Topsheet and Acquisition Layers Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- One filer dominates the ranking. the leading assignee holds 356 families against a fifth-place count of 70 and a tenth-place count of 17 — a steep drop-off rather than a gradual one.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 132 and has fallen -65% to 46 by 2024. the last complete filing year, with 2025-2026 still filling in due to publication lag.
- Nonwoven and laminate classes sit well below the dominant absorbent-article class. D04H nonwovens cover 17.7% of the 1,058 records and B32B laminates 13.3%, pointing to structural claim space still open around web and layer construction.
Filing growth compares 2021 (132 records) with 2024 (46) — 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.
What the topsheet and acquisition layer patent record shows
Topsheet and acquisition distribution layer (ADL) patents cover the materials and structures that sit between a wearer’s skin and the absorbent core of a hygiene product: nonwoven apertures, bonding patterns, hydrophilic finishes and the void-volume engineering that governs strikethrough and rewet performance. This landscape draws on 1,058 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, searched against topsheet and ADL terminology paired with nonwoven aperture, strike-through, surface dryness, hydrophilic finish, softness perception and bonding pattern concepts. The record set spans design-patent-style construction claims through to material-science filings on fibre treatment and layer bonding.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021, and has declined through the last complete filing year. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart are undercounts rather than a genuine drop-off, and should not be read as a slowdown on their own.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,058-record set: filings by year, and the IPC subclasses those filings carry. Because a single record can span multiple classes, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
A 2021 peak followed by a decline through the last complete year
Filings ran from 61 in 2017 to a peak of 132 in 2021, then fell to 46 by 2024 — a -65% move over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as continued decline.
Absorbent-article claims dominate; nonwoven and laminate classes trail well behind
A61F (implants and prostheses, the absorbent-article home class) appears on 89.3% of the 1,058 records. D04H (nonwovens and felts) and B32B (layered products and laminates) sit far lower at 17.7% and 13.3%, with B29C shaping, A61L sterilising, B05C coating and the medical/electrotherapy classes each under 4% — a sign that most filings anchor on the finished absorbent article rather than the underlying web or coating process.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,058 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Topsheet and Acquisition Layers with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about topsheet and acquisition layers and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records anchoring this space
Acquisition distribution layer having void volumes for an absorbent article
The invention relates to an absorbent article having a topsheet and an absorbent core material. An acquisition distribution layer (ADL) is located between the topsheet and the absorbent core material. By employing a high void volume acquisition distribution layer the absorbent article can achieve greater strikethrough and rewet characteristics without altering the core design, or the absorbent article may achieve current design criteria with less absorbent core material or less expensive absorbent core material.US20030093048A1, filed by Tredegar Film Products Corporation, published 2003-05-15.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20070244455A1 | Absorbent article | 175 |
| 2 | US20100048072A1 | Contendered Nonwoven/Pulp Composite Fabric and Method for Making the Same | 171 |
| 3 | US20170029994A1 | Shaped Nonwoven | 152 |
| 4 | WO2006059922A1 | Absorbent article | 112 |
| 5 | US20150245958A1 | Absorbent article with multi-layer folded absorbent core | 93 |
| 6 | US7888549B2 | Absorbent article | 90 |
| 7 | WO2012036599A1 | Elastic laminate material and an absorbent article containing the elastic laminate | 89 |
| 8 | US7825291B2 | Absorbent article having absorbent core including regions of lower thickness | 85 |
| 9 | US20050033253A1 | Comfortable and dry absorbent article | 77 |
| 10 | US20070293833A1 | Pant-Type Absorbent Article | 76 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older records that have simply had more time to accumulate citations — treat them as a marker of influence on later filings, not of current commercial relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern tells a technical team
Three findings from the trend and composition data that matter more for a filing decision than the raw counts alone.
The 2021 peak has not been sustained
Filings fell -65% from the 2021 peak of 132 to 46 in 2024, the last year that can be treated as complete. That is a real contraction in new filing activity, not an artefact of publication lag, since both years are fully published.
