Textile & Fiber Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 22.6% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees hold 2,706 of 11,957 records in scope — a real lead, but far from a lock on the field.
- Chemistry, not fiber form, dominates the claim map. D06M textile chemical treatment (16.1%) and C11D detergents/cleaning (14.7%) outrank D01F fiber structure itself (10.3%).
- Filing has cooled from its 2017 peak. 507 records in 2017 fell to 240 by 2024, a -39% move over 2021-2024 — the clearest complete-year trend the data supports.
Filing growth compares 2021 (393 records) with 2024 (240) — 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 11,957 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 11,957 patent records published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine textile material, fiber processing or pulp-and-paper technology with a second layer of specific technique — fiber spinning, technical textiles, dyeing, wood pulp chemistry, fiber recycling or bio-based fiber. That intersection pulls in both classic textile chemistry houses and consumer-goods and enzyme companies whose fiber-related filings sit inside broader detergent, hygiene or industrial-biotech portfolios.
The mix of assignees is a useful signal on its own: it shows this is not a single-industry field but a shared claim space between textile chemical treatment, detergents, dye chemistry and nonwoven hygiene products, with fiber structure itself only one slice of the whole.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 11,957 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across the IPC subclasses that define the field's sub-technologies.
Filing trend: a 2017 peak, then a pull-back
Filings ran at 507 in 2017, the peak year in the dataset, and had fallen to 240 by 2024 — a -39% move over the 2021-2024 window. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not yet be read as a continued decline.
Where the claims concentrate
D06M (textile chemical treatment) and C11D (detergents and cleaning compositions) are each present in more than one in seven of all 11,957 records, ahead of D06P dyeing and printing at 13.4%. Fiber structure itself (D01F, 10.3%) and nonwovens (D04H, 6.8%) carry meaningfully less claim density, and A61F implants/prostheses at 8.4% shows how much of the hygiene and medical-fiber overlap sits inside this dataset.
Shares are the percentage of the 11,957 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Textiles, Fibers, Pulp & Paper Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about textiles, fibers, pulp & paper patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative filing and the most-cited prior art
US9506187B2 — Textile dyeing using nanocellulosic fibers
Discloses dyeing a material using a dyed nanocellulose dispersion prepared from wood pulp fibers via a homogenizer and a dye, at an approximate concentration of 0.5% to 6%, reducing or eliminating the need for water in the dyeing process. The dispersion is applied to a fabric or textile material, which is then dried to produce a dyed material.Filed by University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., published 2016-11-29 — an academic assignee working the water-reduction angle on dyeing rather than the fiber-production side.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6838493B2 | Medical devices and applications of polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers | 1,833 |
| 2 | US6867248B1 | Polyhydroxyalkanoate compositions having controlled degradation rates | 1,629 |
| 3 | US20040110439A1 | Native protein mimetic fibers, fiber networks and fabrics for medical use | 1,498 |
| 4 | US20030084983A1 | Absorbent material incorporating synthetic fibers and process for making the material | 1,491 |
| 5 | US6485667B1 | Process for making a soft, strong, absorbent material for use in absorbent articles | 1,435 |
| 6 | US20080170982A1 | Fabrication and Application of Nanofiber Ribbons and Sheets and Twisted and Non-Twisted Nanofiber Yarns | 1,266 |
| 7 | US5190657A | Blood filter and method of filtration | 987 |
| 8 | US5938648A | Absorbent articles exhibiting improved internal environmental conditions | 879 |
| 9 | US4489574A | Apparatus for highly efficient laundering of textiles | 850 |
| 10 | WO1999064619A2 | Novel mannanases | 813 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a ranking of current importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings that change where you'd choose to file, and one on who else is filing next to whom.
Leadership is real but not dominant
The five leading assignees combined hold 22.6% of all 11,957 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 28.9%. That leaves more than seven in ten records outside the leadership tier — a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants rather than a field locked up by a handful of players.
Treatment chemistry outweighs fiber structure
Textile chemical treatment (D06M) and dyeing/printing (D06P) together cover a larger share of records than the fiber-structure class D01F. Claim space in finishing and coloration chemistry is more crowded than claim space in the underlying fiber architecture itself.
