Polyethylene Masterbatch Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Filing has cooled since a 2018 peak of 19 records, with the 2022 midpoint down to 4 — a technology whose claim space filled early rather than one still building momentum.
- C08L polymer-composition claims dominate the corpus (62 of 66 records touch this subclass), while carrier-resin and filler-dispersion mechanics are argued mostly as dependent claims layered on top of it.
- Europe and the US together receive more filings than China, an unusual split for a compounding technology and a sign that the commercially defended ground sits in Western jurisdictions.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (0) — 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 66 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This review covers patent families claiming polyethylene masterbatch, polyolefin compounding and PE compounding where the claims or description specify filler loading, dispersion, twin-screw extrusion, color concentrate or carrier resin, filed under IPC classes covering polymer compositions, polymer additives and polymer processing. The dataset spans 66 published patent families filed between 2015 and the 2026 cut-off, drawing on filings across Europe, the United States, China, Canada, WIPO and South Korea.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will understate real filing activity. Family counts, not raw document counts, are used throughout so that multi-jurisdiction filing strategy does not inflate any single assignee's apparent footprint.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 66-family dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
A peak in 2018, then a flat-to-declining tail
Filings rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 19 in 2018, then settled toward a midpoint of 4 in 2022. That shape is consistent with a technology whose core compounding formulations were staked out early, with later filings adding incremental variants rather than opening new ground.
C08L and C08K carry the claim weight
C08L (polymer compositions) appears in 62 of 66 records and C08K (polymer additives) in 41, confirming that most claims are written as compositions-of-matter with additive packages rather than as process claims. C08J (polymer processing) reaches 36 records, and smaller counts in H01B, C08F, A61M, B29C and B32B mark adjacent application areas — cable insulation, addition polymers, medical fluid devices and laminates — where masterbatch formulations get claimed as part of a larger product.
Shares are the percentage of the 66 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Polyethylene Masterbatch and Compounding with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about polyethylene masterbatch and compounding and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Masterbatch with semi-crystalline polyolefin carrier resin
A coagent masterbatch comprising a semi-crystalline polyolefin carrier resin and an alkenyl-functional coagent, plus a peroxide curable formulation combining the masterbatch with a polyolefin compound. The filing also covers methods of making the masterbatch and formulation, the peroxide-cured polyolefin product, and manufactured articles made from any of these.Filed by Dow Global Technologies; published 2021-03-18.
View full filing| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4369267A | Process for dispersing carbon black in polyethylene | 38 |
| 2 | EP0472268A2 | Forming abrasion-resistant coatings on elastomeric substrates | 28 |
| 3 | WO2007121049A1 | Weatherable polyolefin nanocomposites | 15 |
| 4 | CN107304268A | 一种阻燃聚烯烃复合物及其制备方法 | 11 |
| 5 | WO2014029344A1 | UV stable polyolefin compounds | 11 |
| 6 | WO2019148407A1 | Masterbatch with semi-crystalline polyolefin carrier resin | 8 |
| 7 | US4839410A | Flame-retardant rubber-modified styrene resin composition | 8 |
| 8 | US20170271048A1 | Flame retardant resin composition, cable using same and optical fiber cable | 7 |
| 9 | CN103342817A | 一种双氨基硅烷高沸物的再利用的方法 | 7 |
| 10 | US20200199309A1 | Irradiation curable polyolefin formulation | 6 |
Citation counts are measured within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later claim drafting, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
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.
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Reading the trend and citation data together points to where claim space is settled and where influence still traces back to older art.
Claim space filled early
The corpus peaked in 2018 and has trended down since, with the 2022 midpoint at roughly a fifth of peak volume. New entrants are more likely to be filing around existing compositions than staking out fresh formulation space.
Carbon black dispersion still anchors the field
A 1980s-era process patent for dispersing carbon black in polyethylene remains the most-cited record in the corpus, ahead of filings from the 2000s and 2010s. Drafting around dispersion mechanics still means clearing this reference.
