Casing Exit and Sidetracking Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Casing Exit and Sidetracking Patents: Who Holds the Whipstock Claims
One filer holds 270 of 413 records in scope, and the top five together account for 91.0% of all filings — this field is about as concentrated as drilling-method IP gets. Annual filings climbed from 3 in 2017 to a peak of 79 in 2023, then dropped to 6 in 2024 — a 45% decline from the 2021 figure of 11. Because 2024 is the last year with a complete publication window, this pullback is a genuine signal rather than an artefact of publication lag; 2025 and 2026 figures will keep filling in and should not yet be read as continued decline.
- 1HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC270
- 2BAKER HUGHES CO73
- 3BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC13
- 4COILED TUBING SPECIALTIES LLC12
- 5REIGATE HLDG8
See the full casing exit and sidetracking 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
Common questions on casing exit and sidetracking patents
Who holds the most patents in casing exit and sidetracking technology?
One assignee dominates this field, holding 270 of the 413 records in scope — far ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 8 records and the tenth-ranked at 5. The top five assignees combined account for 91.0% of all records, and the top ten reach 97.8%. This is a heavily concentrated field: a small number of oilfield services majors control almost the entire filed portfolio, with a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants behind them.
Is patent filing in casing exit and sidetracking technology growing or slowing?
Filing activity rose from 3 records in 2017 to a peak of 79 in 2023, then dropped sharply to 6 in 2024 — a 45% decline from the 2021 level of 11. Because 2024 is the most recent year with a largely complete publication record, this drop reflects a real slowdown rather than the usual 18-month reporting lag. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still filling in and should not yet be read as confirming continued decline.
What does US11680463B2 cover and how does it affect new filings?
US11680463B2, held by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. and granted in 2023, covers a multilateral junction built around a y-block with an integral port seal member that can be opened, closed or choked, plus gaskets to hydraulically isolate the lateral bore and an optional controller to drive the seal position. It effectively blocks single-machined-object y-block junctions with an integrated, controller-driven seal from being claimed the same way. Anyone designing a multilateral junction with automated flow isolation needs to check their seal geometry and control architecture against this claim set specifically.
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 Casing Exit and Sidetracking 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.