Past the 2017 peak, cooling through 2024
The field peaked in 2017 and had declined -39% by 2024 over the 2021-2024 span — the last window the data supports treating as complete. Years after 2024 are still being filled in by publication lag and should not be read as confirming a continued slide.
A small set of tight co-filing relationships
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear in the data, but the strongest run 19-20 shared filings apiece — evidence of a few durable joint-development or licensing relationships rather than broad industry-wide co-filing.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to textiles, fibers, pulp & paper patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Leaders, momentum and where the gate sits
The ranking spans 100 companies. A handful sit well ahead of the field, but recent-year momentum shows most of the historically dominant filers pulling back sharply rather than accelerating.
One filer well clear of the field
The leading assignee holds 1,270 records, roughly six-and-a-half times the tenth-place total of 122. That gap is the single clearest structural feature of the ranking.
A gentle slope after the leader
Past the leader, the drop from fifth to tenth place is comparatively shallow — 193 down to 122 — suggesting a genuine mid-tier of active filers rather than a cliff straight into single-digit players.
Legacy leaders are pulling back, not scaling up
Recent-year momentum for several long-standing filers shows sharp year-over-year declines, including filers now at zero in the latest year. That pattern is consistent with the field's broader post-2017 pull-back rather than any single company's retreat.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Novozymes A/S | 3 | -85% |
| BASF SE | 2 | -60% |
| Procter & Gamble Co | 0 | -100% |
| E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co | 0 | — |
| Hoechst AG | 0 | — |
| Milliken & Co | 0 | — |
| Ciba-Geigy AG | 0 | — |
| Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The landscape points to specific next steps depending on whether you're scoping freedom-to-operate or looking for where to file.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 1,270 records, any new filing in dyeing, treatment or fiber chemistry should be checked against that portfolio specifically before assuming general whitespace.
Run an FTO check in EurekaProbe the under-claimed branches directly
Water-free dyeing, nanocellulose functionalization and enzymatic fiber treatment show thinner filing density than the core D06M/C11D/D06P classes — worth a targeted search before committing claim language.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack momentum, not just totals
Several historically dominant filers show sharp year-over-year pull-backs; a static ranking hides that shift. Monitoring recent-year filings changes who you watch, not just who leads.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on textile, fiber and pulp & paper patents
The assignee ranking for this field spans 100 companies, with the leading filer holding 1,270 of the 11,957 records in scope — well ahead of fifth place at 193 and tenth place at 122. The top five combined account for 22.6% of all records, and the top ten reach 28.9%, which means more than seven in ten records sit outside that leadership tier. Practically, this means the field has a clear leader plus a genuine mid-tier of active filers rather than being locked up by two or three companies.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 507 records and had fallen to 240 by 2024, a -39% change over the 2021-2024 window, which is the most recent span the data supports treating as complete. Because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures in the dataset are still incomplete and understate real activity, so they should not be read as evidence the decline is continuing. The honest read is: past its 2017 peak, cooling through the last fully reported years.
D06M, textile chemical treatment, is the single largest class at 16.1% of all 11,957 records, closely followed by C11D detergents and cleaning compositions at 14.7% and D06P dyeing and printing at 13.4%. Fiber structure itself, D01F, sits lower at 10.3%, and nonwovens (D04H) at 6.8%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should each be read against the full record total, not against each other as a closed pie.
US9506187B2, assigned to the University of Georgia Research Foundation and published in November 2016, covers dyeing a material using a dyed nanocellulose dispersion prepared from wood pulp fibers via a homogenizer, at a concentration of roughly 0.5% to 6%, applied to a fabric and then dried. It sits specifically in the water-reduction angle on dyeing chemistry rather than on fiber production or finishing broadly. Anyone filing in nanocellulose-based dyeing at similar concentration ranges should map their claims against this one specifically rather than assuming the wider dyeing space is clear.
The clearest gaps sit in branches adjacent to the dominant chemistry classes rather than in the chemistry itself: water-free dyeing processes, nanocellulose fiber functionalization, fiber recycling routes feeding nonwovens, bio-based fiber spinning, and enzymatic fiber treatment all show thinner filing density than core D06M, C11D and D06P territory. High density in those core classes means claim space there is occupied, not that the technology is mature or finished, so a well-drafted claim in an adjacent under-claimed branch can still find room even while the core stays crowded.
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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.