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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/automated-fiber-placement-defect-control-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Aerostructures Patent Landscape · 2026 UpdateAutomated Fiber Placement Defect Control Patents: Mapping Who Owns the Claims
- 70.9% concentration. The top five assignees hold 134 of the 189 records in scope (70.9%), so a new entrant is filing directly around a small, well-defended cluster rather than into open ground.
- +500% filing growth, 2021→2024. Filings rose from 2 in 2021 to 12 in 2024, the fastest complete-year stretch in the dataset — read 2025 and 2026 figures as still filling in, not as a slowdown.
- Software creeping into a materials field. G06F (digital data processing) and G05B (control systems) each sit at 6.9-10.6% of records alongside the dominant B29C shaping class, pointing to detection and control logic as the newer claim layer.
189
Published Records
71%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+500%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (12) — 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 189 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Automated fiber placement (AFP) lays composite tow or tape under robotic control, and the defects that matter — tow gaps, overlaps, wrinkle formation — are geometric and process artefacts of steering radius, compaction force and layup rate. This landscape tracks 189 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that claim methods or apparatus addressing these defects, whether through mechanical control of the head, path planning, or in-process detection.
The scope favours patent families over raw filings so that continuation practice and multi-jurisdiction refiling do not inflate any single applicant's footprint. Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the underlying filing activity actually was.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 189-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings climbed from 12 in 2017 to a peak of 18 in 2018, then troughed before rebuilding sharply: 2021's 2 filings grew to 12 by 2024, a +500% span over three complete years. 2025 and 2026 totals are still low because publication has not caught up with filing.
IPC subclass composition
B29C (shaping of plastics) anchors the field at 67.2% of the 189 records. B32B (laminates) and B29B (plastics preparation) follow as materials-side classes, while G06F and G05B, each at 6.9-10.6%, mark where detection software and control-loop logic are being claimed alongside the mechanical apparatus.
Shares are the percentage of the 189 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Representative filing and most-cited records
Representative Record
Method of operating an automated fiber placement machine
TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
The method determines an effective length and steering radius for a localized curved portion of a layup path, then references a data set pairing those two values with maximum speed values at which a predetermined defect is avoided. Layup speed is set based on where the current path segment falls in that reference data, letting the machine run as fast as the geometry allows without crossing into defect-producing territory.Filed by Textron Innovations, published 2019-08-22 — ties layup speed directly to steering-radius geometry rather than to a fixed feed rate.
Most-cited records in this dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6692681B1 | Method and apparatus for manufacturing composite structures | 316 |
| 2 | WO1998032589A1 | Method and apparatus for manufacturing composite structures | 69 |
| 3 | US7376480B2 | Multihead composite material application machine programming method and apparatus for manufacturing composite… | 62 |
| 4 | US20050240291A1 | Performing high-speed events ''on-the-fly'' during fabrication of a composite structure by automated fiber pl… | 62 |
| 5 | US20070106418A1 | Multihead composite material application machine programming method and apparatus for manufacturing composite… | 53 |
| 6 | US20190318444A1 | Method and means to analyze thermographic data acquired during automated fiber placement | 44 |
| 7 | US20100193103A1 | Automated fiber placement using networked autonomous vehicles | 39 |
| 8 | US20140370237A1 | Dry fibrous material for subsequent resin infusion | 34 |
| 9 | US20070173966A1 | Visual fiber placement inspection | 32 |
| 10 | US7835567B2 | Visual fiber placement inspection | 28 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate them — treat this table as a map of influence, not of current claim strength.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three readings of the dataset that matter more than the raw counts themselves.
Concentration
70.9%
of 189 records held by top 5
Claim space is tight at the top
With 134 of 189 records held by five assignees, most core mechanical and process-control claims around tow placement are already staked out. New filings that compete head-on with compaction-force or steering-radius claims are entering a crowded, well-cited space rather than an open one.
Top 5 = 70.9% of all records in scope
Momentum
+500%
filing growth, 2021 → 2024
A field re-accelerating, not cooling
The jump from 2 filings in 2021 to 12 in 2024 marks the fastest complete-year growth in the dataset. Read the thinner 2025-2026 counts as a publication-lag artefact, not evidence the field has slowed.
2021: 2 filings → 2024: 12 filings
Composition
6.9-10.6%
share held by G06F & G05B classes
Detection and control logic is the newer layer
B29C dominates as the mechanical shaping class at 67.2% of records, but G06F (10.6%) and G05B (6.9%) show a software and control-loop layer building on top of the mechanical apparatus — defect detection and closed-loop speed control rather than the head itself.
