Waterproof Breathable Membrane Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- Filing has cooled since 2020. The peak year for new families was 2020 (6 filings); by the 2022 midpoint output had already dropped to 3, and the trend has not recovered — this is a matured, not a growing, filing base.
- Separation-process claims dominate. 43 of 63 records sit in B01D (separation processes), nearly matched by B32B laminate claims (30) — membrane structure and layering, not garment integration, is where the claim density sits.
- China now leads filing volume. China (19) has overtaken the United States (16) and Japan (11) as the top receiving office, ahead of Europe, South Korea and the UK.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent families addressing waterproof breathable membranes — expanded PTFE (ePTFE), polyurethane and hydrophilic microporous constructions — and their use in functional fiber and fabric applications. The search spans filtration, apparel, nonwoven and rescue-equipment contexts wherever the core claim language centers on a membrane that combines liquid-water resistance with vapor transmission.
Sixty-three families were captured across the 2015 to 2026 window, with publication for the most recent year still incomplete — patent applications typically publish around 18 months after filing, so 2025 and 2026 counts will rise as more records surface.
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 63-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those families split across IPC subclasses.
Filings have plateaued below the 2020 peak
Annual family counts rose to 6 in 2020, the high point of the window, then eased toward the 2022 midpoint of 3 and have not rebuilt from there. Combined with the 18-month publication lag, the true 2025-2026 trajectory will only be clear once later filings finish publishing.
Separation and lamination claims carry the field
B01D (separation processes, including filtration) accounts for 43 of 63 records and B32B (layered products) for 30, confirming that most patent activity protects membrane pore structure and lamination method rather than end-use garment design. Nonwovens (D04H, 6), rescue equipment (A62B, 5) and outerwear (A41D, 3) are present but thin by comparison.
Shares are the percentage of the 63 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Waterproof Breathable Membrane Functional Fiber with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about waterproof breathable membrane functional fiber and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Expandable polymer membrane and tubes, and a method of manufacturing thereof (US8784710B2)
A method of making an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane including the steps of: providing an unsintered or partially sintered ePTFE membrane; matting the unsintered or partially sintered ePTFE membrane; and immediately thereafter, sintering the matted ePTFE membrane. A method for making ePTFE tubes includes the steps of: providing an unsintered or partially sintered ePTFE membrane; wrapping the ePTFE membrane around a mandrel or form tool to form an ePTFE tube; matting the ePTFE tube; immediately thereafter, sintering the matted ePTFE tube; and removing the sintered ePTFE tube from the mandrel or form tool.Filed by Phillips Scientific LLC, granted 2014-07-22. Its claims sit on the matting-then-sintering sequence for both flat ePTFE membrane and tube forms.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JP2011202662A | Turbine air intake filter | 17 |
| 2 | JP2014500139A | 無菌薬学用ePTFEフィルタおよび使用方法 | 16 |
| 3 | US20150298440A1 | Thermal/acoustical liner | 13 |
| 4 | JP2009533633A | 車軸ベント | 12 |
| 5 | US20110139008A1 | PTFE pleated filter element | 11 |
| 6 | US20100300295A1 | Air Filter And Air Filter Assembly For Vacuum Cleaner With The Air Filter | 11 |
| 7 | CN108993174A | 一种耐次氯酸钠的ePTFE亲水膜及其制备方法和应用 | 7 |
| 8 | US20210086004A1 | Flame resistant, breathable protective garments for fire fighters and first responders | 7 |
| 9 | CN106914066A | 一种PPS拒水防油针刺环保覆膜滤料涤纶过滤毡 | 6 |
| 10 | US20230081107A1 | Lightweight expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes having high instrinsic strength and optical transparen… | 4 |
Citation counts favor older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus; treat them as a signal of influence on the field's prior art base, not as a ranking 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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Three read-throughs from the trend, citation and geography data that matter more than the raw counts.
The window has already passed its filing peak
Annual filings rose to a high of 6 in 2020 and had fallen to 3 by 2022, with no later year recovering to the peak. A flat-to-declining trend over a 63-family base suggests the core membrane-construction claims were staked out early in this window, and later entrants are filing around the edges rather than at the center.
