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• Within 2010–2017 ca. 4500 nanocellulose-related patents were published worldwide. • Nearly 70 % of the 4500 patents were published within 2015–2017. • ≈ 50 % of CNC and BNC patents include profit companies among their assignees. • Profit companies presence rises to ≈ 80 % in the case of patents referring to CNF. • Highest nanocellulose innovation protection was identified in China, US and Japan. During the last two decades cellulosic nanomaterials have been the subject of much research around the world. Moreover, in the last few years, increasing industrial interest on the field enabled the setting-up of the first facilities producing commercial quantities of nanocelluloses; whereas a number of inventions involving cellulose nano-objects are claimed every year. In this context, the current article describes the recent evolution (from 2010 till 2017) of published patents which explicitly include in their title, abstract and/or claims references to cellulose nano-objects such as cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils and bacterial nanocellulose. Results evidence the astonishing increase in nanocellulose patents since 2010, and specially within the last three years surveyed (i.e. 2015–2017), when published documents accounted for ca. 70 % of the total number of patents published since 2010. Besides patent timelines, data is analysed in terms of patent owners, countries of application, and citing number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]