Air Source Heat Pump COP Efficiency Patent Landscape
The air source heat pump COP efficiency patent field is in a growth phase, with Chinese universities and UK-based Octopus Energy Heating leading a moderately fragmented corpus of 436 patent families. Filing activity has risen on a multi-year basis, with China as the dominant prosecution jurisdiction and refrigeration cycle engineering (F25B) accounting for the large majority of technical coverage.
Octopus Energy Heating leads a moderately fragmented field dominated by Chinese academic filers
Octopus Energy Heating Ltd holds the largest position with 21 patent families, narrowly ahead of Southeast University at 19 and Tianjin University at 12. The top tier is a mix of one UK commercial operator and a dense cluster of Chinese research universities.
The top five filers account for 20% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately fragmented landscape with no single entity commanding decisive control. The tier gap between the top applicant and the pack is narrow, suggesting the field is still contestable.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Octopus Energy Heating Ltd | 21 | |
| 2 | Southeast University | 19 | |
| 3 | Tianjin University | 12 | |
| 4 | MCC CAPITAL ENGINEERING & RESEARCH INC LTD | 11 | |
| 5 | Northeast Electric Power University | 10 | |
| 6 | Tianjin University of Commerce | 8 | |
| 7 | Dunham-Bush Inc. | 7 | |
| 8 | Tsinghua University | 7 | |
| 9 | Shaw David N | 7 | |
| 10 | Colorado State University Research Foundation | 6 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Wang Quanling | 6 | |
| 12 | Dalian Shengding Industrial Equipment Co. Ltd | 6 | |
| 13 | AtmosZero Inc. | 6 | |
| 14 | Harbin Institute of Technology | 6 | |
| 15 | Luo Liangyi | 6 | |
| 16 | Beijing University of Technology | 6 | |
| 17 | Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai | 6 | |
| 18 | Shandong University | 6 | |
| 19 | Trane International Inc. | 6 | |
| 20 | Wuxi Tongfang Artificial Environment Co. Ltd | 5 |
The prominence of academic filers — Southeast University, Tianjin University, Northeast Dianli University, Tsinghua University, Harbin Institute of Technology — signals that much foundational COP-enhancement IP originates in publicly funded research rather than vertically integrated manufacturers, which may affect licensing dynamics and freedom-to-operate assessments.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are subject to publication lag and are likely under-counted; the 2025–2026 data points should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual filings are expanding and refrigeration cycle engineering dominates the technology mix
Two charts together reveal where the field is heading and which IPC branches absorb the most inventive effort. The trend line shows a growth-phase trajectory; the technology composition chart shows heavy concentration in one branch alongside several meaningful secondary clusters.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings rose steadily from 2017, dipped in 2020–2022, then rebounded strongly through 2023–2024. The multi-year growth rate stands at 14%. The 2025 and 2026 data points are understated due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F25B (Refrigeration & heat pumps) is the dominant branch by a wide margin, reflecting the core thermodynamic focus of COP optimization work. Secondary branches — F24D (Domestic heating systems), F24F (Air conditioning & ventilation), F24H (Fluid heaters), and F25D (Refrigerators & cooling) — each carry meaningful but much smaller shares, pointing to system-integration and application-layer activity sitting well behind the core refrigeration cycle work.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Improved air source heat pump and method
The present invention provides an improved air source heat pump (ASHP) system and method which relies on using scavenged and/or stored heat to change the temperature of ambient air used by the ASHP thereby increasing efficiency. The heat is carried via a fluid medium. (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boosted air source heat pump | 142 |
| 2 | Boosted air source heat pump | 121 |
| 3 | Control and method for defrosting a heat pump outd… | 104 |
| 4 | Control and method for defrosting a heat pump outd… | 94 |
| 5 | Apparatus and method for controlling a variable ai… | 78 |
| 6 | Compressor heat pump system with maximum and minim… | 78 |
| 7 | Cascading air-source heat pump | 66 |
| 8 | Heat pump/direct expansion heat pump heating, cool… | 66 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations — maturity stage, concentration, co-filing ecosystem, and geographic spread — define the risk and opportunity profile for new entrants and incumbents alike.
