Filing activity in this dataset is spread across a mix of chemical groups and specialist packaging firms rather than concentrated in one or two dominant holders. Several assignees show meaningful historical filing counts but zero activity in the most recent tracked year, which points to established positions being held rather than actively extended. Reviewing the full assignee ranking alongside recent-year momentum gives a clearer picture than any single company name, since leadership by cumulative count and leadership by current activity are not the same thing here.

Molded pulp cushioning claims, exemplified by the representative 2024 Sony Interactive Entertainment filing, tend to protect structural geometry — wall shapes, protruding support portions, and how they fit around an object. Expanded foam claims, which dominate the oldest and most-cited records in this dataset, tend to protect the chemistry and manufacturing process behind the foam-forming composition itself. Because the two routes claim different things — structure versus formulation — a product can sometimes combine both without infringing either, provided neither the geometry nor the chemistry map directly onto an existing claim.

The dataset shows filings climbing from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 11 in 2023, then falling off, with 2026 showing 0 filings so far. Part of that recent drop is a data artefact: patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 will read as sparser than they eventually turn out to be once those filings publish. The genuine signal is that growth was not accelerating going into the peak — the 2022 midpoint of 3 filings suggests the 2023 peak was a single strong year rather than the top of a sustained climb.

The thinnest IPC branches in this dataset are C08K (polymer additives, 11 records) and B65B (packaging and wrapping process, 11 records), both far behind the 93 records under B65D and 57 under C08J. That gap suggests filing that combines a specific additive package with a defined wrapping or transport-vibration process step has not been heavily claimed yet. Recent-year momentum data showing zero activity from several previously active assignees reinforces that some of this space has been vacated rather than fully occupied.

Among receiving offices in this dataset, the United States leads with 40 filings, followed by Japan at 35 and the European Patent Office at 30. WIPO/PCT filings sit lower at 9, with Australia and Canada each in single digits. That distribution suggests the US, Japan and Europe are the primary markets to clear before commercializing a new cushioning design, with PCT filings serving as the route into secondary markets.