Claim density sits in membrane structure, not garment form
Two-thirds of records classify under B01D or B32B — pore structure, filtration performance and lamination method. Apparel-facing classes (A41D) and cleaning appliances (A47L) each hold only 3 records, meaning the fiber/garment integration layer is comparatively open relative to the membrane-chemistry layer.
China has become the largest single receiving office
China's 19 filings now lead the United States (16) and Japan (11), with Europe, South Korea and the UK trailing well behind. A China-led receiving-office count changes where freedom-to-operate searches need to start, even for applicants who plan to commercialize elsewhere.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to waterproof breathable membrane functional fiber, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the filings, and where momentum has stalled
Recent-year momentum data shows the named assignees in this corpus recording zero filings in the latest tracked year, several down sharply year-on-year — consistent with a field where the leading claim positions were built earlier in the window and are now being defended rather than extended.
Leading assignees have gone quiet in the most recent year
The top-tracked assignee shows a -100% year-on-year drop to zero filings in the latest period, and every other named assignee in the momentum data also recorded zero. Given the 18-month publication lag, some of this is an artifact of incomplete recent-year data rather than an actual stop in R&D.
A compact, specialist field rather than a crowded one
At 63 total families across more than a decade, this is a narrow filing base compared with mainstream materials categories. That makes individual assignee positions easier to map precisely, but also means a small number of new filings can meaningfully shift the concentration picture.
Filing is concentrated in six jurisdictions
Nearly all activity routes through China, the United States, Japan, the European Patent Office, South Korea and the United Kingdom, with China now the largest single office. Applicants clearing freedom-to-operate here can reasonably scope the search to these six before widening further.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Gore Enterprise Holdings, Inc. | 0 | — |
| BHA Group Holdings, Inc. | 0 | — |
| General Electric Company | 0 | — |
| INVISTA Textiles (U.K.) Limited | 0 | — |
| Japan Oa Tex Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Dongguan Kangbo Apparel Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, design-around, or new filing strategy.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on the six lead offices
With China, the US and Japan holding the bulk of filings, a targeted FTO search across these three plus EPO, South Korea and the UK will cover nearly all active claim positions in this corpus.
Explore FTO workflows in EurekaPressure-test claim scope against the most-cited prior art
The most-cited records in this corpus, several from the mid-2010s, still anchor citation chains in filtration and rescue-equipment applications. Any new membrane-structure claim should be checked against them before drafting.
Compare claims in EurekaScope new filings toward the thinner IPC branches
Garment integration, nonwoven bonding and appliance-filter retrofits show far fewer filings than core membrane chemistry, suggesting more room to stake an independent claim position there.
Map white space in EurekaCommon questions on waterproof breathable membrane patents
The recent-year momentum data in this corpus names a small group of assignees, all of which show zero filings in the latest tracked year. This does not mean these organizations have exited the field; publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent year is always undercounted. A ranking table drawn from the full 63-family dataset gives the fairer long-run picture of who holds the most granted and pending families.
Filing activity peaked at 6 families in 2020 and had fallen to 3 by the 2022 midpoint, with no later year rebuilding to the peak. That is a flat-to-declining trend across a 63-family base rather than a growth curve. Some softening in the final one to two years is expected simply because those filings have not all published yet.
B01D, covering separation processes including filtration, accounts for 43 of the 63 records in this corpus, and B32B, covering layered products and laminates, accounts for 30. Together these two subclasses show that most protected claim territory concerns membrane pore structure and how layers are bonded, not the finished garment or appliance. Anyone drafting new claims in this space should expect the densest prior art in those two subclasses specifically.
Relative to the membrane-chemistry core, garment-integrated seam sealing, nonwoven substrate bonding, rescue-equipment membrane mounts and appliance-filter retrofits each show only a handful of records in this corpus. These are technically specific enough to support a defensible first claim without immediately colliding with the dense B01D and B32B prior art. A design-around or new-filing strategy aimed at these branches has more room to operate than one aimed at core pore-structure claims.
China leads with 19 filings recorded at its receiving office, ahead of the United States at 16 and Japan at 11, with Europe, South Korea and the UK further behind. This is a shift worth noting for freedom-to-operate planning, since a China-first search sequence now covers more of the active filing base than a US-first one would. The gap between China and the US, however, is not large enough to treat either jurisdiction as safe to skip.
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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.