Reverse Osmosis Desalination Membrane Filtration Patent Landscape
Reverse Osmosis Desalination Membrane Filtration Patent Landscape in 2026
The reverse osmosis desalination membrane filtration field has reached maturity, with annual filings plateaued near their 2017 peak and activity spread across a mix of industrial players, academic institutions, and specialist innovators. Desalitech leads the ranked applicant pool, but the top five filers hold only 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a fragmented competitive structure with no single dominant force.
Fragmented field led by Desalitech, with broad participation across industry and academia
Desalitech leads all ranked applicants with 31 patent records, followed by Tianjin Normal University at 21 and Sulzer Management AG at 16. The top of the ranking is a mix of industrial firms, engineering specialists, and universities, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the technology.
The top five filers account for 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, a relatively low concentration for a mature field. No single applicant commands a commanding share, and the gap between the leader and the second-ranked applicant — ten patent records — is moderate rather than decisive.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desalitech Ltd. | 31 | |
| 2 | Tianjin Normal University | 21 | |
| 3 | Sulzer Management AG | 16 | |
| 4 | Sulzer Chemtech AG | 13 | |
| 5 | Purdue Research Foundation | 12 | |
| 6 | IDE Technologies Ltd | 11 | |
| 7 | OceanWell Co. | 11 | |
| 8 | Hangzhou Water Treatment Technology Development Center | 10 | |
| 9 | Nagare Membranes LLC | 10 | |
| 10 | Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research | 9 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Changzhou University | 9 | |
| 12 | NanoAsis Technologies Inc. | 8 | |
| 13 | BAOSHAN IRON & STEEL CO LTD | 7 | |
| 14 | University of Florida Research Foundation Inc. | 7 | |
| 15 | Tritech Water Technologies Pte. Ltd. | 7 | |
| 16 | TIANJIN SEA WATER DESALINATION & COMPLEX UTILIZATI… | 7 | |
| 17 | Krosys | 6 | |
| 18 | Honeywell International Inc. | 6 | |
| 19 | Tianjin Ronglu Zhongle Technology Co., Ltd. | 6 | |
| 20 | Garfield International Investments Ltd. | 6 |
Desalitech’s lead suggests a focused systems-level strategy around RO process optimization. The presence of Tianjin Normal University and Purdue Research Foundation in the upper tier signals that academic R&D continues to generate patentable advances in membrane materials and separation chemistry, keeping the field open to new entrants with strong research capabilities.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and will rise as applications are published; current figures for 2024–2026 should be treated as provisional minimums. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Peak activity in 2017, dominant water-treatment core, with energy and polymer branches emerging
The annual filing trend reveals a field that peaked in 2017 and has since fluctuated at lower volumes, while the technology composition shows a clear core in water treatment and separation chemistry, with a long tail of adjacent branches covering energy recovery, pump engineering, and advanced materials.
Annual filing trend
Annual filing volume reached its highest recorded level in 2017 at 50 patent records, then declined and has oscillated in the 19–45 range through 2024. The 2025 and 2026 figures are materially incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a further decline. The multi-year window reflects a field that has stabilized rather than collapsed.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and B01D (separation processes including filtration) together account for the large majority of classified records, confirming that core membrane and process chemistry remains the dominant research axis. A secondary cluster spans pump engineering (F04F, F04B), hydraulic machines (F03B), wind motors (F03D), and condensation polymers (C08G), each representing a smaller but distinct sub-field linking RO desalination to energy recovery and advanced membrane fabrication.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
UMKEHROSMOSE-ENTSALZUNGSANLAGE UND MODUL DAVON
The inventive reverse osmosis desalination plant comprises reverse osmosis desalination modules which are used together and each of which consists of the following three in-series jointed blocks: a diaphragm pump unit (14), a hydraulic interconnection unit (9) and a diaphragm element unit (3), wherein the hydraulic interconnection unit (9) is provided with… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wave energy conversion device for desalination, ETC | 128 |
| 2 | Reverse osmosis desalination apparatus and method | 120 |
| 3 | Wave energy conversion device for desalination, ETC | 116 |
| 4 | Wave-powered desalination of seawater | 101 |
| 5 | Method of and apparatus for producing power and de… | 87 |
| 6 | Permeation separation element | 76 |
| 7 | Recovery of oil | 68 |
| 8 | A pressure exchanger | 64 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a mature lifecycle, fragmented ownership, active academic participation, and. China-led jurisdictional weight shapes where incremental and disruptive R&D efforts are most likely to gain traction.
Field has plateaued near its 2017 peak
The lifecycle assessment places reverse osmosis desalination membrane filtration at the Maturity stage, with annual filings having plateaued near their 2017 peak. On a multi-year basis the corpus remains substantial, but the era of rapid volume growth has passed. R&D investments that target incremental system efficiency or novel membrane chemistries are more likely to find defensible white space than broad platform claims, which face crowded prior art.
Mature fieldLow concentration leaves room for new entrants
With the top five filers holding 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total and the leader at 31 patent records, no applicant has established a portfolio large enough to exert strong exclusionary pressure across the whole field. This distribution favors focused new entrants who can build tight, defensible clusters in under-served branches rather than competing head-on with established players across the full technology spectrum.
