Fastest
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 →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/nanocellulose-materials-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Nanocellulose MaterialsNanocellulose materials patents: mapping the assignees, applications and open claim space
- Filing has cooled since its 2020 peak. 52 families filed in 2020 against just 4 so far in the partial 2026 year, with the 2022 midpoint of 25 confirming a flat-to-declining trend rather than a temporary dip.
- Polymer and paper IPC codes dominate, not pure nanotech. C08L polymer compositions (254 records) and D21H pulp & paper compositions (210) each outrank B82Y nanotechnology applications (89), showing most claims sit in application-side formulation rather than nanomaterial synthesis itself.
- Momentum has stalled across the named co-filing clusters. Every tracked assignee in the recent-momentum data shows 0 or a sharp negative year-on-year change, including the strongest co-assignee pair in the dataset.
467
Published Records
59%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+3%
3-Yr Growth (lag-adjusted)
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the nanocellulose patent record actually shows
Nanocellulose covers cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils and bacterial nanocellulose, and the 467 patent families in this dataset span 2015 through the partial 2026 year. The search combines nanocellulose terminology with process and property terms — fibrillation energy, rheology, barrier property, reinforcement filler, drying redispersion — against IPC classes covering pulp and paper compositions, polysaccharide chemistry and polymer compositions. That combination matters: it captures where nanocellulose is actually being claimed as a functional ingredient, not just where the base material is described.
Filing offices skew heavily toward the United States (137 records), followed by Europe, WIPO's PCT route and China, with Canada and India as smaller but present filing jurisdictions. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the low counts in the most recent year understate real filing activity rather than confirming a sudden stop.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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 data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 467 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A peak in 2020, then a steady decline
Filings rose from 22 in 2017 to a peak of 52 in 2020, then eased back toward 25 at the 2022 midpoint and down to 4 in the partial 2026 year. Read the tail years cautiously given publication lag, but the multi-year decline from the 2020 peak is a real pattern, not an artefact of the cut-off.
Application chemistry outweighs nanotechnology classification
C08L (polymer compositions) and D21H (pulp & paper compositions) lead the IPC breakdown, ahead of C08B (polysaccharides), C08J (polymer processing), D21C (pulp production) and C08K (polymer additives). B82Y, the dedicated nanotechnology code, sits well behind all of these at 89 records, indicating that most claim activity treats nanocellulose as a formulation ingredient inside established paper and polymer chemistry rather than as a standalone nanomaterial invention.
Shares are the percentage of the 467 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 Nanocellulose Materials covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Nanocellulose Materials with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about nanocellulose materials and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey patents
The most-cited records in this corpus
Representative record
Bacterial nanocellulose transparent film, manufacturing method thereof, and packaging material using the same
KOREA RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY
Filed by Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, this family describes a bacterial nanocellulose transparent film with oxygen, moisture and UV barrier properties, produced using electron beam irradiation and a film process on bacterial cellulose, for use in food or electronic product packaging.Abstract condensed from the original filing text.
Highly cited nanocellulose patent families
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JP2016011392A | Gas barrier material, method for producing the same, and gas barrier film | 86 |
| 2 | WO2009126106A1 | Method for providing a nanocellulose involving modifying cellulose fibers | 83 |
| 3 | US20150368368A1 | Nanocellulose compositions and processes to produce same | 54 |
| 4 | CN103254469A | 含纳米纤维素的可食性膜材料、可食性膜及其制备方法 | 50 |
| 5 | WO2014009517A1 | Low energy method for the preparation of non-derivatized nanocellulose | 45 |
| 6 | US20120132381A1 | Novel paper and method of manufacturing thereof | 45 |
| 7 | US20150184345A1 | Sulfite-based processes for producing nanocellulose, and compositions and products produced therefrom | 38 |
| 8 | WO2014085729A1 | Processes and apparatus for producing nanocellulose, and compositions and products produced therefrom | 37 |
| 9 | US20140155301A1 | Processes and apparatus for producing nanocellulose, and compositions and products produced therefrom | 37 |
| 10 | US20150368441A1 | Oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose materials | 36 |
Citation counts reflect influence inside this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of prior-art density, not of current commercial relevance.
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.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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
Run it yourself
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Where to run it
For builders
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 →Insights
What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against each other rather than in isolation.
Filing trend
52 (2020) to 4 (2026)
families filed, peak vs. partial latest year
The peak has passed, at least on paper
Volume climbed steadily from 22 families in 2017 to 52 in 2020, then declined through the 25-family 2022 midpoint down to 4 in the still-partial 2026 year. Even allowing for publication lag understating the tail, the multi-year shape points to a maturing filing wave rather than an accelerating one.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Technology mix
254 vs. 89
C08L polymer compositions vs. B82Y nanotechnology
Claims cluster in formulation, not nanomaterial synthesis
Polymer compositions (C08L) and pulp & paper compositions (D21H) between them outnumber the dedicated nanotechnology class B82Y by a wide margin. Most patent value here is being captured in how nanocellulose is blended, dried or applied inside existing polymer and paper systems.
