Patent ID: 8481639

Claim:
A water-soluble or water-dispersible copolymer comprising the following copolymerized units: a) at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer containing a saccharide side group, and b) at least one hydrophilic ethylenically unsaturated monomer different from (meth)acrylamide, wherein a weight fraction of the at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomers containing a saccharide side group is from 5 to 95% by weight, and wherein the at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer containing a saccharide side group is represented by at least one of the following formulas (Ia), (Ic), and (Id): wherein Z is H or a saccharide radical; A is C 2 -C 10 -alkylene which may optionally be interrupted by oxygen in ether function and/or may be substituted by one or two carboxyl, hydroxyl and/or carboxamide groups, or is a cycloaliphatic radical; X is O or NR 1 ; R 1 and R 2 , independently of one another, are hydrogen, C 1 -C 4 -alkyl or C 1 -C 4 -hydroxyalkyl; R 3 is H or methyl; R 4 is H, COOH or COO − M + ; and M + is an alkali metal ion or an ammonium ion.