Growth phase with a rebound after a mid-period trough
The lifecycle evidence classifies this field as Growth, with annual filings still rising and the 14% recent growth rate confirming expanding inventive activity. After a softer patch in 2020–2022, filings recovered sharply through 2023–2024. This trajectory suggests the commercial and regulatory pull for heat pump COP improvements is translating into sustained R&D investment, and that the window for establishing foundational positions has not closed.
Growth stageModerate fragmentation with a narrow lead at the top
The top five filers hold 20% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output — sufficient concentration to identify clear leaders, but insufficient for any single entity to set the technical agenda unilaterally. The one-family gap between Octopus Energy Heating (21 families) and Southeast University (19 families) means the leader position is not entrenched. New entrants with focused programs in under-served branches could move into the top tier relatively quickly.
Moderate fragmentationCo-filing is active but clustered within established Chinese partnerships
The most active co-filing pair is MCC Capital Engineering & Research Inc. Ltd with Beijing Jingcheng Huayu Architectural Design and Research Institute (5 joint families), followed by David N. Shaw with Hallowell International LLC (4 joint families), and Southeast University with Jiangsu Gaoke Applied Science Research Institute (2 joint families). Collaboration is largely between aligned subsidiaries or inventor-company pairs rather than cross-industry consortia, leaving broader open-innovation pathways relatively unexplored.
Intra-cluster co-filingChina dominates prosecution; Western markets are thinly covered
China is the lead prosecution jurisdiction by a substantial margin. The United States, WIPO (PCT), and the United Kingdom each account for far smaller shares of patent records, and other Western markets — Australia, Canada, Europe (EPO), South Korea, Japan — are present but thin. For applicants targeting the UK, EU, or North American heat pump markets, the sparse Western filing density may create freedom-to-operate opportunities alongside the risk that key Chinese-origin IP eventually extends westward via PCT routes.
China-centricGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| MCC Capital Engineering & Research Inc. Ltd | Beijing Jingcheng Huayu Architectural Design and Research Institute Co. Ltd | 5 |
| Shaw David N | HALLOWELL INTERNATIONAL LLC | 4 |
| Southeast University | Jiangsu Gaoke Applied Science Research Institute Co. Ltd | 2 |
| MCC Capital Engineering & Research Inc. Ltd | Beijing Jingcheng Kelin Environmental Technology Co. Ltd | 2 |
| Tianjin University of Commerce | Tianjin Refrigeration Engineering Design Institute | 1 |
| Tianjin University of Commerce | SHIDAO TECH INVESTMENT CO LTD | 1 |
| Tianjin University of Commerce | LIZHI ENERGY- SAVING JOINT- CO | 1 |
| Tianjin University of Commerce | HEBEI AVIATION RES COLD EQUIP CO LTD | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Octopus Energy Heating leads commercially; Southeast University leads academically
The top two filers represent distinct strategic archetypes — a UK-based commercial operator focused on deployed product IP and a Chinese research university generating broad thermodynamic cycle coverage. Both entered the ranking as new entrants in the recent window, reflecting the field’s growth-phase dynamics.
Octopus Energy Heating Ltd
Octopus Energy Heating leads with 21 patent families, all concentrated in refrigeration and heat pump cycle engineering (F25B subclasses 13, 47, and 30 — covering multi-stage, defrost-protected, and cascade heat pump configurations). The applicant momentum evidence flags this as a new entrant in the recent filing window, indicating the position was built rapidly rather than accumulated over many years, consistent with the company’s commercial push into the UK domestic heat pump market.
