CFRP Damage Tolerance & Certification Patent Snapshot
Boeing holds a commanding position in CFRP damage tolerance and certification patenting, accounting for the largest single share of activity in a field that peaked in 2017 and has since contracted sharply. The competitive space is highly concentrated, with aerospace OEMs and U.S. government-linked entities occupying the top tier, leaving adjacent manufacturing and materials branches relatively sparse.
Boeing leads a tightly held, aerospace-OEM-dominated field
Boeing sits atop the applicant ranking with 28 patent records, nearly six times the count of the next-ranked filer, Rolls-Royce Corp at 5. The top five filers collectively account for 65% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, a concentration level that signals a field where a small number of vertically integrated aerospace players have staked out the core IP.
The tier gap between Boeing and the rest of the field is substantial. Rolls-Royce Corp, the U. S. Government, Florida State University Research Foundation, and Cutting Dynamics each hold 4–5 patent records — a cluster that forms a modest second tier, followed by a long tail of single- or dual-record holders including individual inventors and materials specialists.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Boeing Company | 28 | |
| 2 | Rolls-Royce Corp | 5 | |
| 3 | The Government of the United States of America | 4 | |
| 4 | Florida State University Research Foundation | 4 | |
| 5 | Cutting Dynamics | 4 | |
| 6 | Gleason Gregory R | 2 | |
| 7 | Zenkner Grant C | 2 | |
| 8 | Haworth Troy A | 2 | |
| 9 | Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation | 2 | |
| 10 | Kaabour Nazir M | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH | 2 | |
| 12 | Airbus Operations SL | 2 | |
| 13 | Zhejiang Lianyang New Material | 1 | |
| 14 | Yangtze River Delta Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials Technology Innovation Center | 1 | |
| 15 | Tangitek LLC | 1 | |
| 16 | DeAngelis Rocco T | 1 | |
| 17 | Zhejiang Lianyang Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 18 | Zhejiang University | 1 | |
| 19 | Carson William V | 1 | |
| 20 | Toray Industries, Inc. | 1 |
Boeing’s dominance reflects its dual role as the primary commercial platform developer and a direct beneficiary of damage-tolerance certification requirements for large composite structures. Rolls-Royce’s presence signals interest in engine fan-blade and nacelle certification, while academic and government co-applicants indicate that foundational research remains partly publicly funded.
Patent publication lags mean the most recent 18–24 months of filing data are likely under-represented; trend readings for 2024–2026 should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2017 peak followed by sharp contraction; plastics-shaping and aerospace structures dominate the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition charts together show a field that generated its highest annual activity in 2017 and has since settled at low single-digit annual volumes, while the IPC class mix reveals a heavy concentration in composite-shaping and airframe structures.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked at 10 in 2017, dropped to zero in 2018, and have since fluctuated at 2–3 per year, with zeros again in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 and 2025 readings of 2 each are subject to publication lag and likely understate true filing activity for those years; 2026 appears at zero for the same reason. The multi-year trajectory is one of post-peak decline rather than a temporary trough.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B29C (shaping of plastics) is the visible IPC branch with 46 patent records, followed by B64C (aeroplanes and helicopters) at 23 — together these two classes account for the majority of the corpus. Secondary branches include B29L, B29D, B29K, and B64D, each in the 10–12 range, while materials-testing (G01N), nanotechnology (B82Y), and digital processing (G06F) appear at the margins.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer cargo beam with in…
A cargo beam assembly for an aircraft including a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) cargo beam and a plurality of CFRP stanchions and CFRP c-splice plates each connected to the CFRP cargo beam by overlapping CFRP plies. The flanges of the cargo beam assembly may all be facing a single direction. The components of the assembly may all be formed with… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reinforcing woven carbon fiber fabric and its prod… | 30 |
| 2 | Hybrid multifunctional composite material and meth… | 26 |
| 3 | System and method for forming thermoplastic-compos… | 22 |
| 4 | System and method for forming thermoplastic-compos… | 17 |
| 5 | Planked stringers that provide structural support … | 13 |
| 6 | Methods for diverting lightning current from skin … | 11 |
| 7 | Compound contoured composite beams and fabrication… | 9 |
| 8 | 一种基于新型内聚力本构关系的CFRP层板分层失效行为预测方法 | 7 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
The Boeing Company
Boeing holds 28 patent records, the largest position in the corpus by a wide margin. Its technology focus spans B29C 70 (shaping of plastics, 20 records), B64C 1 (aeroplanes and helicopters, 18 records), and B29D 99 (specific plastic articles, 10 records), reflecting a comprehensive airframe-composite strategy covering forming, structural integration, and finished-part certification. No applicant momentum data is available for the most recent filing window, so trajectory cannot be precisely quantified.
28 patent recordsRolls-Royce Corp
Rolls-Royce Corp holds 5 patent records and distinguishes itself through a technology mix that combines B29C 70 (shaping of plastics, 5 records) with D03D 1 (woven fabrics and weaving, 5 records) and F01D 21 (turbines and non-positive engines, 5 records). This profile points to a focused effort on woven-CFRP fan blades and containment structures requiring engine-specific damage-tolerance certification, a domain distinct from Boeing’s airframe orientation. Momentum data for the recent filing window is not available.
5 patent recordsFrequently asked questions
The evidence corpus covers 21 patent families. This is a narrow, specialist field; the relatively small family count reflects the highly technical and regulation-driven nature of certification-focused CFRP IP, which tends to be filed selectively rather than broadly.
The Boeing Company leads with 28 patent records, far ahead of the second-ranked filer Rolls-Royce Corp at 5. Boeing’s technology focus spans composite shaping (B29C 70), airframe structures (B64C 1), and specific plastic articles (B29D 99).
The field is assessed as being in Decline, with annual filings easing back from a peak of 10 in 2017. The recent growth figure stands at -71%. The 2024 and 2025 data points showing 2 filings each should be treated as provisional given typical publication lags.
Europe (EPO) is the leading filing jurisdiction with 23 patent records, followed by the United States at 14 and China at 5. Canada holds 4 records and WIPO PCT filings number 3. The EPO’s lead reflects the importance of EASA airworthiness certification and the presence of Airbus-linked applicants.
Three co-filing relationships are identified in the evidence: Florida State University Research Foundation with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2 joint filings), Florida State University Research Foundation with the U.S. Government (2 joint filings), and individual inventor Zenkner Grant C with Boeing (2 joint filings). These suggest that publicly funded aerospace research connects directly to prime-contractor IP strategy.
B32B (layered products and laminates) appears at 8 patent records and B64D (aircraft equipment) at 10, both at lower share levels relative to the visible B29C and B64C branches. G01N (material analysis and testing) and G06F (digital data processing) each appear at only 2 and 1 records respectively, suggesting that in-service inspection, structural health monitoring, and computational certification workflows remain under-represented in this corpus.
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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.
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