Most claims still frame the whole absorbent article
Nine in ten records sit in the A61F absorbent-article class, while the nonwoven (D04H) and laminate (B32B) classes that describe the topsheet and ADL materials themselves cover a much smaller share. Claims narrowly targeting web structure or bonding pattern are comparatively rare.
A steep drop from the leader to the rest of the ranked field
The leading assignee's family count of 356 dwarfs the tenth-ranked entrant's 17, but the ranking itself covers 100 companies rather than a small top tier, indicating a long tail of smaller filers beneath the leader.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to topsheet and acquisition layers, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity has cooled
The ranked field runs 100 companies deep, but recent-year momentum data shows even the most active names filing fewer records than in prior years.
One assignee well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee's family count is roughly five times the fifth-place figure of 70, a gap wide enough that it is not explained by normal year-to-year filing variation.
Even the leader is filing less
The two entities behind the largest co-assignee pairing each recorded just 1 filing in the latest year, down -75% year on year, consistent with the broader post-2021 decline in the trend data.
Co-assignment is limited and concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest pairing is an order of magnitude larger than the next ones, suggesting most filers here prosecute independently rather than through joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Ontex Group NV | 1 | -75% |
| Ontex BV | 1 | -75% |
| SCA Hygiene Products AB | 0 | — |
| Essity Hygiene and Health AB | 0 | — |
| Tredegar Film Products Corporation | 0 | — |
| Fitesa Film Products LLC | 0 | — |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | 0 | — |
| Attends Healthcare Products Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The trend and composition data point to specific next questions for a filing or freedom-to-operate review.
Map claim scope against the leader's family
With one assignee holding 356 families against a tenth-place count of 17, a claim chart against that leader's core filings clarifies what is already occupied before drafting new claims in adjacent structural classes.
Explore assignee claim scope in EurekaTest white space in nonwoven and laminate classes
D04H and B32B classes cover a much smaller share of records than A61F, which may reflect genuine open space in web structure and layer bonding claims rather than saturated prior art.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack the post-2021 filing decline by segment
The -65% move from the 2021 peak to 2024 is real, but breaking it down by IPC subclass would show whether the pullback is uniform or concentrated in specific structural approaches.
Build a segmented trend view in EurekaCommon questions on topsheet and acquisition layer patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 356 patent families, well ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 70 and the tenth-ranked company at 17. The ranking covers 100 companies in total, so beyond the leader there is a long tail of smaller filers rather than a tight group of two or three competitors. Because families are counted rather than raw document counts, this reflects distinct inventions rather than continuation filings or multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
No — filings peaked at 132 in 2021 and fell to 46 by 2024, a -65% decline over that span, and 2024 is the last year with a complete publication record. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so they should not be read as evidence of a deeper decline yet. The honest read is that filing activity has genuinely cooled since 2021, based on the two fully complete years available.
A61F, the absorbent-article class, appears on 89.3% of the 1,058 records in scope, making it by far the most common classification. D04H (nonwovens and felts) and B32B (layered products and laminates) trail at 17.7% and 13.3% respectively, with process-oriented classes like B29C shaping and B05C coating apparatus each under 4%. This gap suggests that claims framing the whole absorbent article are common, while claims narrowly targeting nonwoven structure, bonding pattern or coating process are comparatively scarce.
US20030093048A1, assigned to Tredegar Film Products Corporation and published in 2003, covers an acquisition distribution layer positioned between the topsheet and absorbent core that uses high void volume to improve strikethrough and rewet performance without changing the core design. It also discloses a method for reducing absorbent core bulk or cost using this layer. Because it predates most of the 2015-2026 filings in this dataset, it functions as foundational prior art that later structural and material claims in this space must be checked against.
The composition data shows nonwoven aperture structures, layer bonding patterns, hydrophilic finish chemistry and coating apparatus classes all sitting at low single-digit to high-teens shares of the 1,058 records, far below the dominant absorbent-article class. That gap does not guarantee open claim space, but it does mean fewer filings have staked out narrow structural or process claims in those areas compared to whole-article claims. A freedom-to-operate search focused specifically on those subclasses, rather than the absorbent-article class broadly, is the practical way to confirm it.
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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.