Supercritical CO2 Waterless Dyeing Patents: Top Filers & Trends 2026
- Concentrated at the top. Five assignees hold 57.1% of the 168 records in scope, and ten hold 77.4% — a long tail of single-digit and single-filing entrants fills the rest.
- Filing has cooled since 2022. Activity peaked at 18 records that year and has since declined, with the partial 2026 count reflecting publication lag rather than a stopped field.
- Claims cluster in two IPC subclasses. D06B (textile wet treatment) and D06P (dyeing & printing) each cover roughly half or more of all records, leaving adjacent classes comparatively open.
What the supercritical CO2 dyeing patent record shows
Supercritical CO2 waterless dyeing replaces the water bath in conventional textile dyeing with pressurised carbon dioxide that carries dye into fibre without a liquid effluent stream. The patent record in scope runs from 2015 to a 2026-07-31 data cut-off and covers 168 published records tied to this specific search — dyeing autoclave design, dye solubility behaviour under pressure, cycle and recycling mechanics, and applicability beyond polyester substrates. It is a narrow, mechanically-specific corner of textile wet treatment, not the whole of sustainable dyeing.
Filing is heavily weighted toward Chinese applicants and Chinese receiving offices, with a smaller but real presence in the United States, WIPO/PCT, Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The composition of claims sits mostly in equipment and process classes rather than in dye chemistry itself, which shapes where a new entrant is likely to find open claim space versus dense prior art.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 168-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings rose from 8 in 2017 to a peak of 18 in 2022, then declined toward a partial count of 1 in 2026. Because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years understate real activity rather than confirming a stopped field.
IPC subclass composition
D06B (textile wet treatment) covers 64.3% of the 168 records and D06P (dyeing & printing textiles) covers 50.0%, confirming that most patent activity centres on the dyeing apparatus and process rather than on dye chemistry. Smaller shares in C09B, D06M, C08J, D06F, A44B and C07C mark adjacent branches — dye formulation, finishing, polymer solution behaviour and fastener applications — where claim density is much lower. Records can carry more than one class, so these shares sum to well over 100% of the record total.
Shares are the percentage of the 168 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Supercritical CO2 Waterless Dyeing with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about supercritical co2 waterless dyeing and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
US20200378046A1 — Waterless dyeing device and method for bobbin yarn, and product
A waterless dyeing device for cone yarn, with a dye autoclave, dyeing autoclave and recycle autoclave connected in a dyeing circulation system. The dyeing autoclave has a cone yarn inlet with a sealing cap and a perforated centre shaft acting as a fluid discharge outlet, arranged to circulate supercritical CO2 and dye through the wound yarn package.Filed by Qingdao Jifa Group; published 2020-12-03.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN1807742A | 超临界二氧化碳染色装置中的染色釜 | 43 |
| 2 | CN101812809A | 散纤维超临界二氧化碳染色方法 | 34 |
| 3 | CN103225218A | 一种纤维素纤维的液氨染色方法 | 33 |
| 4 | CN1944762A | 一种超临界二氧化碳染色装置中的染色釜 | 33 |
| 5 | CN1958941A | 一种流体无水染色技术 | 33 |
| 6 | US4055971A | Closed cycle apparatus for the rapid, continuous and waterless dyeing of textile and plastic materials | 33 |
| 7 | CN1831235A | 一种苎麻纤维超临界二氧化碳染色新工艺 | 26 |
| 8 | CN103422288A | 一种超临界CO2染色的色样打板机和染料称量系统 | 20 |
| 9 | CN103074781A | 以特种甲基硅氧烷为介质的分散染料染色方法 | 17 |
| 10 | US20140305170A1 | Supercritical fluid spectometer apparatus | 16 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to be cited within this corpus; treat them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three findings that shape where a new filing is likely to clear and where it will collide with existing claims.
Filing sits with a small group, not a fragmented field
The top 5 assignees combined account for 57.1% of all 168 records in scope, and the top 10 account for 77.4%. That leaves a long tail of entities with one or two filings each — useful context for freedom-to-operate work, since most prior art to clear will trace back to a handful of applicants.
The filing curve has already turned down
Volume rose from 8 records in 2017 to a peak of 18 in 2022 and has since declined toward 1 in the partial 2026 count. Several of the most active historical filers show 0 filings in the latest year, consistent with a technology that consolidated its core claims earlier in the window rather than one still expanding.
Claims cluster in apparatus and process, not chemistry
D06B and D06P together dominate the record set, while dye chemistry (C09B, 10.7%) and polymer processing (C08J, 6.0%) carry far fewer records. A new entrant working on dye formulation for supercritical CO2 rather than autoclave design is filing into comparatively lighter prior art.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to supercritical co2 waterless dyeing, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the joint activity sits
The leading assignee outpaces the rest of the ranked field, and a small cluster of Chinese research institutes and enterprises files jointly and repeatedly.
