Polymer Modified Bitumen Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 26.8% of all 857 records sit with just five assignees, while a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants fills out the remaining ranked list.
- Filing peaked in 2017 at 73 records and 2021-to-2024 volumes fell 24%, though publication lag means the last one to two years will still fill in.
- C08L polymer compositions cover 81.3% of records while narrower classes like C09J adhesives (7.8%) and C04B ceramics/cement (11.2%) stay comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (33 records) with 2024 (25) — 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 857 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the patent record shows about polymer modified bitumen
Polymer modified bitumen sits at the intersection of polymer chemistry and pavement engineering: additives such as styrene-butadiene modifiers and crosslinking agents are blended into asphalt binder to improve elastic recovery, resist phase separation during storage, and change the rutting parameter that governs how a road surface performs under load. The 857 records in scope span filings from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off and cluster heavily around polymer composition claims rather than road-application claims.
Filing activity is concentrated at the top of the assignee ranking but not dominated by a single player: the leader holds 56 records against a field of 100 ranked companies, and the gap from fifth to tenth place narrows from 36 to 25. That pattern points to an established core of specialist chemical and materials firms defending compositional claims, with newer entrants working around the edges rather than displacing them outright.
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 857 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked at 73 in 2017 and have not returned to that level since. The tracked 2021-to-2024 window shows a 24% decline, from 33 to 25 records; 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent bars understate real activity.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C08L polymer compositions dominates at 81.3% of the 857 records, consistent with a field organised around binder formulation rather than end use. Application-adjacent classes — E01C roads and pavements at 14.5%, C09D coatings at 16.3%, C09J adhesives at 7.8% — are present but far thinner, and a record can carry more than one class so these shares overlap rather than sum to 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 857 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Polymer Modified Bitumen with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about polymer modified bitumen and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this field
Polymer modified bitumen with rubber, method for preparation and modifying agent for bitumen
The invention relates to a bitumen modifying agent and polymer modified bitumen produced by physical and chemical methods. The formulation combines bitumen with an oil-rubber composition made by mixing shredded waste rubber with castor oil, plus a crosslinking component carrying reactive isocyanate (NCO) groups. Bitumen content ranges from 77% to 95% by weight, with the oil-rubber composition at 4% to 20% and waste rubber particles at 4% to 18% of total weight.Filed by Politechnika Gdańska, published 2020-04-16 as WO2020076168A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7169848B2 | Block copolymers and method for making same | 226 |
| 2 | US20030149140A1 | Polymer modified bitumen compositions | 95 |
| 3 | US6414056B1 | Asphalt compositions and method for making (LAW617) | 92 |
| 4 | US20120253704A1 | Method and apparatus for fatigue and viscoeleastic property testing of asphalt mixtures using a loaded wheel … | 87 |
| 5 | WO2007058994A2 | Process for preparing a bituminous binder composition | 82 |
| 6 | US6759454B2 | Polymer modified bitumen compositions | 78 |
| 7 | US7169850B2 | Block copolymers and method for making same | 76 |
| 8 | US20110196073A1 | Polymer-modified asphalt with a crosslinking agent and methods of preparing | 71 |
| 9 | US20050107499A1 | Moisture curable sealer and adhesive composition | 71 |
| 10 | WO2008137394A1 | Bituminous binder composition and process for preparing the same | 68 |
Citation counts are drawn from the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for filing strategy
Three patterns stand out once the record set is broken down by assignee, class and receiving office.
The top of the field is thin, not closed
Five assignees hold roughly a quarter of all records, and the leader's 56 filings sit well below what would signal a single dominant patent estate. The other three-quarters spread across a long tail, which means composition space is contested rather than locked up by one owner.
Volume has cooled from its 2017 peak
The 2021-to-2024 window alone shows a 24% drop in filings, continuing a decline from the 2017 peak of 73. Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts are not yet reliable evidence of a further slowdown.
Claims cluster on composition, not application
Polymer composition claims (C08L) appear in over four-fifths of records, while adhesive-specific claims (C09J) appear in fewer than one in ten. That gap suggests formulation chemistry is heavily claimed while several downstream application classes remain comparatively open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to polymer modified bitumen, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Firestone Polymers LLC | Heritage Research Group LLC | 35 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | REECE TIMOTHY | 5 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | RADEMACHER CHRISTINE | 5 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | GRAVES DANIEL | 5 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | WISSEL HERBERT | 3 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | HERGENROTHER WILLIAM | 3 |
| Firestone Polymers LLC | BOERNER PETER | 3 |
| Kraton Polymers US LLC | STEPHENS KEITH E | 3 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest pair is far ahead of the rest — a sign that most filers in this field prosecute alone rather than through joint ventures or shared research programmes.