G06F 10.6% · G05B 6.9% of 189 records
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to automated fiber placement defect control, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking covers 34 companies returned by the data endpoint — not a top-50 or top-100 cut — with a steep drop from the leader to the rest of the field.
Leader
52
records held by the top assignee
A single leader well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 52 records against a fifth-place count of 11 and a tenth-place count of 6 — a drop-off steep enough that competitive monitoring should focus on the leader's continuation filings first.
Leader 52 vs 5th place 11 vs 10th place 6
Collaboration
6
co-assignee pairs identified
Joint filing is rare and narrow
Only six co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest of them links a single materials-and-machine-tool pairing repeated across a modest cluster of filings. Most assignees here file solo.
6 co-assignee pairs across 189 records
Geography
81
US-received records
US-centred filing with a European second tier
The United States receives the largest share of filings (81), with Europe (EPO, 42) and Canada (19) as secondary venues. WIPO/PCT filings (12) are comparatively modest, suggesting most applicants are protecting home or primary manufacturing markets rather than filing broadly at the outset.
US 81 · EPO 42 · Canada 19 · PCT 12
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| The Boeing Company | 0 | -100% |
| Cytec Industries Inc. | 0 | — |
| INGERSOLL MACHINE TOOLS INC | 0 | — |
| CYTEC ENGINEERED MATERIALS INC | 0 | — |
| CGTECH | 0 | — |
| Trelleborg Sealing Solutions US, Inc. | 0 | — |
| VOUGHT AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES INC | 0 | — |
| Goodrich Corporation | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to three practical next steps for a team deciding where to file or where to watch.
Check the leader's recent filings first
With one assignee holding 52 of 189 records, its continuation and divisional activity is the single most useful signal for where the core claim boundary sits today.
Explore assignee filings in EurekaTest draft claims against the detection-software layer
G06F and G05B classes are thinner than the mechanical core, which is where a defect-detection or control-loop claim is more likely to clear prior art.
Run a claim clearance search in EurekaWatch citation leaders for design-around risk
The most-cited records in this dataset anchor a large share of downstream citations; any new filing near their claim language should be checked against them specifically.
Pull full-text citation maps in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on AFP defect-control patents
The dataset shows a single leading assignee with 52 of 189 records, well ahead of a fifth-place holder at 11 and a tenth-place holder at 6. This drop-off means the field is not a flat competitive set — one company's filing pattern shapes a large share of the claim landscape. Anyone entering this space should study that leader's continuation and divisional filings before drafting new claims, since they are the most likely source of overlap.
Complete-year data shows strong growth, not a slowdown: filings rose from 2 in 2021 to 12 in 2024, a +500% increase over that span. The lower counts visible in 2025 and 2026 are a publication-lag artefact — patent applications typically take around 18 months to publish, so the most recent one to two years always understate real filing activity. Judged on the last complete years, the field is accelerating.
B29C (shaping of plastics) covers 67.2% of the 189 records and anchors the field as a mechanical, apparatus-heavy area. Layered-product claims under B32B (17.5%) and materials-preparation claims under B29B (11.6%) follow. A smaller but notable layer — G06F and G05B, together 6.9-10.6% — covers digital data processing and control-system claims, pointing to defect detection and process control as a growing claim category layered on top of the mechanical head and tape-laying apparatus.
The composition data shows the mechanical core (B29C) is heavily claimed while the software and control layer (G06F, G05B) is comparatively thin at 6.9-10.6% of records. Practical white space sits in real-time compaction-force feedback, in-process wrinkle detection, and steering-radius-linked speed control algorithms — areas that build on the mechanical apparatus without duplicating the core claims already held by the leading assignees. Co-assignee filing is also rare, with only six pairs identified across the dataset, suggesting joint development claims are underused as a filing strategy.
This Textron Innovations filing claims a method that sets AFP layup speed by referencing a data set pairing effective path length and steering radius with maximum speeds proven not to cause a defect. It blocks approaches that dynamically set layup speed based on that specific steering-radius-to-speed correspondence for curved path segments. It does not, on its face, block fixed feed-rate systems or defect avoidance methods based on different input variables, such as compaction force alone or sensor-based real-time detection rather than pre-computed reference data — those remain more open design-around routes.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Automated Fiber Placement Defect Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.