Silicone Elastomer Coating Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
- Filings have declined since 2018. The peak year was 2018 at 682 records; by the 2022 midpoint filings had fallen to 388, and the trend has not recovered.
- No single assignee is pulling away. Recent-year momentum across the most active filers is flat or negative — several show 0 filings in the latest year and year-on-year drops of 75-100%.
- Coatings and adhesives dominate the IPC mix. C09D coatings (4,656 records) and C09J adhesives (3,261) outweigh medical-device classes, showing this is primarily an industrial coatings field that also touches wound care and implants.
Filing growth compares 2021 (505 records) with 2024 (279) — 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 22,351 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the silicone elastomer coating and film patent record shows
Silicone elastomer coating and film patents cover the formulation and application methods used to put a polysiloxane-based layer onto a substrate — release coatings, conformal films, and adhesion-promoted silicone-over-silicone systems. The dataset spans 22,351 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawing on filings made across coatings (C09D), adhesives (C09J), polymer compositions (C08L) and layered laminates (B32B), with a meaningful secondary cluster in medical devices (A61K, A61F). That medical overlap is not incidental: several of the most-cited records in this corpus are wound dressings, catheters and electrosurgical electrodes built on silicone or silicone-coated substrates, which tells a filer that citation weight here often traces back to device claims rather than pure coating chemistry.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 and has trended down since, with the most recent full year sitting well below the midpoint. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one or two years in any chart understate true filing activity — but the multi-year decline visible from 2018 through 2022 is a real signal, not an artefact of the lag.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 22,351-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A field past its filing peak
Filings rose to a peak of 682 in 2018, fell to 388 by the 2022 midpoint, and continued down to single digits by 2026 (partial year). Read this as a maturing, densely-claimed field rather than a growing one — new entrants are filing into occupied claim space, not a green field.
Coatings and adhesives lead; medical devices are a real secondary cluster
C09D (coatings, paints & inks) and C08L (polymer compositions) lead the IPC breakdown, with C09J (adhesives) and B32B (layered products) close behind. A61K and A61F together account for over 3,700 records, confirming that silicone coating and film technology is heavily reused in medical and wound-care applications alongside industrial release coatings.
Shares are the percentage of the 22,351 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Silicone Elastomer Coating and Film with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about silicone elastomer coating and film and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim in the space
Method for coating silicone rubber substrate (US10450483B2)
A method of coating a silicone rubber substrate: applying a coating composition of roughly 50-80 wt% water-based silicone elastomer, 0.5-4.0 wt% silane adhesion promoter, 0.02-0.5 wt% silicone surfactant and 10-50 wt% water, then applying an acrylic material over the coated substrate.Filed by Amrize Technology Switzerland LLC, published 2019-10-22.
View full patent record| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US3598123A | Bandage for administering drugs | 4,635 |
| 2 | US5332402A | Percutaneously-inserted cardiac valve | 2,259 |
| 3 | US5702387A | Coated electrosurgical electrode | 1,740 |
| 4 | US5167613A | Composite vented wound dressing | 1,392 |
| 5 | US4863449A | Adhesive-lined elastic condom cathether | 1,306 |
| 6 | US20070235331A1 | Analyte sensors having a signal-to-noise ratio substantially unaffected by non-constant noise | 1,208 |
| 7 | US3598122A | Bandage for administering drugs | 1,101 |
| 8 | US5997501A | Intradermal drug delivery device | 1,088 |
| 9 | US5435816A | Method of making an abrasive article | 1,042 |
| 10 | US5645559A | Multiple layer stent | 1,041 |
High citation counts here concentrate in older medical-device records (bandages, cardiac valves, wound dressings) rather than recent coating-chemistry filings — a reminder that citation counts favour age, not current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three signals stand out once the raw counts are put in context: where the claim density sits, how citation weight is distributed, and how filing offices compare.
Coating-chemistry claims are the most crowded
C09D alone accounts for more records than any other subclass, with C08L polymer compositions close behind. A new formulation claim in this space is filing into the densest part of the corpus, not open territory.
Influence is concentrated in older medical-device filings
The most-cited record in the corpus is a 1970s-era bandage patent, followed by cardiac-valve and electrosurgical-electrode filings. That skew means citation rank is a poor proxy for which recent coating chemistry actually matters commercially.
