Avionics & Flight Control Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 26.3% of all 10,021 records sit with just five assignees, marking a heavily defended core around airframe and rotorcraft control.
- Filings fell 21% from 2021 to 2024 (531 to 422), after peaking at 587 in 2019 — the cooling predates the still-incomplete 2025-26 data.
- Drones, traffic control and data processing each cover under 9% of records, marking the thinner, less consolidated branches of the field.
Filing growth compares 2021 (531 records) with 2024 (422) — 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 10,021 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
A field anchored in airframe control, thinning toward its edges
Avionics and flight control patenting spans 10,021 published records from 2015 through the current data cut-off, covering aircraft and rotorcraft control systems, avionics equipment, propulsion control, and the sensors and thermal management systems that support them. The claim space is not evenly spread: aeroplane and helicopter control (B64C) alone touches 46.2% of records, making it the field’s structural core, while drone control, propulsion, traffic management and digital processing occupy smaller, more open positions.
Filing activity peaked in 2019 and has eased since, though the most recent years remain incomplete because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months. Concentration among the leading assignees is real but not extreme — the top 5 hold 26.3% of records — leaving a long tail of smaller filers active across the less consolidated branches.
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Filing trends and technology composition
The dataset covers 10,021 published records from 2015 through the 2026-08-31 cut-off, spanning flight control, avionics equipment and the propulsion and structural systems they govern.
Filings rose to a 2019 peak, then eased
Annual filings climbed from 501 in 2017 to a peak of 587 in 2019, then declined to 422 by 2024 — a 21% drop across 2021-2024. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent years should not be read as a continued fall.
Airframe control dominates, drones and data processing are thinner
Aeroplane and helicopter control (B64C) appears in 46.2% of the 10,021 records, aircraft equipment (B64D) in 27.5%, and non-electric control systems (G05D) in 20.1%. Drone flight control (B64U), gas-turbine plants (F02C), jet propulsion (F02K), traffic control (G08G) and digital data processing (G06F) each sit between 5% and 9%, marking them as smaller but active branches rather than empty ones.
Shares are the percentage of the 10,021 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Avionics & Flight Control Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about avionics & flight control patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe records shaping this field
Flight control system and flight control apparatus
A flight control system includes an acquiring unit that acquires a flight plan in which a first flight condition is described. A setting unit sets a degree of risk in an airspace where a flying object flies. A determining unit determines a second flight condition based on an object detected within a predetermined range from the flying object. A flight control unit controls flight of the flying object by switching between a first flight control method according to the first flight condition and a second flight control method according to a part of the first flight condition and the second flight condition in accordance with the degree of risk.Filed 2021-03-11 · US20210074168A1
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20030093187A1 | PFN/TRAC systemTM FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of ai… | 977 |
| 2 | US6056237A | Sonotube compatible unmanned aerial vehicle and system | 795 |
| 3 | US20050004723A1 | Vehicle control system including related methods and components | 640 |
| 4 | US20050187677A1 | PFN/TRAC systemTM FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of ai… | 595 |
| 5 | US20190385057A1 | System and Method for using Signal Waveform Analysis for Detecting a Change in a Wired Network | 584 |
| 6 | US20200389469A1 | System and method for tunnel-based malware detection | 532 |
| 7 | US6965816B2 | PFN/TRAC system FAA upgrades for accountable remote and robotics control to stop the unauthorized use of airc… | 489 |
| 8 | US5890441A | Horizontal and vertical take off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle | 418 |
| 9 | US5823468A | Hybrid aircraft | 399 |
| 10 | US20160236790A1 | System and methods for implementing regional air transit network using hybrid-electric aircraft | 395 |
Citation counts are drawn from a searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a measure of influence on later filings, not of current commercial relevance.
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Reading concentration, class coverage and momentum together shows where flight control claim space is defended and where it is still open.
A small group controls the airframe core
The five largest assignees together hold 26.3% of all 10,021 records, and the leader alone accounts for 1,265. That level of concentration in B64C-heavy airframe and rotorcraft control makes head-on filing in that class an expensive proposition for a new entrant.
Filing volume has eased from its 2019 peak
Annual filings peaked at 587 in 2019 and fell to 422 by 2024, a 21% decline over that three-year span. The 2025-26 figures are still incomplete due to the usual 18-month publication lag, so this should be read as a cooling rather than a collapse.