families: 21Southeast University
Southeast University holds 19 patent families with a focus on F25B subclasses 30, 13, and 41 — spanning combined heat pump cycles, multi-stage configurations, and refrigerant flow control. Like the leader, it is flagged as a new entrant in the recent window, suggesting accelerating research output. As a top-tier Chinese engineering university, its IP is likely available for licensing or industry partnership, making it a strategic collaboration target for manufacturers seeking cycle-level COP innovations.
families: 19| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy Heating Ltd | 21 | ▲ new entrant |
| Southeast University | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Tianjin University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| MCC Capital Engineering & Research Inc. Ltd | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| Northeast Electric Power University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches in system integration and renewable coupling
Beyond the dominant F25B refrigeration cycle branch, several adjacent IPC classes show meaningful but relatively sparse coverage. Two stand out as technically relevant to COP improvement with realistic entry paths.
F24S · Solar heat collectors integrated with heat pumps
F24S (Solar heat collectors) registers 42 patent records — the fifth-largest branch but well below the dominant F25B cluster. Solar-assisted heat pump systems can materially raise effective COP by pre-heating the evaporator source fluid, reducing compressor lift. The sparse coverage relative to the thermal engineering activity in F25B suggests that the solar-ASHP integration layer — particularly for variable irradiance and seasonal optimization — remains under-claimed. Entry paths include hybrid collector-evaporator designs and predictive source-temperature control algorithms.
Search this in Eureka →G06N · AI-driven COP optimization and predictive control
G06N (Computing based on AI models) appears with only 6 patent records in this corpus, despite growing commercial deployment of machine-learning-based heat pump controllers that adapt compressor speed and refrigerant charge in real time to maximize COP under varying ambient and load conditions. The sparsity relative to the field’s size suggests that data-driven COP optimization — particularly reinforcement learning and physics-informed neural network approaches — is an under-claimed adjacent space. Realistic entry paths exist for controls-focused firms and software-hardware integrators.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ by refrigeration cycle sub-route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | F25B 30 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 49 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 41 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 47 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 13 · Refrigeration & heat pumps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy Heating Ltd | Moderate · 10 | Moderate · 10 | Absent | Strong · 12 | Strong · 21 |
| Southeast University | Strong · 21 | Absent | Moderate · 7 | Absent | Moderate · 8 |
| Northeast Electric Power University | Strong · 6 | Strong · 5 | Strong · 7 | Strong · 4 | Absent |
| Shaw David N | Absent | Strong · 7 | Absent | Moderate · 4 | Strong · 10 |
| Tianjin University | Absent | Strong · 7 | Strong · 7 | Absent | Strong · 6 |
| Tianjin University of Commerce | Absent | Absent | Strong · 8 | Strong · 7 | Strong · 5 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus analyzed contains 436 patent families covering air source heat pump COP efficiency innovations globally.
Octopus Energy Heating Ltd leads with 21 patent families, narrowly ahead of Southeast University at 19 patent families. Both are flagged as new entrants in the recent filing window, indicating rapid position-building rather than long-accumulated portfolios.
China is the dominant prosecution jurisdiction by a wide margin. The United States, WIPO (PCT), and the United Kingdom are the next most active, but each account for substantially fewer patent records. Australia, Canada, Europe (EPO), South Korea, and Japan are also present but represent thin coverage.
F25B (Refrigeration & heat pumps) is the dominant branch. Secondary branches include F24D (Domestic heating systems), F24F (Air conditioning & ventilation), F24H (Fluid heaters & water heaters), and F25D (Refrigerators & cooling), all with significantly lower patent record counts.
The lifecycle evidence classifies the field as Growth. The multi-year recent growth rate is 14%, and annual filings recovered strongly in 2023–2024 after a trough in 2020–2022. The 2025–2026 data points are understated due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
Two adjacent branches stand out: F24S (Solar heat collectors), where solar-assisted heat pump integration remains sparsely claimed relative to the core thermodynamic cycle work, and G06N (AI and computing models), where machine-learning-based COP optimization and predictive control appear under-represented given their growing commercial deployment.
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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.
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