cumulative rank alone.
Set up assignee alerts in EurekaCommon questions about mineral wool patents
The ranked leader in this dataset holds 943 records, with the top 5 assignees combined accounting for 3,719 records, or 30.0% of the 12,382 records in scope. That leaves a wide gap down to the tenth-ranked filer at 215 records, so the field has a clear leadership tier but is not controlled by a single company. Rockwool, Knauf Insulation, Saint-Gobain Isover, USG and Owens Corning are among the entities with the largest portfolios by record count. Anyone doing a competitive scan should treat the top 5 to 10 as the core group to watch, then assess the long tail separately.
Filing volume peaked in 2017 at 741 records and has trended down since, falling from 578 in 2021 to 330 in 2024, a 43% decline over that span. Because patent publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as evidence of a further slowdown. The safest read is that filing has cooled from its mid-2010s peak, while the most recent one to two years remain an open question until more data arrives. Recent-year momentum by individual assignee shows similar declines, reinforcing the trend at the leader level.
Glass and enamel composition claims (IPC class C03C) are the single largest category at 19.6% of the 12,382 records in scope, closely followed by ceramics, cement and refractories (C04B) at 17.4%. Nonwoven and felt processing (D04H) and building structural elements (E04B) each cover roughly 15% and 14.7% of records respectively, showing that claims split between the fibre/binder chemistry and the structural end-use. Because a single patent can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should be read as coverage overlap rather than a market split. Layered products, polymer compositions and glass manufacturing round out the remaining major classes.
US20240084101A1, assigned to Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC and published in March 2024, covers mineral wool plant substrates where the fibres are bound by an aqueous binder built from a cross-linking agent with at least two carboxylic acid groups, a polyol component, a nitrogen-based protective agent, and a small percentage of non-ionic surfactant. The claims also cover the manufacturing method: collecting inorganic fibres on a substrate, applying that binder, and curing it at controlled temperature. This is a formaldehyde-free binder chemistry claim aimed at horticultural mineral wool substrates rather than structural insulation, so its practical blocking effect is narrower than a general mineral wool binder patent. Anyone formulating a formaldehyde-free binder for growing-media mineral wool should review this filing's specific compositional ranges before finalising a formulation.
The technology composition data shows the field's filing density concentrated in glass/ceramics chemistry (C03C, C04B) and structural building elements (E04B, E04C), leaving adjacent branches such as formaldehyde-free binder curing kinetics, recycled-fibre feedstock formulations, and low-firing-temperature slag chemistries comparatively thin. These are not gaps in demand — Owens Corning's 2024 filing on formaldehyde-free binders shows active R&D interest — but they carry less claim density than the core chemistry classes, which typically means less prior art to design around. A practical first step is to search each candidate branch's specific claim language against the ranked assignees' portfolios before drafting new claims there.
Research Mineral Wool & Insulation Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole mineral wool & insulation patent landscape 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.