Aerospace & Propulsion Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees account for 33.2% of all 4,056 records in scope, and the leading ten reach 45.1% — a field where a small group holds a large share of filed claims.
- Filing has cooled slightly, not collapsed. Activity peaked in 2021 at 476 records; from that peak to 2024, the last complete filing year, volume held at 443 — a -7% change, not a decline in interest.
- Aircraft equipment dominates the claim map. B64D (aircraft equipment) touches 44.1% of records and B64C (aeroplanes & helicopters) 34.1%, while electric propulsion classes like B60L sit at just 6.7% — a much thinner layer of prior art.
Filing growth compares 2021 (476 records) with 2024 (443) — 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. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 4,056 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the aerospace and propulsion patent record shows
The dataset covers 4,056 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from search terms spanning aircraft design, propulsion, avionics, unmanned aircraft and hydrogen or electric aircraft. Filing activity is uneven across the period: it built steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021 at 476 records, and has since settled to a lower but still substantial level. Because publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, the most recent one to two years in any chart will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be.
Ownership of this claim space is concentrated. A handful of established aerospace and propulsion manufacturers, alongside a smaller number of newer electric-aircraft and drone entrants, account for a disproportionate share of filings, while the bulk of the ranked assignees hold only a handful of records each. That combination — dense filing at the top, a long tail beneath it — shapes where new entrants can realistically stake claims.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 4,056-record set: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the bulk of the claim activity.
Filing volume, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 142 in 2017 to a peak of 476 in 2021, then eased to 443 by 2024 — a -7% change over that span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a downturn.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
B64D (aircraft equipment) and B64C (aeroplanes & helicopters) together anchor the field, appearing in 44.1% and 34.1% of records respectively. Gas-turbine plants (F02C, 12.5%), unmanned aerial vehicles (B64U, 11.7%) and electric motor/generator technology (H02K, 9.5%) form a second tier, with traffic control systems (G08G, 7.8%) and electric vehicle propulsion (B60L, 6.7%) the thinnest of the tracked classes. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares sum to more than 100% of the 4,056 records.
Shares are the percentage of the 4,056 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Aerospace & Propulsion Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about aerospace & propulsion patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Electric aircraft propulsion assembly and method (US20230278718A1, Rolls-Royce)
The disclosure relates to an electric aircraft propulsion assembly comprising: an electric storage unit; a first electric motor connected to power a first propulsor; a first converter configured as a DC:AC converter having input connections connectable to the electric storage unit and output connections connected across the first electric motor; a second electric motor connected to power a second propulsor; a second converter connected between the first converter input connections and the second electric motor; and a controller configured to control operation of the first and second converters, wherein the second converter is operable as a…Abstract truncated as published; full claim language governs scope.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20030093187A1 | PFN/TRAC systemTM FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of ai… | 977 |
| 2 | US9412278B1 | Authentication systems and methods for generating flight regulations | 603 |
| 3 | US20050187677A1 | PFN/TRAC systemTM FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of ai… | 595 |
| 4 | US20190385057A1 | System and Method for using Signal Waveform Analysis for Detecting a Change in a Wired Network | 584 |
| 5 | US20200389469A1 | System and method for tunnel-based malware detection | 532 |
| 6 | US6965816B2 | PFN/TRAC system FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of airc… | 489 |
| 7 | US20100250022A1 | Useful unmanned aerial vehicle | 484 |
| 8 | US5890441A | Horizontal and vertical take off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle | 418 |
| 9 | US20160236790A1 | System and methods for implementing regional air transit network using hybrid-electric aircraft | 395 |
| 10 | US7113780B2 | System for integrating an airborne wireless cellular network with terrestrial wireless cellular networks and … | 371 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older filings — including several FAA-era filings on remote/robotics control and network security — dominate the top of this list. Treat citation rank as a signal of historical influence within this corpus, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for strategy
Three patterns stand out once volume, concentration and technology composition are read together.
A small group holds a third of the field
The five leading assignees combine for 33.2% of all 4,056 records, and the leading ten reach 45.1%. That leaves more than half the field spread across the remaining ranked companies, many with only a few filings each — a classic dense-top, long-tail structure.
Volume cooled from its 2021 peak but did not fall away
Filing activity peaked at 476 records in 2021 and stood at 443 in 2024, a -7% change over that three-year span. Later years in the chart are understated by publication lag and should not be read as a further decline.
