RTM & Infusion Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 37.6% concentration at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 163 of the 433 records in scope, but the remaining 268 are spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing has cooled since the 2017 peak. 72 records published that year against a 2021→2024 change of 16 to 11 filings, a -31% move for the leading assignee over that span.
- Shaping claims dominate the class mix. B29C covers 48.0% of the 433 records, more than double the next-largest class, C08G condensation polymers at 21.0%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (16 records) with 2024 (11) — 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 433 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 433 published records at the intersection of resin transfer moulding, vacuum-assisted infusion and liquid composite moulding with process-control concepts such as preform permeability, race tracking, dry spot formation, injection pressure profiles, cure kinetics and tool sealing. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off. The search string pairs a moulding-process term with a process-physics or defect term, so the corpus is weighted toward records that describe how a mould is filled and cured rather than the resin chemistry alone.
Filing is concentrated in aerospace-adjacent assignees and materials suppliers, with a long tail of universities, individual inventors and smaller composite fabricators. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real activity.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 433 records: publication activity by year, and the IPC subclasses those records carry.
Peak filing in 2017, then a step down
Publications ran as high as 72 in 2017. The most recent complete comparison point in the evidence is 2021 to 2024, where the leading assignee's filings moved from 16 to 11, a -31% change. Years after 2024 are still filling in and should not be read as a continued decline.
B29C shaping claims dominate the mix
B29C (shaping of plastics) appears on 48.0% of the 433 records, far ahead of C08G condensation polymers (21.0%) and C08F addition polymers (14.1%). Aerospace-specific B64C classification touches 10.9% of records, showing that a meaningful slice of this corpus is airframe-structure specific rather than generic composite processing.
Shares are the percentage of the 433 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Resin Transfer Moulding and Infusion with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about resin transfer moulding and infusion and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
System for in-situ and on-line monitoring of a preform layup process for liquid composite molding (US6532799B2)
A system for in-situ and on-line monitoring of a preform layup process for liquid composite molding gathers permeability measurements of a fabric preform after it is placed in the mould. Pressure sensors located within a mould section take readings that are processed into a permeability profile, from which local permeability variations caused by preform defects, deformation, or mould misfit can be identified.Assigned to Florida State University Research Foundation; published 2003-03-18.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20050074593A1 | Fiber reinforced composite cores and panels | 264 |
| 2 | US6740381B2 | Fiber reinforced composite cores and panels | 228 |
| 3 | US20020022422A1 | Double bag vacuum infusion process and system for low cost, advanced composite fabrication | 199 |
| 4 | US7393577B2 | Fiber reinforced composite cores and panels | 164 |
| 5 | US20010031350A1 | Fiber reinforced composite cores and panels | 157 |
| 6 | US20100266833A1 | Fiber reinforced composite cores and panels | 106 |
| 7 | US6048488A | One-step resin transfer molding of multifunctional composites consisting of multiple resins | 106 |
| 8 | US7413694B2 | Double bag vacuum infusion process | 105 |
| 9 | US5686038A | Resin transfer molding of composite materials that emit volatiles during processing | 93 |
| 10 | US20020155186A1 | Apparatus and method for selectively distributing and controlling a means for impregnation of fibrous articles | 76 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older records; treat this as a signal of influence on later filings, not of current commercial 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 mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the class mix are read together.
The leader is well ahead, but the field is not a duopoly
The leading assignee alone holds 54 records, and the top 5 combined reach 163 of 433 records in scope (37.6%). That leaves 62.4% of records spread across a long tail — a sign that process-control claims in this space have not consolidated the way core resin chemistry has in adjacent fields.
Activity has stepped down from its 2017 peak
Publications peaked at 72 in 2017. The one complete comparison the data supports, 2021 to 2024, shows an 11-filing outcome against 16 three years earlier — a -31% move. Years beyond 2024 are still filling in under the ~18-month publication lag and should not be read as a further slide.
Shaping-process claims crowd the centre of the field
B29C shaping-of-plastics classification touches nearly half the corpus (48.0% of 433 records), with condensation polymers (C08G, 21.0%) and addition polymers (C08F, 14.1%) trailing well behind. A record can carry several classes, so these shares overlap rather than sum to 100%.