Airframe and rotorcraft control is the anchor class
B64C covers 46.2% of the 10,021 records, well ahead of aircraft equipment (B64D, 27.5%) and non-electric control systems (G05D, 20.1%). Drones, propulsion and data-processing classes each sit under 9%, marking them as real but secondary fronts.
Joint filing is rare across this field
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest of them cluster around aerostructure and engine partnerships. Most filing here is done by single assignees rather than joint ventures, which limits how much white space is closed off by cross-company agreements.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to avionics & flight control patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how concentrated the field really is
The ranking covers 100 companies across the 10,021 records in scope. It is the full set the data endpoint returns, not a top-50 or top-100 cut, and it shows a defended core with a long tail behind it.
One assignee sets the pace
The leading assignee's 1,265 records dwarf the rest of the ranking, reflecting decades of continuation filing across airframe, avionics and propulsion control systems by a major aerospace prime.
A defended core, not a monopoly
The five largest assignees combine for 26.3% of all records, concentrated heavily in B64C-class airframe and rotorcraft control. That leaves nearly three-quarters of filings distributed across the remaining ranked companies and beyond.
The tenth-place filer already trails far behind the leader
By tenth place, annual volume drops to 166 records, well under a seventh of the leader's total. The top 10 combined hold 37.4% of all records, meaning the majority of the field is filed by companies outside this group.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Archer Aviation Inc | 14 | -75% |
| Honeywell International Inc | 3 | -75% |
| The Boeing Co | 1 | -75% |
| General Electric Co | 1 | -67% |
| Textron Innovations Inc | 1 | -80% |
| United Technologies Corp | 0 | — |
| Bell Helicopter Textron Inc | 0 | — |
| Sikorsky Aircraft Corp | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a defended airframe core and several thinner, still-open branches. The next step is usually to go from field-level shares to specific claim scope.
Pressure-test a filing idea against the leader's claim depth
With 1,265 records from the top assignee alone, checking claim overlap before drafting in B64C-heavy airframe control avoids filing directly into the densest prior art.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaTrack momentum in the under-claimed branches
Traffic control, digital processing and drone-specific control classes each sit under 9% of records with no dominant single filer — worth monitoring as they build density.
Set up alerts in EurekaStudy the switching-logic claim pattern directly
US20210074168A1 illustrates how risk-conditioned mode switching gets claimed in flight control systems, a useful template for reading similar filings.
Open the full record in EurekaCommon questions about avionics and flight control patents
Filing is concentrated at the top: the leading assignee alone accounts for 1,265 of the 10,021 records in scope, and the five largest assignees together hold 26.3% of all records. This is typical of aerospace, where large primes and their subsidiaries file continuations across airframe, engine and control systems for decades. Below that leading group sits a long tail of smaller filers, universities and single-patent entrants, so a full competitive picture requires looking past just the top names.
Filings peaked at 587 in 2019 and had fallen to 422 by 2024, a 21% decline across the 2021-2024 window using the dataset's own figures. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts in this dataset are still filling in and should not be read as evidence of a continuing drop. The safest reading is that the field cooled somewhat off its 2019 peak but has not collapsed.
The largest class is B64C, covering aeroplanes and helicopters, present in 46.2% of the 10,021 records. B64D (aircraft equipment) and G05D (control of non-electric variables) follow at 27.5% and 20.1%. Smaller but active classes include B64U (drones, 8.6%), F02C and F02K (gas-turbine and jet propulsion, 7.3% and 6.2%), G08G (traffic control, 6.1%) and G06F (digital data processing, 5.2%). Because a single record can carry multiple classes, these shares add up to more than 100%.
Core airframe and rotorcraft control claims under B64C are the most heavily filed and the most concentrated among the leading assignees, making that space expensive to enter head-on. The safer openings sit in thinner, less consolidated branches such as traffic control (G08G) and digital data processing (G06F) applied to flight systems, where filing volume is real but no single assignee dominates. A new entrant is generally better served pairing a physical, directly measured control parameter with one of these thinner branches than trying to out-claim the leader on general flight control logic.
US20210074168A1, assigned to NTT DOCOMO and filed 2021-03-11, claims a flight control system that switches between two control methods based on a computed degree of risk drawn from a flight plan and a detected object condition. It matters because the switching mechanism itself, not either underlying control method, is the novel element, which makes it a reference point for anyone building risk-adaptive autonomous flight logic. Designs that trigger mode changes on a direct measured threshold rather than a composite risk score sit outside its core claim.
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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.