One applicant well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 28 records against a fifth-place figure of 10 and a tenth-place figure of 5 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a field with one dominant filer rather than several evenly matched competitors.
Research institute and university filing in tandem
The strongest co-assignee pair shares 26 records, with two further pairings each sharing 13. These recurring pairings point to a small number of standing research collaborations rather than one-off joint filings.
Historical leaders have gone quiet
Several of the most active historical assignees, including the top-ranked filer, recorded 0 filings in the latest year with year-over-year declines of -100% where prior-year activity existed. That is consistent with the broader downturn since the 2022 peak rather than a single company's retreat.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Soochow University | 0 | -100% |
| Qingdao Jifa Group Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Nantong Textile & Silk Industrial Technology Research Institute | 0 | — |
| Siyang Zhonglian Textile Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Dalian Polytechnic University | 0 | -100% |
| MARTIN PROCESSING INC | 0 | — |
| University of Fukui | 0 | — |
| Kuraray Fastening Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, R&D targeting, or monitoring competitor activity.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on autoclave design
With D06B and D06P covering the majority of records, any new dyeing vessel or circulation system design should be checked against the concentrated top-5 assignee portfolio before filing.
Explore in EurekaScout the under-claimed chemistry branches
Dye solubility and recycling claims sit in smaller IPC shares (C09B, C08J) than apparatus claims, suggesting room for formulation-focused filings distinct from the crowded vessel-design space.
Explore in EurekaTrack whether filing has genuinely stopped or is lagging
The drop to 1 record in 2026 partly reflects publication lag; monitoring filings from the historically dominant assignees over the next 18 months will clarify whether the downturn is real.
Explore in EurekaCommon questions about supercritical CO2 dyeing patents
This dataset identifies 168 published records matching supercritical CO2 and waterless dyeing search terms between 2015 and a 2026-07-31 cut-off. The count is scoped to a specific search string covering dye solubility, pressure vessel design, cycle behaviour and related terms, so it is not a count of every textile dyeing patent — it is the subset directly relevant to this waterless, CO2-based process. Family-level counting is used where possible to avoid inflating the total with continuations filed in multiple jurisdictions for the same invention.
Filing is concentrated: the top 5 assignees combined hold 57.1% of the 168 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 77.4%. The single leading assignee holds 28 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 10 and the tenth-ranked filer at 5. Most of the filing activity traces to Chinese universities, research institutes and textile enterprises, with receiving offices weighted heavily toward China alongside smaller volumes in the US, WIPO, Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
No — filings peaked at 18 records in 2022 and have declined since, with several of the historically most active assignees recording zero filings in the most recent year. That said, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the low count for the most recent year understates real activity rather than proving the field has stopped. A clearer read on current momentum will only be available once another 12 to 18 months of publications land.
D06B (textile wet treatment) and D06P (dyeing and printing textiles) dominate, covering 64.3% and 50.0% of the 168 records respectively, which shows most patent activity is on dyeing apparatus and process rather than dye chemistry. Smaller shares appear in C09B (dyes and pigments), D06M (textile chemical treatment), C08J (polymer processing) and D06F (laundering and drying), each in the single-digit to low-teens percentage range. Those smaller-share classes, along with fastener applications under A44B, represent comparatively lighter claim density for anyone filing new dye formulation or finishing-process inventions.
Applicability beyond polyester is one of the specific claim elements this dataset was searched for, since polyester's affinity for disperse dyes under supercritical CO2 conditions is well established but other fibres are harder to dye without water. The technology composition shows most claims still sit in apparatus and process classes rather than in substrate-specific chemistry, which suggests non-polyester adaptation remains a comparatively under-claimed area rather than a solved one. Any filing targeting cellulosic or protein fibres should be checked carefully against the existing apparatus patents even where the dye chemistry itself is novel.
US20200378046A1, filed by Qingdao Jifa Group and published 2020-12-03, claims a waterless dyeing device for cone (bobbin) yarn built around a dye autoclave, dyeing autoclave and recycle autoclave connected in a circulation system, with a specific cone yarn inlet, sealing cap and perforated centre-shaft outlet design. It is a package-dyeing apparatus claim, not a chemistry or bulk-fibre claim, so it primarily constrains equipment design for yarn-package dyeing rather than loose-fibre or fabric dyeing formats. Anyone designing a bobbin-yarn autoclave system should review its specific mechanical elements — the sealing cap and perforated centre shaft — closely before finalising a competing design.
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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.