Western offices lead the filing count
Europe and the United States together outpace China as receiving offices, an inversion of the usual pattern for compounding and additive technologies where Chinese filings often dominate on volume.
Collaboration is concentrated, not broad
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest of them recur around the same corporate assignee, suggesting joint filings cluster around a small set of internal R&D partnerships rather than an open collaborative field.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to polyethylene masterbatch and compounding, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ground, and where it's open
Recent-year momentum is flat across every tracked assignee, including the most active ones — a sign that this is a settled field to license or design around, not one to expect fresh blocking claims from imminently.
No assignee is currently accelerating
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum, from the most active corporate filer to individual inventors, shows zero filings in the latest tracked year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this likely understates true activity, but it does not point to any single player pulling ahead.
Joint filings repeat around one hub
The strongest co-assignee relationships in the dataset all pair the same corporate assignee with different named inventors, at three shared filings each. That pattern reads as one organisation's internal inventor rotation rather than cross-company collaboration.
Filing strategy is genuinely multi-jurisdictional
Records land across six receiving offices with no single office taking more than roughly a third of the total, which suggests assignees are filing for commercial coverage across regions rather than defending a home market alone.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| Fujikura Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. | 0 | — |
| JSR Corporation | 0 | — |
| Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 0 | — |
| YANG YONGYONG | 0 | — |
| SUN YABIN | 0 | — |
| PERSON TIMOTHY J | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a settled core and a few thinner adjacent branches. The next steps depend on whether you're clearing a formulation or looking for open ground.
Clear the dispersion prior art first
Any formulation claim touching filler dispersion or carrier resin mechanics should be checked against the oldest, most-cited records in this corpus before drafting — they anchor citation chains that later filings still reference.
Search prior art in EurekaWatch the under-claimed branches
Cable insulation, medical fluid devices and laminate applications each carry a handful of records inside a much larger corpus, which is where a narrowly drafted formulation claim is more likely to clear examination cleanly.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
Dow Global Technologies is the most consistently present corporate assignee in this dataset, appearing across several of the strongest co-assignee filing pairs alongside named inventors. Beyond that, filing activity is spread across a long tail of corporate and individual filers, with no single organisation showing accelerating recent-year momentum. This points to a field where the largest player has meaningful coverage but does not hold anything close to a monopoly on the claim space.
No — filing peaked at 19 records in 2018 and had fallen to a midpoint of 4 by 2022, a flat-to-declining pattern rather than a growing one. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the very latest years are always undercounted, so some caution is warranted about the most recent data points. But the multi-year trend before that lag window is clearly downward from the 2018 peak, not upward.
Start with the most-cited record in this corpus, a decades-old process patent on dispersing carbon black in polyethylene that still accumulates the highest citation count of any record tracked. Also review the mid-2000s and 2010s filings on weatherable polyolefin nanocomposites and UV-stable polyolefin compounds, which carry meaningful citation counts of their own. Any new dispersion or carrier-resin claim is likely to be examined against this citation chain, so clearing it early avoids late-stage rejections.
The core composition claims under C08L and C08K are dense, but adjacent application areas — cable and conductor insulation, medical fluid-handling devices, and layered laminate products — each carry only a handful of records against a 66-family corpus. A claim drafted specifically for one of these applications, rather than a general-purpose masterbatch composition, has a better chance of avoiding the densest prior art. Twin-screw dispersion process claims, as opposed to composition-of-matter claims, are also comparatively thin in this dataset.
Europe and the United States are the two largest receiving offices in this dataset, ahead of China, which is a less common pattern for a compounding and additives technology. Canada, WIPO (PCT) filings and South Korea round out the remaining coverage. A freedom-to-operate review for this technology should weight European and US filings at least as heavily as Chinese ones, contrary to the default assumption for many polymer-additive fields.
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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.