Autopilot and Autoland Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Autopilot and autoland systems: patents behind glide slope capture, autoflare and rollout guidance
61.2% concentration. The top five assignees hold 972 of the 1,589 records in scope — this is a field claimed early and defended hard by a small group. Filings ran from 67 in 2017 to a peak of 90 in 2022, then declined to 38 by 2024 — a -55% move over the 2021-2024 span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still climbing as publications catch up with filing dates roughly 18 months earlier, so this is not evidence the field has gone quiet.
- 1HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC392
- 2THE BOEING CO372
- 3ROCKWELL COLLINS INC90
- 4INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS & SUPPORT INC65
- 5GE AVIATION SYSTEMS LLC53
See the full autopilot and autoland 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
Autopilot and autoland patents: frequently asked questions
Who holds the most patents in autopilot and autoland systems?
One assignee leads clearly with 392 of the 1,589 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 53. The top five assignees combined hold 972 records, or 61.2% of all records in scope, meaning a small group has shaped the core claim space in glide slope capture, autoflare and related functions. Beyond the top ten, holdings drop off quickly, with a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants making up the rest of the ranked field.
Is autopilot and autoland patent filing slowing down?
Filing volume fell from a peak of 90 in 2022 to 38 in 2024, a decline of 55% documented over that three-year span. However, patent publication typically lags the actual filing date by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as proof the field has gone quiet. The more reliable read is that activity cooled from an unusually active 2021-2022 period rather than that innovation has stopped.
What technology areas do autopilot and autoland patents cover most?
Two IPC subclasses dominate: G05D, covering control of non-electric variables, appears in 37.1% of the 1,589 records, and G08G, traffic control systems, in 32.4%. Aircraft equipment (B64D) and navigation and gyroscope systems (G01C) both feature in roughly a quarter of records. Because a single patent can carry several classification codes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, and the pattern shows the field is claimed mainly at the control-logic and traffic-management level rather than at the airframe or propulsion-hardware level.
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 Autopilot and Autoland 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.