Connected Powertrain / OTA Patent Snapshot 2026
The connected powertrain / OTA patent space is nascent and highly concentrated, with a single filer — Cummins Inc — holding all families identified to date. Filing activity emerged only in 2024–2025, signalling an early-formation stage rather than a mature competitive field.
A single-applicant field at the earliest stage of formation
Cummins Inc is the sole ranked applicant in this corpus, holding all 3 patent families identified. The top-five filers’ share of the ranked applicants visible in this query is 100%, reflecting a corpus too small to show meaningful competitive distribution.
There is no second tier to speak of: no challenger or follower applicant appears in the ranking. This extreme concentration is best interpreted as evidence that the space is still forming rather than as a sign of entrenched dominance.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cummins Inc | 3 |
Cummins’ position suggests it is staking early IP ground in electric vehicle propulsion and hybrid/joint vehicle control as applied to connected powertrain architectures, but the small corpus means that position could shift rapidly with a few new filings from adjacent players.
The most recent filing period (2024–2025) is subject to standard publication lag; the corpus total should be treated as a floor, not a ceiling, for activity in those years. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity emerged in 2024–2025; electric propulsion dominates the technology mix
Two data cuts reveal the timing and technical character of this nascent space: an annual filing trend that was flat through 2023 before a first pulse in 2024–2025, and a technology composition dominated by electric-vehicle propulsion classes.
Annual filing trend
Zero filings were recorded from 2017 through 2023; a single family appeared in 2024 and two more in 2025. The 2025 figure is subject to publication lag and likely understates true activity, so the apparent plateau into 2026 should not be read as stagnation.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B60L (electric vehicle propulsion) accounts for all 3 families in the corpus, with a secondary presence of B60W (hybrid/joint vehicle control) covering 1 family. This mix indicates that connected powertrain OTA work is currently anchored in electrified drivetrain management rather than conventional internal-combustion control.
↗ 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.
Battery electric vehicle powertrain architectures …
A system of a vehicle includes: a first motor associated with a first controller; a second motor associated with a second controller; a first battery associated with a first battery management system; a second battery associated with a second battery management system; and a master controller coupled to the first controller, the second controller, the first… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
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.
Cummins Inc
Cummins holds all 3 patent families in scope, focused on B60L electric vehicle propulsion sub-classes (B60L15, B60L50, B60L58). The applicant momentum evidence marks Cummins as a new entrant in this specific space, with filings appearing for the first time in the most recent period. That trajectory reflects deliberate early positioning rather than an established patent programme.
families: 3No ranked challenger identified
No second-ranked applicant appears in the evidence. Teams monitoring competitive risk should watch for new entrants from automotive OEMs, commercial vehicle Tier-1 suppliers, and software-defined-vehicle platform providers, none of whom appear in this corpus at present.
families: —Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 3 patent families. This is a very small corpus consistent with a nascent, early-formation field.
Cummins Inc is the sole ranked applicant, holding all 3 patent families identified in the evidence.
Filings were recorded starting in 2024, with 1 family that year and 2 families in 2025. There was no recorded activity from 2017 through 2023.
B60L (electric vehicle propulsion) covers all 3 families, and B60W (hybrid/joint vehicle control) covers 1 family. No communication or software-layer IPC classes appear in the current corpus.
The families are filed in Europe (EPO), India, and the United States — one filing each, with Europe listed as the lead office.
The evidence shows minimal prior-art density and only one active filer, which indicates low current IP blocking risk. However, the very small corpus also means the assignee snapshot could shift quickly; teams should monitor for new entrants from OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and software-defined-vehicle platforms not yet visible in this evidence.
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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.
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