The US and EPO carry the bulk of filing activity
United States filings roughly match the combined total of Australia and Canada, and Europe (EPO) filings exceed the WIPO/PCT count, suggesting most applicants pursue direct national or regional protection rather than routing broadly through PCT.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to silicone elastomer coating and film, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how fast are they slowing down
Momentum data across the most active assignees points the same direction: filing activity that was once concentrated among a handful of large materials and coatings companies has cooled sharply in the most recent year.
Several top filers dropped to zero in the latest year
Dow Silicones, Avery Dennison and Shin-Etsu Chemical each show 0 filings in the latest year with year-on-year declines of -100%, consistent with the broader post-2018 slowdown across the dataset.
Even the most active filer is pulling back
3M Innovative Properties Company recorded 1 filing in the latest year, down 75% year on year — still active, but at a fraction of earlier volume.
Filing pairs cluster inside single corporate families
The strongest co-assignee pair links two Dow entities across 50 shared families; the next-strongest pairs link Avery Dennison to a European coatings partner and to Procter & Gamble, suggesting most co-filing is intra-group rather than cross-industry joint development.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 3M Innovative Properties Company (US) | 1 | -75% |
| Dow Silicones Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| 3M Company | 0 | — |
| General Electric Company | 0 | — |
| Avery Dennison Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| The Procter & Gamble Company | 0 | — |
| Xerox Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature, densely-claimed core with a few specific gaps still open. The next steps depend on whether the goal is defensive clearance or new filing.
Map your formulation against the C09D/C08L core
Run a claim-by-claim comparison against the coating-chemistry and polymer-composition subclasses before filing a new silicone coating formulation — this is where claim density is highest.
Explore the coating chemistry cluster in EurekaTrack the momentum shift among top filers
Several previously active assignees have dropped to zero filings in the latest year. Confirm whether that reflects a genuine pullback or a publication-lag artefact before reading too much into it.
Monitor assignee momentum in EurekaCheck adhesion-promoter and release-coating white space
Silane tie-layer and water-based release coating sub-areas show lower filing density than the core — worth a freedom-to-operate check before committing R&D there.
Run a white space search in EurekaFrequently asked questions
No. Filings peaked in 2018 at 682 records and declined to 388 by the 2022 midpoint, continuing to fall through the most recent years in the dataset. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very latest year is understated in any chart, but the multi-year decline from 2018 to 2022 is a genuine trend rather than a lag artefact. A filer entering this space today is entering a maturing field, not a growing one.
The most active filers in this dataset include 3M Innovative Properties, Dow Silicones, Avery Dennison and Shin-Etsu Chemical, among others. Recent-year momentum data shows these same companies have slowed sharply, with several recording zero filings in the latest year and year-on-year declines of 75-100%. That combination — historical volume plus recent pullback — suggests the core claim space is already well staked out by a small group of large materials companies.
The search combines both because they overlap heavily in practice: a silicone elastomer substrate is frequently the thing being coated, and a silicone coating is frequently applied over another silicone layer for adhesion or surface-property reasons. The IPC breakdown reflects this — C09D (coatings) and C08L (polymer compositions) both carry thousands of records, and B32B (layered products) captures the laminate structures that result. Treating them as one search avoids missing filings that describe the same technical approach from either the substrate or the coating side.
Silicone elastomer coatings are widely used in wound dressings, catheters and implantable devices, so A61K and A61F medical-device subclasses appear as a genuine secondary cluster rather than noise — together they account for over 3,700 records in this dataset. The most-cited records in the whole corpus are medical devices, including a bandage patent and a cardiac-valve patent, which is why citation rankings here skew toward medical applications even though coating chemistry is the larger subclass by volume.
The core coating-chemistry and polymer-composition claims (C09D, C08L) are the most heavily filed, so new entrants should look at adjacent, less-claimed areas such as silane adhesion-promoter tie layers, water-based release coating systems, and conformal silicone-over-silicone films. These sub-areas show up in representative filings like US10450483B2 but have not attracted the same filing density as the broader coating-chemistry claims. A freedom-to-operate search focused specifically on these narrower branches is more likely to surface real gaps than a search across the whole field.
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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.
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.