US and EPO carry most of the filing volume
Receiving-office counts show the United States (146) and the EPO (89) as the two largest gateways, with WIPO/PCT (38), Canada (30), Austria (25) and India (24) forming a second tier. A filing strategy built only around the US and EPO would still miss meaningful activity captured through PCT.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to resin transfer moulding and infusion, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ground, and what is still open
The ranked leaders sit alongside materials suppliers and defence-funded research, but several process-control sub-areas remain lightly claimed.
One clear leader, no runaway consolidation
The top-ranked assignee holds 54 of 433 records, well ahead of fifth place at 19 and tenth place at 9. That gap shows real specialisation at the top without shutting out later entrants.
Latest-year filings read low across the board
Several of the most active historical assignees show zero records in the latest tracked year, including year-on-year drops as steep as -100%. Given the ~18-month publication lag, this reads as an incomplete latest year rather than a withdrawal from the space.
Co-assignment is limited and concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the corpus, and the strongest pairings cluster around a small number of related corporate entities rather than cross-industry joint filings. This suggests most process-control IP here is developed and held in-house.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Bell Helicopter Textron Inc | 0 | — |
| The Boeing Company | 0 | -100% |
| Evonik Technochemie GmbH | 0 | — |
| Evonik Operations GmbH | 0 | — |
| WEBCORE TECHNOLOGIES INC | 0 | — |
| Cytec Technology Corp | 0 | — |
| Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH | 0 | — |
| 3M Innovative Properties Co | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The ranking and class mix point to where claim space is full and where it is not.
Map your own process claims against the IPC mix
If your work sits in preform permeability sensing or injection pressure control, check exposure against the dense B29C and C08G clusters before drafting.
Explore the technology in EurekaWatch the leading assignee's next moves
A 54-record leader with recent-year filings reading near zero is either between filing cycles or shifting focus; either way it is worth tracking.
Track assignee activity in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 54 of the 433 records in scope, with the top 5 combined reaching 163 records (37.6%). That leadership is real but not overwhelming: the majority of records, 62.4%, sit outside the top 5, spread across a long tail of aerospace manufacturers, materials suppliers, universities and individual inventors. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should check both the leading assignees and this long tail, since single-filing entrants can still hold a blocking claim in a narrow sub-area.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 72 published records and has since stepped down. The one complete year-over-year comparison the data supports is 2021 to 2024, where the leading assignee's filings fell from 16 to 11, a -31% change. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the years closest to the 2026 cut-off are still filling in and should not be read as evidence of a continued decline.
B29C, the shaping-of-plastics classification, appears on 48.0% of the 433 records in scope, making it by far the largest single category. Condensation polymers (C08G, 21.0%) and addition polymers (C08F, 14.1%) follow at a distance, with aerospace-specific B64C classification present on 10.9% of records. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares overlap and do not sum to 100%.
US6532799B2, assigned to Florida State University Research Foundation and published in 2003, covers a system for in-situ, on-line monitoring of a preform layup during liquid composite moulding using pressure sensors embedded in the mould section. It processes those pressure readings into a permeability profile that reveals local defects, preform deformation, or mould misfit before or during infusion. It matters because in-mould permeability sensing is one of the sub-areas this landscape flags as still lightly claimed relative to the dense B29C shaping core, so this record is a useful reference point for anyone drafting in that space.
The dense claim territory sits in B29C shaping-of-plastics and C08G condensation-polymer classifications, which together touch a large share of the 433 records in scope. Sub-areas adjacent to that core, such as in-mould permeability sensing arrays, adaptive injection pressure control, race-tracking defect prediction and real-time cure kinetics feedback, show far less concentrated ownership. A first claim in those areas should tie a specific sensing or control mechanism to a measurable process outcome, such as a defect location or a cure-state threshold, rather than claiming the moulding process broadly.
Research Resin Transfer Moulding and Infusion in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole resin transfer moulding and infusion 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.