Tangential Flow Filtration Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 67.9% of all 196 records sit with just five assignees — filing here is heavily concentrated at the top, not spread across a broad field.
- Filings grew tenfold from 2021 to 2024 (the last complete filing year), the sharpest acceleration in this dataset's history.
- C02F and B04B subclasses cover under 10% of records each, pointing to water-treatment and centrifuge-adjacent fouling-control claims that remain lightly filed.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (11) — 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 196 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Fouling control in tangential flow filtration (TFF) sits at the intersection of membrane engineering and bioprocessing: claims cover flux decline management, pore blocking mitigation, backflush cycling and surface adsorption resistance across cassette, cartridge and system-level designs. The search underlying this page combines TFF- and crossflow-specific terminology with fouling-mechanism language, filtered to separation-process, membrane and cell-culture IPC classes.
The scope spans filings from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, drawing on 196 published records and their assignee, citation and classification metadata.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 196-record set: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings rose from 9 in 2017 to a peak of 17 in 2023, with 2021-to-2024 growth of +1000% (1 filing to 11). 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the apparent tail-off should not be read as a slowdown.
IPC subclass composition
B01D (separation processes) covers 93.4% of the 196 records, as expected given the search scope, while C07K (peptides and proteins) at 36.7% and A61K (medicinal preparations) at 17.9% show how much of this filtration work is tied to biologics purification rather than general industrial filtration. Water treatment (C02F, 9.2%) and centrifuges (B04B, 5.6%) are present but thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 196 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Tangential Flow Filtration Fouling Control with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about tangential flow filtration fouling control and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
AU2019390413B2 — Single use aseptic tangential flow filtration systems and methods
Cassettes for tangential flow filtration (TFF) are disclosed which reduce assembly and disassembly required for aseptic filtration. Packaging systems and methods for the TFF cassettes are also disclosed.Filed by Repligen Corporation; published 2022-09-15. Chosen as representative because it targets single-use cassette design, one of the more actively filed sub-areas in this set.
View full record| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO1989000846A1 | Method for size separation of particles | 71 |
| 2 | US20160046503A1 | Intelligent fluid filtration management system | 69 |
| 3 | US20100059433A1 | Polymer deposition and modification of membranes for fouling resistance | 67 |
| 4 | US20130012689A1 | Depth Filters For Disposable Biotechnological Processes | 38 |
| 5 | US8017050B2 | Water purification membranes with improved fouling resistance | 32 |
| 6 | US4604174A | High flow electrofiltration | 32 |
| 7 | WO2009035700A2 | Filtration with internal fouling control | 31 |
| 8 | US5527466A | Cross-flow filtration apparatus and method | 31 |
| 9 | EP1609522A2 | Multilayer ultrafiltration composite membranes and methods of making | 25 |
| 10 | EP0577213A1 | Process for the preparation and purification of a hydroxylammonium salt solution | 25 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records such as the 1989 particle-separation patent and the 2010s membrane-fouling filings lead the table by default — that reflects age and prior influence, not current relevance to active filers.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the data means for a filing decision
Three patterns matter more than the raw counts: where claim density already blocks easy entry, where growth is real versus a publication artifact, and which subclasses stay thin.
Five filers hold two-thirds of the field
With the top 5 assignees combined accounting for 133 of 196 records, most cassette, membrane-treatment and backflush-cycle claim space near the core TFF use case is already occupied by a small group. A new entrant filing close to those claims should expect dense prior art.
Growth is real but recent years understate it
The move from 1 filing in 2021 to 11 in 2024 marks a genuine step-change in activity, coinciding with the peak year of 17 in 2023. Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts will keep rising as more records surface.
Water treatment and centrifuge claims stay thin
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and B04B (centrifuges) each cover under 10% of the 196 records despite clear mechanistic overlap with fouling control. That gap suggests fouling-index and cake-formation claims framed for those adjacent equipment types are less contested.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to tangential flow filtration fouling control, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the activity has stalled
The ranked list covers 64 companies, counted by patent family, with the leader holding 40 records and a sharp drop by the tenth position.
A single filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee's count is more than three times the fifth-place total of 12, indicating a filer that has built a broad portfolio across cassette, membrane and process claims rather than a narrow niche position.
A long tail below the top ten
Beyond the top 10, which together hold 87.8% of all 196 records, the remaining ranked assignees each hold small counts, consistent with occasional single-application entrants rather than sustained programmes.
Recent activity has narrowed to one filer
Among the assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, only Takeda shows filings in the latest year (2), while the other leading names in that group show none in the same period — a sign that even top-ranked portfolios can go quiet year to year.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited | 2 | — |
| Genentech, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| EMD Millipore Corporation | 0 | — |
| Danisco US Inc. | 0 | — |
| Water Planet Inc. | 0 | — |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio benchmarking or identifying a filing gap.
Check freedom-to-operate near the top 5
Given that 67.9% of all 196 records sit with five assignees, any cassette or backflush-cycle claim close to their core designs warrants a focused prior-art review before drafting.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaWatch the 2023–2024 filing surge
The peak year of 17 filings in 2023 and the +1000% growth from 2021 to 2024 suggest new entrants moved fast; tracking who filed in that window flags emerging competitors.
Track filing momentum in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches
Water-treatment and centrifuge-adjacent fouling-control claims remain under 10% of records each, which is worth validating against a fresh search before assuming the space is truly open.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads with 40 of the 196 records in this dataset, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 12. The top 5 assignees combined hold 67.9% of all records, and the top 10 combined hold 87.8%, so filing activity is concentrated in a small group rather than spread evenly across the 64 ranked companies. This concentration matters for freedom-to-operate checks: a new filer's claims are more likely to overlap with one of these leaders than with the long tail.
Filings grew sharply from 1 in 2021 to 11 in 2024, a +1000% increase, with a peak of 17 filings in 2023. Counts for 2025 and 2026 look lower, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual slowdown. Treat 2024 as the most recent year with a reliable count, and expect 2025-2026 figures to rise as more records are published.
B01D, covering separation processes including filtration, appears in 93.4% of the 196 records, which is expected given the search scope. C07K (peptides and proteins) appears in 36.7% and A61K (medicinal preparations) in 17.9%, reflecting how much of this filing activity ties to biologics purification. Water treatment (C02F, 9.2%) and centrifuges (B04B, 5.6%) are present but comparatively thin, since a single record can carry multiple classes these shares do not sum to 100%.
AU2019390413B2, assigned to Repligen Corporation and published 2022-09-15, covers cassettes for tangential flow filtration designed to reduce assembly and disassembly steps in aseptic filtration, along with packaging systems and methods for those cassettes. It is a representative filing in the single-use aseptic TFF sub-area rather than a claim over fouling-control chemistry itself. Anyone designing single-use cassette hardware for aseptic bioprocessing should review its specific claim scope directly rather than relying on the abstract alone.
The IPC composition suggests water-treatment-framed fouling-index sensing (C02F, 9.2% of records) and centrifuge-integrated backflush cycling (B04B, 5.6%) are comparatively under-claimed relative to the dominant B01D and C07K categories. These figures describe claim density, not technical difficulty or commercial value, so a targeted prior-art search in those specific branches is still needed before drafting. The concentration of the top 5 assignees at 67.9% of records also means any adjacent branch they have not yet claimed is worth checking first.
Research Tangential Flow Filtration Fouling Control in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole tangential flow filtration fouling control corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.