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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/moving-bed-and-sequencing-batch-reactors-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Water & Wastewater TreatmentMoving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactor Patents: Who Holds the Field
- Concentrated at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 75.0% of all 36 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 97.2% — this is a field with almost no long tail left to search.
- Filing has gone flat. After peaking at 8 records in 2019, the trend fell back to a midpoint of just 1 record in 2022, suggesting the core mechanical claims are already staked out.
- Classification is narrow. 100.0% of the 36 records sit in C02F, with only marginal spillover into fertiliser-recovery and measurement classes — the chemistry and hardware claims dominate, controls and analytics barely register.
36
Published Records
75%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+100%
3-Yr Growth (lag-adjusted)
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent set covers
This landscape draws on 36 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that combine moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process language with claim terms such as carrier fill ratio, biofilm thickness, nitrification rate, cycle scheduling and retrofit capacity increase, all restricted to water and wastewater treatment IPC classes. It is a narrow, mechanically defined slice of the broader biological treatment art rather than a survey of activated sludge or membrane bioreactor technology generally.
Filing offices skew toward the United States, with China and India close behind and smaller clusters in Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom, pointing to a field driven by utilities and equipment suppliers filing where large municipal retrofit budgets exist.
Records by receiving office, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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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Filing Data
Trend and technology composition
The filing curve and the IPC spread both point the same direction: a field that staked its core claims early and has since narrowed rather than diversified.
A peak in 2019, then a decline
Filings rose to a peak of 8 records in 2019 before falling back; by the 2022 midpoint the count had dropped to 1 record. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent years in this trend will read lower than they will eventually settle — but the shape of the decline from 2019 predates that lag effect.
Almost entirely C02F
Every one of the 36 records in scope carries a C02F water-and-wastewater-treatment classification. Only single records spill into organic fertiliser recovery (C05F), dimensional measurement (G01B) and material analysis (G01N) — sensor and control-layer claims are barely present in this set.
Shares are the percentage of the 36 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 Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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 records other filings cite most
Representative Filing
Biofilm carrier media in moving bed biofilm reactor processes (US20210047204A1)
VEOLIA WATER SOLUTIONS & TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORT
The invention pertains to a bio-carrier to carry a biofilm in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), the carrier being a particle comprising dehydrated sludge. The use of a bio-carrier in a MBBR process to purify a liquid from contaminants is disclosed and a method of manufacture of a bio-carrier is provided.Filed by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support, published 2021-02-18.
Most-cited records in this landscape
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20040206699A1 | Combined activated sludge-biofilm sequencing batch reactor and process | 91 |
| 2 | US6126827A | High-strength septage biological treatment system | 90 |
| 3 | US6926830B2 | Combined activated sludge-biofilm sequencing batch reactor and process | 23 |
| 4 | WO2004002904A1 | Combined activated sludge-biofilm sequencing batch reactor and process | 23 |
| 5 | WO2015011213A1 | A method and a system for enhancing nitrogen removal in a granular sequencing batch reactor (GSBR) and a comp… | 15 |
| 6 | EP0931768A1 | Process for the removal of ammonia from wastewater | 9 |
| 7 | EP0931768B1 | Process for the removal of ammonium from wastewater | 9 |
| 8 | GB2333522A | Waste water treatment | 8 |
| 9 | US20210047204A1 | Biofilm carrier media in moving bed biofilm reactor processes | 7 |
| 10 | US20200346956A1 | Dynamic process control for partial nitritation in wastewater treatment with autotrophic nitrogen removal | 6 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings by construction — treat these as markers of foundational influence, not of what matters 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 Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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 numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the ranking, trend and classification data are read together.
Concentration
75.0% of 36 records
held by the top 5 assignees
Little room at the top
With the top 5 assignees holding 75.0% of all 36 records and the top 10 holding 97.2%, this is not a fragmented emerging field — the mechanical and process claims around carrier media, fill ratio and cycle control are already occupied by a small group.
Ranking covers 21 companies total
Momentum
Peak year 2019: 8 records
vs. 1 record at the 2022 midpoint
Activity has cooled since 2019
The filing curve peaked in 2019 and had fallen to a single record by the 2022 midpoint. Recent-year momentum figures for the leading assignees also show 0 filings in the latest year, consistent with a maturing rather than expanding claim space.
