RO Membrane Integrity Testing Patent Snapshot 2026
The RO membrane integrity testing space is highly concentrated, with NanoH2O Inc. holding a commanding lead among the top filers and the top five applicants accounting for nearly half of the activity among the hundred largest filers. Annual filing volume has eased back from its 2019 peak, placing the field in a declining phase, though a handful of adjacent technology branches remain sparsely covered.
NanoH2O dominates a tightly held field
NanoH2O Inc. sits at the top of the applicant ranking with 28 patent records, more than double the next-ranked entity, LG NanoH2O Inc. at 10 patent records. The top five applicants together account for 48% of the combined total among the ranked applicants visible in this query, signalling a field with a clear incumbent hierarchy rather than fragmented competition.
A pronounced tier gap separates the top two applicants from the rest of the field. Below NanoH2O Inc. and LG NanoH2O Inc., several individual inventors and a single academic institution — National University of Singapore — cluster at 7 patent records each, after which counts fall sharply to single digits. This two-tier structure limits competitive pressure on the front-runners.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NanoH2O Inc. | 28 | |
| 2 | LG NanoH2O Inc. | 10 | |
| 3 | Burk Robert Leon | 7 | |
| 4 | National University of Singapore | 7 | |
| 5 | Kurth Christopher James | 7 | |
| 6 | Koehler Jeffrey Alan | 7 | |
| 7 | Holmberg Brett Anderson | 5 | |
| 8 | LG Chem, Ltd. | 3 | |
| 9 | TIANJIN SEA WATER DESALINATION & COMPLEX UTILIZATI… | 3 | |
| 10 | North Pacific Research | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | CNOOC TIANJIN CHEM RES & DESIGN INST | 2 | |
| 12 | FilmTec Water USA LLC | 2 | |
| 13 | Tianjin Haihua Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 14 | Kurita Water Industries Ltd. | 2 | |
| 15 | Anderson Holmberg Brett | 2 | |
| 16 | NanoH2O Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 17 | Comstock Daniel L. | 2 | |
| 18 | Shanxi Lvquan Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 19 | Jiangsu Longmem Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 20 | DDP Specialty Electronic Materials US LLC | 1 |
NanoH2O Inc.’s visible position, reinforced by its close collaborative ties with key named inventors, suggests that its IP estate reflects coordinated, team-based development rather than opportunistic filings. Entrants seeking to challenge this position will need to identify technical angles outside the core B01D separation-process cluster that NanoH2O has thoroughly occupied.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and likely under-represent actual activity; absolute counts for 2024–2025 should be interpreted cautiously. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Post-2019 easing and a filtration-dominated technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that peaked in 2019 and has since eased, while the IPC composition shows overwhelming concentration in separation-process classes with only thin representation in adjacent testing and coating branches.
Annual filing trend
Filings reached a high point in 2019 at 7 records, then declined irregularly, with partial recoveries in 2021 and 2024–2025. The 2024 and 2025 bars are affected by publication lag and are almost certainly under-counted; the apparent flatness of recent years should not be read as a definitive stall. The overall multi-year trend, however, confirms that the peak activity phase has passed.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B01D (separation processes, including filtration) is visible in the IPC distribution with 78 records, reflecting the membrane-fabrication and performance-testing core of the field. C02F (water and wastewater treatment) is a distant second at 21 records. G01N (material analysis and testing), the class most directly tied to integrity-testing methodology, accounts for only 5 records, pointing to a relative gap in dedicated analytical testing coverage.
↗ 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.
Thermally-intensified interfacial polymerization f…
This invention provides a device to enable thermally intensified interfacial polymerization for facile fabrication of ultra-selective reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for various water treatment scenarios including seawater desalination and water reuse. The device pre-heated the organic solvent and then performed interfacial polymerization between the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hybrid nanoparticle TFC membranes | 111 |
| 2 | Improved TFC membranes with hydrolized additives | 96 |
| 3 | Method of treating reverse osmosis membranes for b… | 42 |
| 4 | Method of treating reverse osmosis membranes for b… | 39 |
| 5 | 混杂的纳米粒子TFC膜 | 33 |
| 6 | Methods of enhancing water flux of a TFC membrane … | 13 |
| 7 | Improved hybrid TFC RO membranes with nitrogen add… | 11 |
| 8 | 混杂的纳米粒子TFC膜 | 11 |
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.
NanoH2O Inc.
NanoH2O Inc. holds 28 patent records, the highest count in the ranking, concentrated in B01D 61 (membrane separation processes), B01D 71 (membrane polymer materials), and B01D 69 (membrane structures). Its filings were built through a tight inventor team — Kurth, Koehler, Burk, and Zhou each co-filed 7 records with the company. Applicant momentum data are not available, so trajectory cannot be quantified from the current evidence.
patent records: 28LG NanoH2O Inc.
LG NanoH2O Inc. holds 10 patent records, focused on B01D 61, B01D 69, and B01D 67 (membrane modification processes), reflecting continuity with NanoH2O Inc.’s core technical programme following LG Chem’s acquisition. Its separate collaboration cluster with LG Chem (5 joint records) suggests integration into LG’s broader materials R&D infrastructure. Applicant momentum data are not available for this corpus.
patent records: 10Frequently asked questions
NanoH2O Inc. leads with 28 patent records, more than double the next-ranked applicant, LG NanoH2O Inc., which holds 10 patent records. The top five applicants together account for 48% of the combined total among the ranked applicants visible in this query.
The field peaked in 2019 and annual filing volume has eased since then. The lifecycle evidence characterises the current stage as decline. Note that the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag, so 2024–2025 counts are likely under-stated.
China leads with 24 patent records, followed by the United States at 15. Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT) are tied at 12 records each, indicating meaningful multi-jurisdictional protection strategies. Australia and Canada each show 6 records.
B01D (separation processes including filtration) is visible in with 78 records. C02F (water and wastewater treatment) is second at 21 records. G01N (material analysis and testing), the class most directly linked to integrity-testing methods, accounts for only 5 records.
The visible co-filing cluster centres on NanoH2O Inc. and its core inventor team: Zhou Meijuan, Kurth Christopher James, Koehler Jeffrey Alan, and Burk Robert Leon each co-filed 7 records with NanoH2O Inc. A secondary cluster links LG NanoH2O Co., Ltd. with LG Chem, Ltd. across 5 joint records. The National University of Singapore and BASF SE share one joint record.
G01N (material analysis and testing) carries only 5 records despite being directly relevant to integrity-testing diagnostics and sensing. B05D (coating processes) holds 4 records, suggesting limited coverage of membrane repair and surface-modification approaches. Both branches represent sparsely filed adjacent areas relative to the B01D core.
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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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