Aircraft Engine Starting Systems Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
Aircraft Engine Starting Systems Patents: Who Leads and Where the Field Is Still Open
72.4% of all 105 records in scope sit with the top five assignees, so most of this claim space is already staked out by a small group. Annual filings ran from 8 in 2017 to a peak of 11 in 2023, with 2021's 5 filings climbing to 8 by 2024 — a 60% rise over that span. 2026 shows only 1 filing so far, which reflects publication lag rather than a slowdown.
- 1HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC41
- 2ROLLS ROYCE CORP11
- 3ROLLS ROYCE NORTH AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES INC9
- 4PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP8
- 5HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORP7
See the full aircraft engine starting systems analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions about this patent landscape
Who holds the most patents in aircraft engine starting systems?
One assignee leads the ranked list with 41 of the 105 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 7 records and the tenth at 4. The top five assignees together hold 72.4% of all records, and the top ten reach 98.1%, so filing activity is heavily concentrated among a small number of aerospace suppliers rather than spread evenly across the 16 companies in the ranking. Anyone entering this space should expect to review that leader’s portfolio closely.
Is aircraft engine starting system technology still actively being patented?
Yes. Filings rose from 5 in 2021 to 8 in 2024, a 60% increase over three years, and 2023 was the highest filing year recorded at 11. The apparent drop-off in 2025 and 2026 reflects publication lag, since patent applications typically surface in public records around 18 months after filing, not a genuine slowdown in engineering activity.
What are air turbine starters and why do they dominate this patent set?
An air turbine starter uses compressed air, often from cross-bleed or ground carts, to spin a turbine that starts the main gas-turbine engine, and the mechanism typically includes a clutch to decouple once the engine reaches self-sustaining speed. This dataset’s search terms centre on that mechanism, which is why F02C gas-turbine plant classification appears in 77.1% of the 105 records and why the most-cited filings, including US4871296A and US6059085A, concern shaft decouplers and clutch design.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Aircraft Engine Starting Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.