IPC subclass distribution
Filing geography
137 US filings
vs. 69 EPO, 67 PCT, 58 China
The US is the primary filing venue, PCT a secondary gateway
United States filings lead the receiving-office count, with Europe and the WIPO PCT route close behind and China a step further back. Canada and India carry a smaller but non-trivial share, useful markers for where regional filing strategies still diverge.
Receiving office counts
Co-filing activity
10 co-assignee pairs
strongest pair: 11 shared families
Collaboration is concentrated in a handful of pairings
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest single pairing accounts for 11 shared families. Every one of the named pairs shows flat or negative recent-year momentum, suggesting these collaborations were front-loaded earlier in the filing wave rather than ongoing.
Co-assignee pair analysis
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to nanocellulose materials, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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
Who's filing
Assignee activity and where it has slowed
The named assignees in the recent-momentum data show a consistent pattern: activity that was concentrated in a small set of players has largely gone quiet in the most recent tracked year.
Momentum check
-80% YoY
Soane Materials LLC, latest year
Even the most active recent filer is pulling back
Soane Materials LLC recorded 1 family in the latest year, an 80% year-on-year decline, making it the only named assignee in the momentum data with any filing activity at all in that period.
Recent-year momentum data
Momentum check
0 families, -100% YoY
multiple assignees, latest year
Several established filers show zero recent output
Assignees including Purdue Research Foundation and the strongest co-filing cluster each show 0 families in the latest year with a -100% year-on-year change, consistent with the broader post-2020 decline in overall filing volume.
Recent-year momentum data
Collaboration
11 shared families
strongest co-assignee pair
The densest collaboration has already cooled
The strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset, built on 11 shared families, now shows -100% year-on-year momentum, meaning the partnership's most productive filing period sits behind the current data cut-off rather than ahead of it.
Co-assignee pair analysis
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| SOANE MATERIALS LLC | 1 | -80% |
| API Intellectual Property Holdings, LLC | 0 | — |
| GranBio Intellectual Property Holdings, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Stora Enso Oyj | 0 | -100% |
| Sappi Netherlands Services B.V. | 0 | — |
| Purdue Research Foundation | 0 | -100% |
| Innventia AB | 0 | — |
| Valmet Corporation | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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 landscape points to a filing wave past its peak with formulation-side claims concentrated among a small group of filers. Two follow-up steps make that actionable.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on the under-claimed branches
The gate chips above mark areas with comparatively thin filing density inside a corpus otherwise dominated by barrier-film and reinforcement-filler claims. Confirm that thinness holds once continuation families and non-English filings are pulled in.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaTrack whether the post-2020 decline reverses
With the most recent years still subject to publication lag, a renewed uptick could be forming that has not yet surfaced in the published record. Set a monitoring watch on the core IPC classes to catch it early.
Set up a monitor in Patsnap EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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 on nanocellulose patents
The assignee ranking in this dataset (467 patent families in total) shows filing concentrated among a handful of named players, with co-filing clusters such as the Stora Enso / UPM-style pairing among the most productive historically. Rather than a single dominant leader, the field shows a moderately concentrated top group followed by a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants, including universities, research foundations and smaller specialty manufacturers. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at the family-level ranking directly rather than raw document counts, since families neutralise duplicate continuation filings.
No, not on the current published record. Filings rose from 22 in 2017 to a peak of 52 in 2020, then declined toward 25 at the 2022 midpoint and down to 4 in the partial 2026 year. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the very latest years are always undercounted, but the multi-year decline from the 2020 peak is a consistent trend across several years, not just a single low data point.
This family, assigned to the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and published in 2023, covers a bacterial nanocellulose transparent film with oxygen, moisture and UV barrier properties, made using electron beam irradiation combined with a film-forming process on bacterial cellulose. It is positioned for food packaging or electronic product packaging applications. Anyone working on transparent barrier films from bacterial nanocellulose should review this family's specific claim language around the irradiation step, since that is the most distinctive technical element described in the abstract.
C08L (polymer compositions) and D21H (pulp and paper compositions) carry the highest record counts in this dataset, at 254 and 210 respectively, ahead of C08B (polysaccharides), C08J (polymer processing) and D21C (pulp production). B82Y, the dedicated nanotechnology classification, trails these at 89 records. This distribution tells you that most nanocellulose patent value is being captured in how the material is formulated and applied within existing polymer and paper systems, rather than in claims about the nanomaterial itself.
Based on the IPC and application-term distribution, branches such as drying and redispersion stabilisers, fibrillation energy reduction methods, and nanocrystal-polymer interfacial compatibilizers show comparatively thinner filing density than the well-covered barrier-film and reinforcement-filler space. Bacterial nanocellulose specifically for UV-barrier applications also appears less saturated than general gas-barrier claims. Confirming true white space requires cross-checking these branches against continuation filings and recent unpublished applications, since the newest filing years are understated by publication lag.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Nanocellulose Materials 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
Research Nanocellulose Materials in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole nanocellulose materials 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.