Publication lag means the last 1-2 years will revise upward
Classification
100.0% in C02F
of all 36 records
Hardware and process claims dominate
Every record in this set falls under C02F, with only marginal appearances in fertiliser recovery, dimensional measurement and material analysis classes. Sensor-driven cycle scheduling and instrumentation claims are essentially unclaimed relative to the core reactor and carrier hardware.
Only 3 records touch a class outside C02F
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to moving bed and sequencing batch reactors, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked assignee list spans 21 companies, but the distribution is steep: a leader with 12 records, a fifth-place holder with 2, and a tenth-place holder with just 1.
Leader
12 records
held by the top-ranked assignee
One filer sets the baseline
The leading assignee's 12 records represent roughly a third of the entire 36-record set, making its claim scope on carrier media and reactor configuration the first thing to check before drafting in this space.
Ranking is 21 companies, not a top-50 or top-100 list
Mid-field
2 records
at fifth place
A thin second tier
Filing drops sharply after the leader: fifth place holds only 2 records and tenth place holds 1, so most of the ranked list consists of single-family filers rather than sustained portfolios.
Top 10 combined account for 97.2% of records
Collaboration
7 co-assignee pairs
identified in the dataset
Limited but real co-filing
Seven co-assignee pairings appear across the dataset, the strongest linking a research or consultancy partner with a water utility — evidence that some filings originate from applied trials rather than in-house R&D alone.
Strongest pair recurs across 5 records
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support | 0 | -100% |
| Purac AB | 0 | — |
| Kingsford Environmental (HK) | 0 | — |
| ANGLIAN WATER SERVICES | 0 | — |
| University of Manitoba | 0 | — |
| MANH L GULHANE | 0 | — |
| DR NITIN W INGOLE | 0 | — |
| Qingdao Sino-Environmental Water Treatment Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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 next
The dataset points to a field with clear leaders and thin claim density outside its core — useful starting points for a deeper freedom-to-operate or whitespace review.
Check the leader's full portfolio
Before drafting around carrier media or fill-ratio claims, review the full family tree of the top-ranked assignee rather than relying on the single most-cited record.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches
Sensor-driven cycle scheduling and instrumentation claims show minimal density here — worth a targeted search before assuming the space is open.
Run a whitespace search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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 MBBR and SBR patents
Within this 36-record dataset, filing is heavily concentrated: the top-ranked assignee alone holds 12 records, and the top 5 assignees together account for 75.0% of all 36 records in scope. The ranked list covers 21 companies in total, but most of them appear only once or twice. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should start with the leader's portfolio rather than treating the field as fragmented.
No — filing peaked at 8 records in 2019 and had fallen to just 1 record by the 2022 midpoint, and recent-year momentum data shows 0 filings in the latest year for the leading assignees. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the very latest years will revise upward somewhat, but the overall trend from 2019 onward is a decline rather than growth. This points to a technology area where the core mechanical claims were staked out earlier in the period.
Every one of the 36 records in this dataset carries a C02F water-and-wastewater-treatment classification, covering carrier media, fill ratio, biofilm thickness and cycle scheduling claims. Only a handful of records extend into adjacent areas: one touches organic fertiliser recovery (C05F), one dimensional measurement (G01B) and one material analysis and testing (G01N). That narrow spread means sensor and control-layer innovations are largely unclaimed relative to the reactor hardware itself.
US20210047204A1, filed by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support and published 2021-02-18, covers a bio-carrier made from dehydrated sludge for use in MBBR processes, along with a method of manufacturing that carrier. It is a composition-and-manufacture claim rather than a claim over the entire MBBR process, so it primarily constrains anyone using dehydrated-sludge-based carrier particles specifically, not MBBR carriers generally. Designers using alternative carrier substrates would need a separate freedom-to-operate check against the broader carrier-media claims in this dataset.
The data shows essentially no claim density outside core reactor and carrier hardware: sensor-driven cycle scheduling, biofilm thickness measurement instrumentation, and nitrification-rate feedback control each show minimal or no dedicated coverage in this 36-record set. Retrofit capacity-increase approaches for existing tank infrastructure also appear thin relative to new-build reactor claims. These branches are worth a targeted prior-art search before assuming they are open, since absence from this specific search string does not guarantee absence from the broader art.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Moving Bed and Sequencing Batch Reactors 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.