Who is filing, and where the openings sit
The ranked list runs to 100 companies drawn from chemical suppliers, oil majors and at least one university research foundation, with filing volume dropping off quickly after the top few names.
One specialist polymer supplier sets the pace
The leading assignee's 56 records put it clearly ahead of fifth place at 36, but the drop to tenth place at 25 is gradual rather than a cliff — consistent with several specialist and mid-size chemical firms all defending overlapping composition claims.
Most of the field files occasionally, not repeatedly
Beyond the top ten, filing volume per company falls off, indicating that a large share of the ranked assignees hold only a handful of records each. That pattern favours new entrants who can find a narrow, well-defined claim rather than trying to out-file the incumbents.
Joint filings are the exception
With only ten co-assignee pairs across the dataset, and one pair filed together 35 times, collaborative patenting is rare and concentrated in a single relationship rather than spread across the field.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Firestone Polymers LLC | 0 | — |
| Kraton Polymers US LLC | 0 | — |
| Innophos Inc | 0 | — |
| Iowa State University Research Foundation Inc | 0 | — |
| Heritage Research Group LLC | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | 0 | — |
| GreenMantra Recycling Technologies | 0 | — |
| Kraton Polymers Research BV | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific questions worth running down before committing to a filing or freedom-to-operate position.
Check family scope, not just document count
Raw record counts can overstate an assignee's real footprint where continuations and multi-jurisdiction filings inflate the number. Cross-check the leading assignees' family sizes before assuming their claim position is as broad as their record count suggests.
Explore assignee families in EurekaWatch the adhesive and coatings classes
C09J and C09D carry far fewer records than C08L, but that thinness could reflect either genuine white space or claims drafted broadly enough in C08L to already cover those uses. Either way it is worth checking before filing there.
Run a class-level gap check in EurekaRe-read the 2025-2026 trend after the lag clears
The most recent two years in this dataset are still filling in due to publication lag, so any read on whether filing is truly slowing should wait for another reporting cycle before being treated as settled.
Track filing trend updates in EurekaCommon questions about polymer modified bitumen patents
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 56 records out of 857 in scope, ahead of a fifth-place holder at 36 and a tenth-place holder at 25. No single company dominates the field outright — the top five combined account for 26.8% of all records, leaving the large majority spread across a ranked list of 100 companies. Most of that list files only occasionally, so the field is better described as contested at the top than owned by one firm.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 73 records and has not returned to that level since. Looking at the last fully comparable window, 2021-to-2024 filings fell 24%, from 33 to 25 records. The 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset should be read cautiously because patent publication typically lags the actual filing date by roughly 18 months, so recent-year counts are always undercounted at the point of publication.
Based on IPC class distribution, application-specific classes are much thinner than the core composition class: C09J adhesives sits at 7.8% of the 857 records, C04B ceramics and cement-related uses at 11.2%, versus C08L polymer compositions at 81.3%. That gap suggests recycled-rubber crosslinking agents, cement-compatible bitumen blends and adhesive-grade formulations carry lighter claim density than core binder chemistry, though thin coverage does not guarantee the space is legally open — a freedom-to-operate check is still needed.
Independently, for the most part. The dataset shows only 10 co-assignee pairs across all 857 records, and one relationship accounts for the large majority of that collaborative activity at 35 shared filings. The rest of the ranked assignees appear to prosecute their patents alone rather than through joint ventures, which is worth noting if you are scoping a partnership or licensing approach in this space.
WO2020076168A1, filed by Politechnika Gdańska and published in 2020, covers a bitumen modifying agent built from an oil-rubber composition of shredded waste rubber and castor oil, combined with a crosslinking component carrying reactive isocyanate groups. The claimed composition ranges are specific: bitumen at 77% to 95% by weight, the oil-rubber blend at 4% to 20%, and waste rubber particles at 4% to 18%. Anyone formulating a rubber-modified bitumen with an isocyanate crosslinker in overlapping weight ranges should read this filing's claims closely before proceeding.
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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.
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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.