Photobioreactor Vessel Design Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Filings nearly quadrupled from 2021 to 2024. growing from 9 to 38 records a year (+322%), with 2025-2026 figures still understated by publication lag.
- The top 5 assignees hold 22.8% of all 302 records. and the top 10 combined reach 35.1% — concentrated at the head, but with a long tail of single- and double-filing entrants behind them.
- Bioreactor apparatus claims (C12M) touch 78.8% of records. while water/wastewater treatment (C02F) and electrolytic production (C25B) each sit under 5% — a sign of where vessel-design claims rarely reach yet.
Filing growth compares 2021 (9 records) with 2024 (38) — 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 302 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 302 published records at the intersection of photobioreactor systems and vessel-engineering parameters — aspect ratio, working volume, headspace, port layout, drainability and surface finish — filed under bioreactor and microorganism-culture IPC classes (C12M, C12N, C12R). It captures the mechanical and process-engineering side of photobioreactor design rather than the biology of the organisms cultured inside them.
Records span 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, with United States, WIPO/PCT and European filings the three largest receiving offices. Because publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 302 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend: a sharp recent climb
Annual filings rose from 11 in 2017 to a peak of 38 in 2024, with the 2021-to-2024 span alone showing +322% growth (9 to 38). 2025 and 2026 figures (down to 4 by 2026) reflect publication lag rather than an actual slowdown — treat the 2024 peak as the last complete read on the trend.
Technology composition: apparatus claims dominate
C12M (bioreactors and enzyme apparatus) appears in 78.8% of the 302 records, far ahead of C12N microorganism/genetic-engineering claims at 56.3% and C12P fermentation claims at 31.5%. Horticulture (A01G, 16.9%), water treatment (C02F, 7.9%) and electrolytic production (C25B, 4.0%) sit well behind — records can carry multiple classes, so these shares add to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 302 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Photobioreactor Vessel Design with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about photobioreactor vessel design and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Photobioreactor and process for biomass production and mitigation of pollutants in flue gases
Certain embodiments and aspects of the present invention relate to photobioreactor apparatus to contain a liquid medium comprising at least one species of photosynthetic organism therein, and to methods of using the photobioreactor apparatus as part of fuel generation system and/or a gas-treatment process or system able to at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a gas stream.Filed by GreenFuel Technologies Corporation, published 2007-01-25 as WO2007011343A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20090011492A1 | Photobioreactor Cell Culture Systems, Methods for Preconditioning Photosynthetic Organisms, and Cultures of P… | 167 |
| 2 | US20080293132A1 | High Density Bioreactor System, Devices, and Methods | 148 |
| 3 | US5162051A | Photobioreactor | 136 |
| 4 | US6602703B2 | Photobioreactor | 115 |
| 5 | WO2006020177A1 | Photobioreactor cell culture systems, methods for preconditioning photosynthetic organisms, and cultures of p… | 103 |
| 6 | US20030073231A1 | Photobioreactor | 100 |
| 7 | US20110070632A1 | Photo bioreactor and cultivation system for improved productivity of photoautotrophic cell cultures | 70 |
| 8 | WO2009002772A2 | bioreactor | 69 |
| 9 | WO2007011343A1 | Photobioreactor and process for biomass production and mitigation of pollutants in FLUE gases | 69 |
| 10 | US20100267122A1 | Microalgae cultivation in a wastewater dominated by carpet mill effluents for biofuel applications | 68 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence, not of current relevance.
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 numbers say about this field
Three read-outs from the dataset that matter for anyone deciding where to file or where to challenge.
A moderately concentrated field, not a monopoly
The top 5 assignees combined hold 22.8% of all 302 records, and the top 10 reach 35.1%. That leaves nearly two-thirds of filings spread across a long tail of single- and low-count entrants — vessel design has not consolidated the way some adjacent bioprocessing fields have.
A field that only recently accelerated
Annual filings moved from 9 in 2021 to a peak of 38 in 2024. That timing lines up with commercial-scale algae and cyanobacteria cultivation efforts reaching the vessel-engineering stage, where aspect ratio, drainability and port layout become claimable rather than incidental.
