Aircraft Fuel Tank Architecture Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Aircraft fuel tank architecture patents: mapping who holds the claims and what remains open
Half the field sits with five filers. The top 5 assignees account for 230 of 460 records in scope (50.0%), and the top 10 hold 65.7% — a narrow group of aerospace primes and systems suppliers sets the terms for anyone entering fresh. Annual filings reached 55 in 2017, the peak year in the series, before settling into a lower band. The tracked 2021-to-2024 change (8 to 7 records, -13%) is the only growth figure this page asserts; 2025 and 2026 remain partial because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so treat the tail of the curve as incomplete rather than declining.
- 1THE BOEING CO101
- 2AIRBUS OPERATIONS LTD70
- 3PARKER HANNIFIN CORP21
- 4HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORP19
- 5BAE SYSTEMS PLC19
See the full aircraft fuel tank architecture 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
Frequently asked questions
Who are the leading patent holders in aircraft fuel tank architecture?
Filing activity is concentrated: the top 5 assignees hold 230 of 460 records in scope, or 50.0% of the field, and the top 10 hold 65.7%. The single leading assignee accounts for 101 records, more than double the fifth-place total of 19. Beyond the top ten the ranking extends to 92 companies total, with counts falling quickly into single digits — a classic concentrated-top, long-tail structure typical of a mature aerospace subsystem.
Is patent filing in aircraft fuel tank systems increasing or declining?
Filings peaked in 2017 at 55 records and have settled to a lower level since, with the tracked 2021-to-2024 window showing a modest -13% change (8 to 7 records) rather than a sharp drop. Because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as a decline. The more accurate read is a post-peak plateau, not a retreating field.
What technology areas dominate aircraft fuel tank patent filings?
B64D, the aircraft-equipment subclass, appears in 54.6% of the 460 records, and B64C aeroplane and helicopter structure appears in 16.1% — together confirming that most filings are anchored to physical tank and airframe hardware. Sensing and materials classes are also substantial: G01F flow and level measurement covers 10.2% of records and G01N material analysis covers 9.6%, with fire-fighting, coating and ground-installation classes each in the 5.7-6.7% range. A record can carry more than one class, so these figures overlap rather than sum to 100%.
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 Fuel Tank Architecture 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.