Thermosets Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing has cooled fast. annual filings fell from 719 in 2021 to 320 in 2024, a 55% drop over that three-year span, even as 2018 remains the peak year on record at 992 filings.
- No single company dominates. the leading assignee holds 3,310 records and the top 10 combined account for just 14.7% of all 144,058 records in scope — this field is a long tail, not a duopoly.
- Claim density clusters in polymer chemistry basics. C08L polymer compositions lead at 4.1% of records, with condensation polymers and processing close behind — the shaping and coatings classes are comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (719 records) with 2024 (320) — 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 144,058 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the thermosets patent record shows
Thermosets and crosslinked-polymer chemistry sits at the intersection of composite reinforcement, coatings and structural plastics, and the patent record reflects that breadth: 144,058 published records from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off carry claims touching curing reactions, glass transition behaviour, melt flow and crosslink density. The search set spans a decade of filings across polymer compositions, condensation chemistry, processing methods and additive systems, so no single application dominates the corpus. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, which means the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity rather than reflect an actual slowdown at the point of invention.
The picture that emerges is a field with high claim density in core polymer composition and condensation-chemistry classes, a leadership group that holds meaningful share but not control, and a filing curve that peaked in 2018 and has since declined through the last complete data year. That combination — occupied core claims, fragmented ownership, cooling filing rate — shapes where a new entrant should look first.
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 composition
The two views below use the full 144,058-record set: one tracks filings by year, the other breaks the same records down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares add to more than 100% of records — that is expected and does not indicate double-counting.
A decade of filing activity, now past its peak
Filings ran 756 in 2017, rose to a peak of 992 in 2018, and had fallen to 320 by 2024 — a 55% decline from the 719 filed in 2021. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional; publication lag means the true filing rate for those years is still being reported.
Claim density concentrates in core polymer chemistry
C08L (polymer compositions) leads at 4.1% of the 144,058 records, followed by C08G (condensation polymers) at 2.9% and C08J (polymer processing and solutions) at 2.8%. Shaping (B29C) and coatings (C09D) classes carry noticeably lower shares, at 1.6% and 1.5% respectively, suggesting comparatively less-crowded claim space downstream of the base chemistry.
Shares are the percentage of the 144,058 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Thermosets Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about thermosets patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Highly Crosslinked Polymer Particulate and Methods of Manufacturing Highly Crosslinked Polymer Particulate (US20210047483A1)
The application claims highly crosslinked polymer particulate built from crosslinked polymer granules, each combining a highly crosslinked polymeric material with a property-modifying filler. The crosslinked structure is built from polyethylene polymer chains joined by chemical crosslinks that covalently bond one chain to another, forming a network rather than a loose blend.Filed by ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, published 2021-02-18.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5262035A | Enzyme electrodes | 1,797 |
| 2 | US4576850A | Shaped plastic articles having replicated microstructure surfaces | 1,172 |
| 3 | US6388043B1 | Shape memory polymers | 1,117 |
| 4 | WO1996023010A2 | alpha -OLEFINS AND OLEFIN POLYMERS AND PROCESSES THEREFOR | 1,065 |
| 5 | US6160084A | Biodegradable shape memory polymers | 916 |
| 6 | US6565763B1 | Method for manufacturing porous structure and method for forming pattern | 840 |
| 7 | US3926760A | Process for electrophoretic deposition of polymer | 815 |
| 8 | US6566406B1 | Biocompatible crosslinked polymers | 742 |
| 9 | US20100210745A1 | Molecular Healing of Polymeric Materials, Coatings, Plastics, Elastomers, Composites, Laminates, Adhesives, a… | 718 |
| 10 | US6169058B1 | Compositions and methods for hydraulic fracturing | 698 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not as a marker of current relevance.
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 numbers mean for a filing decision
Three figures matter most to anyone deciding where to file next: how concentrated ownership is, how the filing rate is moving, and where claim density sits by class.
Ownership is spread thin at the top
The leading assignee holds 3,310 records, but the top 10 combined account for only 14.7% of the field. That leaves the large majority of records distributed across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants — a structure that favours a new entrant finding room rather than facing a blocking incumbent.
