RO Fouling & Membrane Condition Monitoring Patent Snapshot
The RO fouling and membrane condition monitoring space is a small, moderately concentrated field with Fluence Water Israel Ltd holding the largest position, and the United States as the dominant filing jurisdiction. The field reached a multi-year growth of 25% but annual volume has eased from its 2017 peak, signalling a maturing competitive environment where targeted differentiation still offers entry paths.
Fluence Water Israel leads a concentrated field with a small but active applicant pool
Fluence Water Israel Ltd ranks first with 13 patent records, ahead of ABB (Schweiz) AG at 10 and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology at 8. The top five filers account for 67% of the combined total among the ranked applicants visible in this query, indicating a tight oligopoly at the head of the ranking.
The tier gap between the top three and the remainder is pronounced: Surplus Management Inc at 7 patent records is the only other applicant approaching double figures, while all remaining ranked entities hold three or fewer records each. This concentration suggests that the core filing positions are well-defended by a small cluster of industrial and academic players.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fluence Water Israel Ltd | 13 | |
| 2 | ABB (Schweiz) AG | 10 | |
| 3 | KING ABDULLAH UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 8 | |
| 4 | Surplus Management Inc | 7 | |
| 5 | Vetco Gray Scandinavia | 3 | |
| 6 | TOYOTA MOTOR ENG & MFG NORTH AMERICA INC | 2 | |
| 7 | Althion Tech Innovations Pte Ltd | 2 | |
| 8 | ABB Research Ltd | 2 | |
| 9 | James Patrick Ordo | 2 | |
| 10 | RES & BUSINESS FOUND SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIV | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering | 1 | |
| 12 | Flowserve Pte Ltd | 1 | |
| 13 | Anurag Engineering College | 1 | |
| 14 | ST PETERS INST OF HIGHER EDUCATION & RES | 1 | |
| 15 | MEENAKSHI ACADEMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION & RES | 1 | |
| 16 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering Ltd | 1 | |
| 17 | US Bank National Association | 1 | |
| 18 | IBM Corporation | 1 | |
| 19 | Brainware University Kolkata | 1 | |
| 20 | John Joseph Barelli | 1 |
The leaders’ positions imply that Fluence Water Israel and ABB have established relatively broad coverage across separation processes and water treatment sub-classes, making adjacent or niche sub-classes the more realistic entry points for new applicants.
Note that the most recent 18–24 months of data are typically under-counted due to patent publication lag, so filings from 2024–2026 should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2017; separation and water-treatment classes dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend and the IPC class breakdown together reveal both the temporal pace and the technical scope of this field. Reading them in combination helps identify where the frontier of activity lies and which sub-classes remain comparatively sparse.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked at 13 records in 2017, then fell sharply before a secondary surge to 9 records in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 tallies are provisional and will grow as publications clear the standard 18-month lag; they should not be read as indicative of a new decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B01D (separation processes, including filtration) and C02F (water and wastewater treatment) together account for the large majority of IPC coverage, reflecting the core engineering focus of the field. G01N (material analysis and testing) appears as the third branch with 9 records, suggesting that in-situ sensing and analytical characterisation of membrane condition is an active but secondary thread. All other branches each carry fewer than 4 records, confirming their status as adjacent rather than central.
↗ 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.
Method and system for reverse osmosis predictive m…
The present invention can include a reverse osmosis unit, a control system, a display, and/or a memory. The reverse osmosis unit can include a filtration unit, a liquid utilization system, and/or an instrumentation system. The filtration unit includes a plurality of filter banks which each have a plurality of filter unit. The filtration unit receives a feed… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method and system for reverse osmosis predictive m… | 34 |
| 2 | In-line quantification and characterization of mem… | 15 |
| 3 | Method and system for reverse osmosis predictive m… | 15 |
| 4 | Containerized desalination system | 13 |
| 5 | Containerized desalination system | 12 |
| 6 | Seawater injection control methods and systems | 10 |
| 7 | Method and system for optimizing membrane cleaning… | 8 |
| 8 | A method and system for optimizing membrane cleani… | 8 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Fluence Water Israel Ltd
Fluence Water Israel Ltd holds 13 patent records — the largest single-applicant position in the corpus. Its focus is concentrated in B01D 65 (membrane maintenance and fouling control) and C02F 1 and C02F 103 (water treatment processes), reflecting a system-level approach to desalination and RO plant management. No momentum data is available for recent filing changes, but the depth of its core sub-class coverage positions it as the reference portfolio for any freedom-to-operate assessment.
13 patent recordsSurplus Management Inc
Surplus Management Inc holds 7 patent records and is the only applicant flagged as a new entrant in the momentum data, with 5 recent records signalling a rapid build-up from a near-zero prior base. Its filing emphasis centres on B01D 65, with limited coverage of B01D 61 and C02F 1. This concentrated, late-stage entry pattern is consistent with a targeted product or service strategy rather than broad platform coverage, and warrants close monitoring given the pace of its recent activity.
7 patent recordsFrequently asked questions
The corpus covers 36 patent families in scope for RO fouling and membrane condition monitoring, providing a focused but complete view of the dedicated patent activity in this field.
Fluence Water Israel Ltd leads with 13 patent records, ahead of ABB (Schweiz) AG at 10 and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology at 8. Together these three applicants account for a substantial portion of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total.
The United States is the lead office with 20 patent records. Europe (EPO) and India each carry 8 records, followed by WIPO (PCT) at 6 and Australia and Israel at 4 each. China holds only 2 records, indicating limited protection in that market to date.
The field is classified as Maturity: annual filings have plateaued near their peak and have eased from the 2017 high of 13 records. The multi-year window still shows 25% recent growth, but the pace of new filing is not accelerating.
B01D (separation processes, including filtration) and C02F (water and wastewater treatment) are the two visible classes, reflecting the core engineering focus. G01N (material analysis and testing) is the third branch with 9 records, capturing analytical and sensing approaches to membrane condition assessment.
G01N (in-situ sensing and analytical characterisation) and B08B (cleaning methods and apparatus) are the two sparsest adjacent branches with plausible technical value. G01N is under-filed relative to the sensing work being done, and B08B — covering automated cleaning linked to monitoring outputs — is nearly absent with only 2 records, representing the most open interface between condition monitoring and operational response.
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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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