Aircraft Lavatory Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 48.5% concentration. The top five assignees alone account for 596 of the 1,228 records in scope — nearly half the field held by a handful of names.
- Filing has cooled from its 2017 peak. Annual filings ran from 36 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, a -75% swing over that span, though the newest years are still filling in as publications catch up.
- Aircraft equipment and flushing classes dominate jointly. B64D and E03D each cover more than a third of all records, showing the field sits squarely at the intersection of aviation hardware and plumbing engineering.
Filing growth compares 2021 (36 records) with 2024 (9) — 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 1,228 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the aircraft lavatory patent record shows
Aircraft lavatory systems sit at the junction of two engineering traditions: vacuum-assisted waste handling borrowed and adapted from plumbing, and the weight, pressure and reliability constraints unique to airframes. The 1,228 records in scope span flush valves, vacuum generators, rinse rings, odor control, drain masts and waste line blockage mitigation — a narrow but technically dense corner of cabin interior engineering.
Filing activity peaked in 2017 at 66 records and has since declined, though publication lag means the most recent one to two years understate true filing volume. Class overlap between B64D (aircraft equipment) and E03D (water closets and flushing) confirms that most inventive work here is genuinely cross-disciplinary rather than confined to one engineering silo.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,228-record corpus: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which technology classes carry the claim density.
A field that peaked and has been consolidating since
Filings ran from 66 in 2017 down to single digits by 2024 (9, versus 36 in 2021 — a -75% change over that three-year span). Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures are not yet complete and should not be read as a further collapse in inventive activity.
Where the claim density sits
B64D (aircraft equipment, 37.5% of records) and E03D (water closets and flushing, 36.6%) are the two largest classes, followed by E03F sewerage at 27.0%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares overlap rather than sum to 100%, and the pattern shows the field is claimed jointly across aviation-specific and general sanitary engineering codes rather than siloed into one.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,228 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Aircraft Lavatory Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about aircraft lavatory systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim: the flush valve and vacuum generator
US8607370B2 — Flush valve and vacuum generator for vacuum waste system
The apparatus and method of the invention provides for a flush valve for controlling the vacuum evacuation of waste from a receptacle. The flush valve comprises an inlet port for receiving the waste from the receptacle, an outlet port opposite the inlet port and in fluid communication therewith, a source of vacuum connected to the outlet port and a uniquely designed discharge disk disposed between the inlet and outlet ports for interrupting the flow of fluid therebetween. In the preferred embodiment the flush valve is integral with a latticed panel of the waste receptacle stand.Filed by B/E AEROSPACE, INC., granted 2013-12-17.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4713847A | Vacuum toilet system | 142 |
| 2 | WO2015150529A1 | Agcfds: automated glass cleaning flying drone system | 126 |
| 3 | US20050155393A1 | Non-aqueous washing machine with modular construction | 123 |
| 4 | US3995328A | Vacuum toilet system | 123 |
| 5 | US20170210470A1 | Agcfds: automated glass cleaning flying drone system | 118 |
| 6 | US4321145A | Ion exchange treatment for removing toxic metals and cyanide values from waste waters | 113 |
| 7 | US4521925A | Nonrecirculating vacuum flush toilet system utilizing fresh water | 109 |
| 8 | US4063315A | Vacuum toilet system | 102 |
| 9 | US3594825A | Water circulation system | 90 |
| 10 | US20040139555A1 | Non-aqueous washing machine & methods | 84 |
Citation counts favour older filings in any searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a ranking of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the concentration and composition figures mean for a filing decision
Three figures from this dataset matter more than the rest for anyone deciding where to file or where to look for a licensing partner.
Half the field sits with a handful of filers
The leader alone holds 215 records, and the top five combined account for 596 of the 1,228 records in scope. That level of concentration means freedom-to-operate work in flush valve and vacuum generator claims should start with the leading names' portfolios, not a broad novelty search.
Activity has pulled back from its 2017 peak
Annual filings fell from a 2017 peak of 66 to single digits by 2024. Read this as a mature, well-claimed mechanical space rather than a dying one — dense filing early in the period likely narrowed the remaining room for new mechanical variants.