FragmentedCo-filing is narrow and concentrated within corporate families
The most active co-filing pairs identified are Sulzer Chemtech AG with Sulzer Management AG (4 joint records), Changzhou University with Jiangsu Tohope Pharma (3 records), and IDE Technologies Ltd with IDE Water Technologies Ltd (2 records). These pairings reflect intra-corporate coordination and one university–industry link rather than broad ecosystem collaboration. Open cross-sector partnerships remain sparse, suggesting that collaborative licensing or joint development agreements could be a differentiated strategy for new entrants.
Limited co-filingChina dominates filing volume; US and PCT routes secondary
China is the leading jurisdiction by a substantial margin, followed by the United States and WIPO PCT filings. Europe via the EPO, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan each represent meaningful secondary markets. The Gulf region (Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia) and India also appear, consistent with the commercial importance of desalination in water-stressed regions. Organizations without a Chinese filing strategy face meaningful coverage gaps given the jurisdictional concentration.
China-ledGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Sulzer Chemtech AG | Sulzer Management AG | 4 |
| Changzhou University | Jiangsu Tohope Pharma Co., Ltd. | 3 |
| IDE Technologies Ltd | IDE Water Technologies Ltd | 2 |
| Natural Ocean Well Co. | OceanWell Co. | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Desalitech leads on systems-level RO optimization; Tianjin Normal University drives membrane materials research
The top two ranked applicants approach the field from distinct angles — one from integrated system design and the other from fundamental membrane science — illustrating the dual pathways through which leadership is established in a mature, cross-disciplinary field.
Desalitech
Desalitech holds the top position with 31 patent records. Their technology emphasis spans water and wastewater treatment (C02F) and separation processes (B01D), consistent with a focus on RO system architecture, closed-circuit desalination processes, and energy recovery. No momentum data is available for Desalitech in the recent-vs-prior window, indicating a more established rather than accelerating filing posture.
families: 31Tianjin Normal University
Tianjin Normal University ranks second with 21 patent records and shows a technology emphasis anchored in membrane material sub-classes within B01D (separation processes, including membrane polymer types B01D 71) and electrochemical classes (H01M), alongside core water treatment filings. This academic profile suggests innovation in novel membrane compositions and potentially membrane-integrated energy conversion, positioning the institution as a source of upstream technology that industrial partners could license or acquire.
families: 21| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Changzhou University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Natural Ocean Well Co. | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Purdue Research Foundation | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches in pump engineering, polymer chemistry, and hydraulic energy recovery
Five IPC branches adjacent to the dominant C02F and B01D core each account for roughly 1–2% of classified records, suggesting areas where patent density is relatively low compared to their technical relevance to RO desalination systems.
F04B / F04F · Positive-displacement and other pump technologies
F04B (positive-displacement pumps) and F04F (pumping by other means) together account for 56 patent records in this corpus, each at approximately 2% of classified records. High-pressure pumps are a critical and energy-intensive component of every RO system, yet patent density here is low relative to the membrane and process-chemistry core. Applicants with expertise in pump efficiency, pressure regulation, or novel actuation mechanisms could find defensible filing territory, particularly where pump design intersects with energy recovery in low-energy RO configurations.
Search this in Eureka →C08G · Condensation polymers for advanced membrane fabrication
C08G (condensation polymers) appears 22 times in this corpus — a share of roughly 2% — despite polyamide and related condensation polymer chemistries being central to thin-film composite RO membrane manufacture. The relative sparsity suggests that the membrane polymer synthesis space, particularly around new monomer combinations, crosslinking strategies, or anti-fouling surface functionalization, may offer available filing positions. Academic institutions already active in B01D membrane sub-classes would be natural candidates to extend into C08G if they are developing novel polymer backbones.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route across membrane, process, and energy sub-classes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | C02F 1 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01D 61 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) | C02F 103 · Water & wastewater treatment | C02F 9 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01D 65 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sulzer Chemtech AG | Strong · 24 | Moderate · 12 | Moderate · 10 | Absent | Absent |
| Natural Ocean Well Co. | Strong · 13 | Strong · 13 | Strong · 9 | Absent | Strong · 11 |
| IDE Technologies Ltd | Strong · 14 | Strong · 14 | Strong · 11 | Absent | Absent |
| Seawater Desalination Technology Co., Ltd. | Strong · 14 | Moderate · 7 | Moderate · 7 | Absent | Absent |
| Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research | Strong · 8 | Strong · 8 | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| Purdue Research Foundation | Strong · 12 | Strong · 7 | Moderate · 5 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus in scope contains 275 patent families. This total reflects globally filed inventions across the topic as retrieved and deduplicated at the family level.
Desalitech leads the ranked applicant pool with 31 patent records, ahead of Tianjin Normal University at 21 and Sulzer Management AG at 16.
The top five filers account for 22% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a fragmented field. No single applicant holds a portfolio large enough to exert broad exclusionary pressure across the technology.
China is the leading jurisdiction, followed by the United States and WIPO PCT. Europe via the EPO, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan are significant secondary markets. Water-stressed regions including Israel, the UAE, India, and Saudi Arabia also appear in the jurisdiction list.
The field is assessed as Mature, with annual filings having plateaued near their 2017 peak. The most recent filing years (2025–2026) show low counts that are expected to rise as pending applications are published, so they should not be interpreted as a further structural decline.
The most-cited works include patents titled ‘Wave energy conversion device for desalination’ (cited 128 and 116 times respectively), ‘Reverse osmosis desalination apparatus and method’ (120 citations), ‘Wave-powered desalination of seawater’ (101 citations), and ‘Method of and apparatus for producing power and desalination’ (87 citations), reflecting strong citation weight on energy-integrated desalination system architectures.
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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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