The filing rate has cooled from its 2018 peak
Annual filings peaked at 992 in 2018 and had fallen to 320 by 2024, a 55% decline from the 719 filed in 2021. This is the last year in the dataset that can be read as complete; more recent years will fill in as publications catch up.
Core composition claims are the densest ground
C08L, C08G and C08J together carry the heaviest claim density in the corpus, covering base polymer compositions, condensation chemistry and processing methods. Shaping and coatings classes sit at roughly a third to a half of that density, marking them as comparatively less contested.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to thermosets patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the room to file remains
The ranked assignee list spans materials majors, electronics manufacturers and specialty chemical firms, none of which controls a majority share. Momentum among the most active named filers has slowed markedly in the latest reported year, consistent with the broader filing decline.
A single leader, no runaway margin
The top-ranked assignee holds 3,310 records against a fifth-place figure of 2,048 and a tenth-place figure of 1,500 — a gradual taper rather than a cliff, indicating several firms are filing at comparable intensity just below the leader.
Even active filers have pulled back
Assignees that filed multiple records in prior years are down to single-digit or zero filings in the latest reported year, with year-on-year declines as steep as -100% for some. This mirrors the corpus-wide fall from 719 filings in 2021 to 320 in 2024.
Co-filing is rare and mostly intra-group
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairing occurring 12 times. The pattern looks more like related corporate entities filing jointly than open cross-company collaboration.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Resonac Corporation | 1 | -50% |
| Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | 1 | — |
| Toray Industries, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Kaneka Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| LG Chem, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Nitto Denko Corporation | 0 | — |
| Dow Global Technologies LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Panasonic Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or identifying a filing gap.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on core composition classes
C08L, C08G and C08J carry the heaviest claim density in this corpus. Before filing in these classes, map the ranked leaders' active claims against your specific formulation.
Explore the technology in EurekaTrack momentum among the mid-tier ranked assignees
The taper from the leader to tenth place is gradual, not steep, meaning several firms are filing at similar intensity. Watching their year-on-year momentum is more informative than watching the single leader alone.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches for a first filing
Shaping and coatings classes carry noticeably lower density than the composition and condensation classes. A targeted claim in these branches faces less occupied prior art.
Search white space in EurekaCommon questions about thermosets patent activity
The ranked assignee list, drawn from 144,058 published records, shows a leader with 3,310 records but no dominant single owner. The top 10 assignees combined hold only 14.7% of all records in scope, meaning ownership is spread across a long tail of firms rather than concentrated in one or two companies. Anyone assessing competitive risk should look at the taper across the top ranks rather than focus on the single leader, since several firms file at comparable volume just below it.
Filing peaked in 2018 at 992 records and has declined since, falling from 719 filings in 2021 to 320 in 2024 — a 55% drop over that span. That 2024 figure is the most recent year that can be treated as complete, because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months and more recent years are still filling in. Based on the complete-year data, filing activity is on a clear downward trend from its 2018 peak, though it has not stopped.
C08L, covering polymer compositions, leads at 4.1% of the 144,058 records in scope, followed by C08G condensation polymers at 2.9% and C08J polymer processing and solutions at 2.8%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of records and should not be summed into a combined total. Shaping (B29C) and coatings (C09D) classes carry lower shares, around 1.5-1.6%, indicating comparatively less claim density there.
This ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company application, published February 2021, claims highly crosslinked polymer particulate made of granules that combine a highly crosslinked polymeric material with a property-modifying filler. The crosslinked material is built from polyethylene polymer chains joined by covalent chemical crosslinks connecting one chain to another. It is a representative filing in the corpus rather than the single most-cited one, illustrating how granulated, filler-modified crosslink chemistry is being claimed.
Relative to the densely claimed polymer-composition and condensation-chemistry classes, shaping (B29C) and coatings (C09D) show meaningfully lower shares of the 144,058 records — 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. Sub-areas such as coating-specific cure kinetics, filler-modified crosslink particulates and melt-flow-tuned laminate interfaces show comparatively thinner claim coverage in this dataset. Any filing decision in these areas still needs a dedicated freedom-to-operate search, since lower density in an IPC subclass is a directional signal, not a clearance.
Research Thermosets Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole thermosets patent landscape 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.