Apparatus claims dominate over process and treatment claims
C12M bioreactor-apparatus classification appears in 78.8% of the 302 records, well ahead of fermentation (31.5%) and horticulture (16.9%) classes. Water-treatment (C02F) and electrolytic-production (C25B) crossover claims each sit at 4.0-7.9%, suggesting vessel-design language has not yet migrated deeply into those adjacent applications.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to photobioreactor vessel design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape and where the openings sit
The ranking covers 100 companies across the 302 records in scope — a full field view, not a top-50 cut. Filing counts drop quickly after the leader, and momentum data shows several of the most active historical filers with no activity in the latest tracked year, which is as much a sign of publication lag as of any pullback.
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 19 records, compared with 10 at fifth place and 6 at tenth — a steep early drop-off that flattens into a long tail. No single filer approaches a dominant share of the 302 total.
Collaboration is limited and mostly academic-industry pairs
Only 9 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, the strongest linking a university with individual named inventors rather than two corporate filers. Vessel design in this field looks largely like independent corporate or institutional filing rather than joint-venture patenting.
Historical leaders show no latest-year activity
Several of the more active historical assignees register zero filings in the most recent tracked year. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this is more likely a reporting gap than a genuine exit from the field — but it means recent-year rankings should be read cautiously.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Greenfield Specialty Alcohols | 0 | — |
| Arborea Ltd | 0 | -100% |
| Cornell University | 0 | — |
| BRILLIANT PLANET LTD | 0 | — |
| Wacker Chemie AG | 0 | — |
| Triton Algae Innovations Inc | 0 | — |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | 0 | — |
| Nanyang Technological University | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field that is still filling in at the edges rather than one that has settled.
Map the white space claim by claim
The under-claimed branches above are visible in the aggregate data but need claim-level review before anyone files against them or relies on them being open.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack the leader's next moves
A single assignee holding 19 of 302 records sets the pace for vessel geometry claims; watching its continuation filings shows where the claim boundary is likely to move next.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaRevisit once 2025-2026 filings publish fully
The current trend understates the last two years because of publication lag; a follow-up read once those years complete will show whether the 2024 peak held or kept climbing.
Set a landscape alert in EurekaFrequently asked questions
The dataset's leading assignee holds 19 of the 302 records in scope, with the fifth-ranked filer at 10 and the tenth at 6. That is a moderate concentration: the top 5 assignees combined account for 22.8% of all records and the top 10 for 35.1%, which leaves roughly two-thirds of filings spread across a long tail of smaller filers. No single company controls the field outright, so freedom-to-operate analysis has to look beyond the largest names.
It is growing, and quickly. Annual filings rose from 9 in 2021 to a peak of 38 in 2024, a +322% increase over that span. The apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 is a publication-lag artefact — patent applications typically take about 18 months to publish, so the most recent two years in any dataset always look lower than they will once filings catch up.
The bulk of claims sit in C12M, bioreactor and enzyme apparatus, which touches 78.8% of the 302 records — covering vessel geometry, ports, and mechanical structure. Microorganism and genetic-engineering claims under C12N appear in 56.3% of records, and fermentation-related C12P claims in 31.5%. Smaller but present categories include horticulture (A01G), water treatment (C02F) and electrolytic production (C25B), each under 17%, marking areas where vessel-design claims cross into adjacent applications less often.
The clearest gaps sit in branches adjacent to the core apparatus claims rather than within them: headspace-to-working-volume ratio control, modular port layouts built for continuous harvest, drainability-optimised geometry, and anti-fouling surface finishes all show low filing density relative to C12M's 78.8% coverage. Crossover claims combining vessel design with water treatment or electrolytic processes are also thin, each appearing in fewer than 8% of records. These are areas where a well-drafted first claim has room to stand, though a claim-level review is needed before relying on any of them being fully open.
WO2007011343A1, assigned to GreenFuel Technologies Corporation and published in 2007, claims photobioreactor apparatus for containing a liquid medium with photosynthetic organisms, used as part of a fuel-generation system or a gas-treatment process that removes pollutants from a gas stream. Its scope centres on the combination of vessel apparatus with flue-gas pollutant mitigation, which is a specific and dated combination rather than a broad vessel-geometry claim. Designers working purely on vessel mechanics — aspect ratio, port layout, drainability — without the flue-gas integration are less likely to be blocked by it, but anyone building a flue-gas-coupled cultivation vessel should review its claims directly.
Research Photobioreactor Vessel Design in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole photobioreactor vessel design 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.