RO Membrane Recycling and Reuse Patent Snapshot 2026
The RO membrane recycling and reuse patent space is very early-stage, with only 5 patent families in scope and no single dominant player commanding a decisive lead. Filing activity is highly fragmented across a mix of individual inventors, industrial firms, and academic-industry consortia, with the most notable recent signal being a coordinated multi-party collaboration cluster entering the field.
A nascent, fragmented field with no clear incumbent leader
The RO membrane recycling and reuse evidence snapshot comprises just 5 patent families in scope, distributed across a broad set of applicants. AL SAMADI RIAD A leads the ranking with 2 patent records, tied with Kookmin University Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation, R E D Inc, Toray Industries, and Korea Testing Laboratory — none of whom has established a commanding position.
The top five filers account for 59% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating moderate concentration at the top tier but with very shallow absolute volume. No applicant has built a portfolio large enough to create a meaningful deterrent to entry.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AL SAMADI RIAD A | 2 | |
| 2 | Kookmin University Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation | 2 | |
| 3 | R E D Inc | 2 | |
| 4 | Toray Industries Inc | 2 | |
| 5 | Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL) | 2 | |
| 6 | LEF Ingenieros SL | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Toray Engineering Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 8 | Hunan Ovay Technology Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 9 | AL SAMADI RIAD DR | 1 | |
| 10 | Jiangsu Bangtec Environmental Science & Technology Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 11 | Anhui Yaomei Precision Technology Co Ltd | 1 |
The leaders’ positions imply that this technology area remains genuinely open: even the most active filers hold only 2 patent records each, and new entrants can realistically establish a first-mover position with a focused filing program. The tie at the top also suggests that no single approach to membrane recycling has yet proven visible enough to attract consolidating investment.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings will be under-represented due to standard patent publication lag; the apparent sparse recent activity should not be read as a loss of momentum. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A field awakening after years of dormancy, anchored in filtration and water treatment
The filing trend and technology composition together reveal a space that was essentially inactive before 2022 and has only recently attracted coordinated attention, with B01D separation processes firmly at the core.
Annual filing trend
No filings were recorded from 2017 through 2021. A first signal appeared in 2022, followed by renewed activity in 2024 and 2025. Because patents typically publish 18–24 months after filing, 2024 and 2025 counts should be treated as floor estimates — actual recent activity is likely higher than the chart currently shows.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B01D (Separation processes, including filtration) is the visible IPC branch with 11 patent records, followed by C02F (Water and wastewater treatment) with 6. Secondary branches — C13B, C13K, C22B, D06N, and H01M — each account for only 1–2 records, signalling that membrane recycling is being explored in niche industrial contexts beyond core water treatment but without concentrated effort in any of them yet.
↗ 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.
Reverse osmosis pressure water treatment system us…
The present invention relates to a reverse osmosis water treatment system comprising: a second- stage LSRRO (Low Salt Rejection RO membrane process) unit using a regenerated membrane as a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, said regenerated membrane being obtained by subjecting a damaged membrane or a membrane which has reached the end of its service life to a… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multi-use high water recovery process | 6 |
| 2 | Method for concentrating and recovering organic va… | 5 |
| 3 | 一种耐酸、碱水处理膜材料的制备工艺 | 1 |
| 4 | 一种电泳线电泳反渗透回收装置 | 1 |
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.
AL SAMADI RIAD A
AL SAMADI RIAD A holds the joint top position with 2 patent records, focused on B01D 61 separation processes and C02F 1 water and wastewater treatment — the two core branches of membrane recycling. Applicant momentum is not separately tracked in the evidence, but both records appear in the recent active window, consistent with a new entrant establishing an early individual-inventor position.
patent records: 2Toray Industries Inc
Toray Industries, the largest established membrane manufacturer in the ranking, holds 2 patent records spanning B01D 61, B01D 65 separation processes, and C13B 20 sugar production and refining — the only top-tier filer combining core membrane IP with a non-water process application. Toray Engineering Co Ltd adds 1 further record, extending the group’s combined presence. Their C13B emphasis flags a potential industrial reuse application that no other top filer has addressed.
patent records: 2Frequently asked questions
The landscape currently comprises 5 patent families in scope. This is a very small corpus, consistent with an embryonic technology area that has attracted structured filing attention only since 2022.
AL SAMADI RIAD A, Kookmin University Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation, R E D Inc, Toray Industries, and Korea Testing Laboratory each hold 2 patent records — the joint highest in the ranking. No single applicant has yet established a visible position.
China leads with 3 patent records, followed by the United States and WIPO (PCT) with 2 each. Australia, Canada, Spain, and Japan each hold 1 record, indicating early but geographically distributed filing activity.
B01D (Separation processes, including filtration) is the visible branch with 11 patent records. C02F (Water and wastewater treatment) is the next largest with 6 records. All other IPC branches each account for only 1–2 records.
Yes — the most distinctive collaboration signal is a tightly linked five-party consortium comprising LEF Ingenieros SL, the Eurocatef Foundation, Kookmin University Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation, R E D Inc, and Korea Testing Laboratory, each sharing 2 co-filed records in every bilateral pairing. This is the visible collaborative structure in the field.
C22B (Metal extraction and refining) and H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells) each appear in only 1 patent record in the corpus, and D06N (Coated and impregnated fabrics), C13B, and C13K each appear in 1–2 records. These branches represent observed sparsity adjacent to the core; whether they constitute genuine opportunity depends on technical feasibility and commercial context that the patent data alone cannot confirm.
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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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