Claims split almost evenly between aviation and plumbing codes
B64D (aircraft equipment) and E03D (water closets and flushing) each cover more than a third of the corpus, with E03F sewerage close behind at 27.0%. A new filing that only addresses one side of that split is likely to run into prior art from the other.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to aircraft lavatory systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space, and where it thins out
The ranking covers 100 companies drawn from the full 1,228-record corpus. Activity is heavily front-loaded: the leader holds 215 records, fifth place holds 79, and by tenth place the count is down to 23 — a sharp drop-off that marks where the long tail of single- and few-filing entrants begins.
A clear leader with a durable head start
The top-ranked assignee's filing count is more than double that of the fifth-placed company, suggesting a portfolio built over multiple product generations rather than a single filing burst.
A steep drop after the top five
Fifth place holds 79 records and tenth place holds 23 — a fall of more than 70% across just five ranking positions. Past the top ten, the ranking thins into companies with a handful of filings each.
Collaboration is rare and concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the corpus, and the strongest recurring pairings all involve the same leading aerospace filer working with named individual inventors — a pattern of in-house engineering credit rather than cross-company joint development.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| MAG Aerospace Industries LLC | 0 | — |
| BE Aerospace Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Maricap Oy | 0 | — |
| Airbus Operations GmbH | 0 | — |
| The Boeing Co | 0 | — |
| Evac International | 0 | — |
| Momentive Performance Materials Inc | 0 | — |
| PSI ETS Corp | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the field as a whole. Turning them into a filing or licensing decision means drilling into specific claims and specific competitors.
Map freedom-to-operate against the leading portfolios
With 48.5% of records held by five assignees, a targeted portfolio review of those five names will surface most of the blocking claims relevant to a new flush valve or vacuum generator design.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches before they fill in
Odor control media chemistry and waste line blockage sensing show comparatively thin filing density today. That gap narrows fast once a leading filer moves into it.
Monitor white space in EurekaCommon questions about aircraft lavatory patents
Filing activity in this space is concentrated: the leading assignee holds 215 of the 1,228 records in scope, and the top five assignees combined hold 596 records, or 48.5% of the field. That concentration has held for years, built on early vacuum toilet and flush valve filings that later entrants have had to design around. Anyone doing freedom-to-operate work should start with those top portfolios rather than a broad keyword search.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 66 records and declined through 2024, with the 2021-to-2024 window showing a -75% drop from 36 to 9 filings. That looks like a slowdown, but it is also consistent with a mechanically mature space where the core flush valve and vacuum generator geometries are already well claimed. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent trend should not be read as final.
The two largest IPC subclasses are B64D (aircraft equipment, 37.5% of the 1,228 records) and E03D (water closets and flushing, 36.6%), followed by E03F sewerage at 27.0%. Because a single patent record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages overlap rather than summing to 100%. The overlap itself is informative: it shows that most inventive work in this field straddles aviation-specific engineering and general sanitary plumbing codes rather than sitting in one alone.
US8607370B2, filed by B/E Aerospace and granted in 2013, claims a flush valve for controlling vacuum evacuation of waste from a receptacle, built around an inlet port, an opposing outlet port connected to a vacuum source, and a discharge disk between the two that interrupts flow. A key detail in the preferred embodiment is that the flush valve is integral with a latticed panel of the waste receptacle stand, which narrows the claim to a specific structural integration rather than any flush-valve arrangement. Designs that route the vacuum path differently or mount the valve separately from the receptacle stand panel sit outside this specific claim scope, though they may still fall inside related filings from the same assignee family.
The data points to several adjacent branches with comparatively thin filing density relative to the core flush valve and vacuum generator claims, including waste line blockage sensing, odor control media chemistry, modular rinse ring assemblies, and drain mast heating control. These sit next to a heavily claimed core rather than inside it, which is exactly why they remain open. Given that filing in the core has slowed since 2017, these adjacent branches are worth checking before assuming any new mechanical variant is genuinely novel.
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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.