Electric propulsion is a thin layer under a thick equipment layer
Aircraft equipment (B64D) and aeroplane/helicopter design (B64C) carry the bulk of filed claims, at 44.1% and 34.1% of records. Electric vehicle propulsion (B60L) sits at only 6.7%, and electric motors/generators (H02K) at 9.5% — evidence that electrification claims are still a minority position inside a mature airframe and equipment base.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to aerospace & propulsion patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where momentum is shifting
Recent-year momentum diverges sharply from the historical leaderboard. Several of the largest historical filers show sharp year-over-year drops in their latest recorded year, which is consistent with publication lag rather than an actual pullback, but the pattern still marks where fresh newly-published activity is thinning.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 397 records, more than double the fifth-place total of 163 and well ahead of tenth place at 86. That gap defines the shape of the ranking: a steep drop after the leader, then a longer, flatter tail.
Newer entrants show the steepest swings
Archer Aviation recorded 6 filings in its latest year, down 84% year over year; Raytheon Technologies fell 75% to 3. These swings are large in percentage terms but small in absolute count, and partly reflect publication lag rather than a real slowdown in R&D.
Cross-filing is limited but concentrated among affiliates
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset. The strongest, at 11 shared records, links two affiliated propulsion manufacturers; the next strongest pairs link a manufacturer to its own regional or national subsidiary. Co-filing here largely reflects corporate structure rather than external partnership.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Archer Aviation Inc | 6 | -84% |
| Raytheon Technologies (RTX Corp) | 3 | -75% |
| Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp | 1 | -99% |
| General Electric Co | 1 | -67% |
| Honeywell International Inc | 1 | -50% |
| Rolls-Royce plc | 0 | -100% |
| Bell Helicopter Textron Inc | 0 | — |
| Hamilton Sundstrand Corp | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to a small number of decisions worth making before committing R&D or filing budget.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leading five
With 33.2% of all 4,056 records held by five assignees, any new propulsion or equipment filing should be screened against that group's claim scope before development spend commits further.
Run an FTO screen in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches before they fill in
Electric propulsion and hydrogen-related classes carry a fraction of the density seen in B64D and B64C. That gap narrows as more electric and hydrogen aircraft programmes mature.
Explore white space in EurekaRe-check 2024-2026 filings once publication catches up
The apparent momentum drop in the latest year is consistent with an 18-month publication lag, not a real slowdown. Revisit assignee momentum once later filings publish.
Set a monitoring alert in EurekaFrequently asked questions
One assignee leads the ranked field with 397 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 163 and tenth place at 86. The gap between the leader and the rest of the field is steep, and the ranking then flattens into a long tail of companies with far fewer filings each. This dataset ranks 100 companies in total, so treat any reference to 'the leaders' as covering that full ranked set rather than a fixed top-10 or top-50 cut.
Filing activity peaked in 2021 at 476 records and eased to 443 by 2024, a -7% change over that three-year span — a mild cooling, not a collapse. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but that is expected: publication typically lags actual filing by around eighteen months, so the most recent years in any chart are always undercounted at the time of publication. The fairer comparison is 2021 against 2024, both of which are effectively complete.
Aircraft equipment (IPC class B64D) appears in 44.1% of the 4,056 records in scope, and aeroplane and helicopter design (B64C) in 34.1%, making these the two densest claim areas. Gas-turbine plants, unmanned aerial vehicles and electric motor or generator technology form a second tier, each appearing in roughly one in ten records. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total — they are not mutually exclusive categories.
Electric vehicle propulsion (B60L) and traffic control systems (G08G) carry the lowest density among the tracked classes, at 6.7% and 7.8% of records respectively, well below the 44.1% seen in general aircraft equipment. That gap suggests claim space around distributed electric propulsion, hydrogen storage integration and UAV traffic deconfliction is comparatively open relative to conventional airframe and engine claims. A first filing in these narrower branches faces less prior art density, though it should still be checked against the leading assignees' existing portfolios.
Rarely, and mostly within corporate families. The dataset identifies only 10 co-assignee pairs across 4,056 records, and the strongest pair, at 11 shared records, links two affiliated propulsion manufacturers rather than independent competitors. The next-strongest pairs follow the same pattern, connecting a parent company to its own regional or national subsidiary. This suggests joint filings here reflect internal corporate structure more than arm's-length R&D partnerships.
Research Aerospace & Propulsion Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole aerospace & propulsion patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.