TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE

Description

Class C02 encompasses technologies and processes for treating water, wastewater, sewage, and sludge to remove contaminants, improve water quality, or enable safe disposal and resource recovery. This includes physical, chemical, and biological treatment methods such as filtration, coagulation, disinfection, aeration, biological oxidation, and sludge processing. The classification covers both municipal and industrial water treatment applications, as well as specialized processes for specific contaminant removal (e.g., heavy metals, organic pollutants, nutrients). Adjacent classes address related but distinct areas such as desalination and demineralization under C02C and specific chemical processes applicable to water treatment under their respective chemistry classes.

Filing statistics

IPC C02 recorded 678,287 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023, summed across its 1 subclasses. Annual filings grew from 28,734 in 2013 to 70,835 in 2023 (+147%), peaking at 91,737 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class C02 are CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (3,734 applications), SINOPEC (CHINA PETROCHEMICAL CORPORATION) (2,761 applications) and MIDEA (1,938 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings