Carbon-Carbon Composites Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Filing is still accelerating, not peaking. the midpoint year (2022) sits at just 1 filing versus a 2025 peak of 4, and 2026 is already tracking to 3 with data still incomplete.
- Brake applications dominate the claim set. F16D (clutches & brakes) appears in 74 of 140 records alongside C04B ceramics, showing friction-part use is the primary commercial driver, not aerospace structures alone.
- The US leads filing venues by a wide margin. 38 records route through the USPTO versus 29 at the EPO and 27 in China, with a small but co-filing-linked cluster of named inventors repeating across disclosures.
What the carbon-carbon composite patent record shows
Carbon-carbon composite patenting sits at the intersection of ceramics processing and friction-part engineering. The search set spans 140 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026, concentrated around densification cycles, preform architecture, oxidation protection coatings and thermal conductivity claims — the technical levers that separate a workable brake disc or thermostructural part from a failed one. Filing activity has been low-volume but steadily building rather than falling off a post-2015 peak, which is unusual for a materials category this mature.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures in the trend chart are undercounts; the true trajectory is likely steeper than the raw numbers suggest. Read the ranking by patent family rather than by raw document count, since the same underlying invention is often filed in multiple jurisdictions.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 140-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those filings distribute across IPC subclasses.
Accelerating from a low base
Filings moved from 2 in 2017 to a midpoint low of 1 in 2022, then climbed to a peak of 4 in 2025. With 2026 already at 3 on a partial year, the underlying trend is upward — this is not a category coasting on legacy filings.
Brakes and ceramics processing dominate
C04B (ceramics, cement & refractories) appears in 100 of 140 records and F16D (clutches & brakes) in 74, confirming that friction-part applications drive most claim activity. Supporting subclasses — C01B, B32B, D04H, C23C — point to fiber-preform and coating work that underpins the primary brake and thermostructural claims rather than standing alone.
Shares are the percentage of the 140 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Carbon-Carbon Composites with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about carbon-carbon composites and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe documents shaping freedom to operate
US7998376B2 — Method for reducing variability in friction performance
Honeywell's method chains multiple densification stages — CVD/CVI followed by two rounds of pitch infiltration (VPI or RTM) with intervening carbonization steps — applied to nonwoven annular carbon fiber brake disc preforms. The sequencing is the point: each carbonization step reopens porosity so the next densification pass can penetrate the part rather than sealing the surface.Filed by Honeywell International Inc., granted 2011-08-16.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20050176329A1 | Three-dimensional fiber structure of refractory fibers, a method of making it, and thermostructural composite… | 114 |
| 2 | US20110124253A1 | CNT-infused fibers in carbon-carbon composites | 105 |
| 3 | US20170241713A1 | Advanced material for molten metal processing equipment | 65 |
| 4 | US7384663B2 | Method of making a three-dimensional fiber structure of refractory fibers | 44 |
| 5 | US9126873B2 | Process for producing a self-healing layer on a part made of a C/C composite | 40 |
| 6 | US6355206B1 | Sic-C/C composite material, uses thereof, and method for producing the same | 40 |
| 7 | US20100000070A1 | Reusable core carbon-carbon composite brake disc | 39 |
| 8 | CN106966751A | 高性能低成本C/C‑SiC复合材料制动盘及其制备方法与应用 | 38 |
| 9 | US6342171B1 | Process of stabilizing a carbonaceous pitch-based foam | 37 |
| 10 | US6006885A | Friction-in-oil device having coaxial disks | 37 |
Citation counts favour older filings inside any searched corpus — treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-outs from the filing pattern, citation graph and geography that matter more than the raw counts.
Growth is early-stage, not saturated
A midpoint of just 1 filing in 2022 followed by a climb to 4 in 2025 indicates a category that only recently attracted renewed attention, likely tied to renewed brake and thermostructural demand. This is not a space where the claim landscape is locked down by decades of dense filing.
Ceramics processing is the crowded core
Any new filing on densification cycles or matrix chemistry will land in the most heavily populated subclass in this dataset. F16D brake-specific claims are nearly as dense at 74 of 140, so combined ceramics-plus-brake claims face the tightest prior art.
A small set of foundational filings anchors the field
The most-cited records concern three-dimensional fiber structures and CNT-infused fiber reinforcement — both foundational preform-architecture ideas that later oxidation-coating and densification patents build on and must design around.
The US leads but the spread is genuinely global
No single office holds a majority of filings. A strategy built only around US or EPO prior art will miss a meaningful share of the record sitting in China and Japan.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to carbon-carbon composites, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The assignee ranking (rendered separately) shows a small set of repeat filers alongside a long tail of single-family entrants — typical of a category still forming its competitive core.
A tight inventor group anchors one filing line
The strongest co-assignee pair in the dataset, LA FOREST MARK L and FRYSKA SLAWOMIR T, appear together on 7 filings, with a related three-way overlap involving SIMPSON ALLEN H. That density suggests a single sustained engineering programme rather than scattered individual inventions.
No single filer is actively driving 2026 volume yet
None of the leading assignees by historical count — including Honeywell, NGK Insulators, Applied NanoStructured Solutions and Dunlop — logged a filing in the most recent year in this dataset. The current-year uptick to 3 filings is therefore coming from filers outside the historical leaderboard.
A concentrated but not consolidated field
With 140 total families and citation weight sitting on a handful of foundational documents, the field has room for new entrants to establish position in specific sub-claims rather than needing to displace an incumbent portfolio.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
| NGK Insulators, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Applied NanoStructured Solutions, LLC | 0 | — |
| LA FOREST MARK L | 0 | — |
| FRYSKA SLAWOMIR T | 0 | — |
| Dunlop Limited | 0 | — |
| Hitco Carbon Composites, Inc. | 0 | — |
| National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) | 0 | — |
Where to take this research
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace mapping or competitor tracking.
Map the densification-cycle claim chain
US7998376B2 and its cited predecessors define a specific multi-stage densification sequence. Anyone developing a new densification process should trace which steps are already claimed before finalizing a process flow.
Explore densification prior art in EurekaTrack the co-filing cluster's next moves
The LA FOREST / FRYSKA / SIMPSON filing group represents a concentrated, active engineering effort. Watching their future filings is a low-cost way to anticipate where brake-disc claim activity moves next.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaTest claim scope in under-filed IPC branches
Oxidation coating and nonwoven preform subclasses carry far fewer records than the ceramics and brake core, which may allow narrower, cleaner claims with less prior art collision.
Run a whitespace search in EurekaCommon questions about carbon-carbon composite patents
The most-cited record in this dataset is US20050176329A1, covering a three-dimensional fiber structure for refractory fibers used in thermostructural friction parts, cited 114 times. Honeywell International holds several heavily cited filings as well, including the process patent US7998376B2 covering a multi-stage densification method for brake discs. Citation weight favours older filings simply because they have been available longer, so newer entrants should check current filing activity, not just citation rank, before assuming who is dominant today.
Chemical vapor deposition/infiltration (CVD/CVI) deposits carbon matrix material from a gas phase throughout a porous fiber preform, while vacuum pitch infiltration (VPI) or resin transfer molding (RTM) forces liquid isotropic or mesophase pitch into the preform, which is then carbonized. Patents in this dataset, including US7998376B2, often chain both methods together with intervening carbonization steps to reopen porosity, because relying on a single method tends to seal the surface before the part reaches full density. The choice and sequencing of these steps is itself patented territory in several filings.
The United States leads with 38 records in this dataset, followed by the European Patent Office at 29 and China at 27, with Japan close behind at 19. Filing through WIPO/PCT and the UK is comparatively small, at 7 and 4 respectively, suggesting most applicants pursue targeted protection in their largest markets rather than broad global filing. A freedom-to-operate review limited to US and European art alone would miss a meaningful share of the Chinese and Japanese record.
Filing activity is accelerating rather than slowing: the trend dipped to a midpoint low of 1 filing in 2022 before climbing to a peak of 4 in 2025, and 2026 is already tracking at 3 filings despite being a partial year. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the true recent-year volume is likely higher than currently visible. This pattern points to renewed commercial interest, possibly tied to brake-system or thermostructural demand, rather than a mature field coasting on legacy patents.
Relative to the dense core of ceramics processing (C04B, 100 records) and brake applications (F16D, 74 records), branches like self-healing oxidation coatings, CNT-infused fiber reinforcement, and nonwoven preform architecture for thermal load carry far fewer filings. These lower-density branches are candidates for narrower, cleaner first claims because they sit adjacent to well-established prior art without being fully occupied by it. Anyone filing in these areas should still check the small but relevant existing record, such as the CNT-infused fiber patent US20110124253A1, before drafting claims.
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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.