Crane Automation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Crane automation and container handling patents: who is claiming positioning, twistlock actuation and collision detection
56.3% of all 135 records sit with just five assignees, so most of the working claim space in this dataset is already occupied by a small group of filers. Filings were essentially flat through 2017, built to a peak of 11 in 2022, then dropped -89% from 9 in 2021 to 1 in 2024 — the last year in the series with a reasonably complete publication record. Readings for 2025 and 2026 will fill in further as later-filed applications publish, so they should not yet be read as a continued decline.
- 1KONECRANES GLOBAL OY22
- 2ELME SPREADER21
- 3KONECRANES FINLAND OY16
- 4ABB AB9
- 5KONECRANES OYJ8
See the full crane automation and container handling 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 crane automation patents
Who holds the most patents in crane automation and container handling?
In this dataset of 135 records, filing is led by a single assignee holding 22 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 8 and the tenth at 4. The top 5 assignees together hold 56.3% of all 135 records, and the top 10 extend that to 76.3%. Names include established crane and terminal-equipment manufacturers alongside newer software-and-sensing entrants; consult the ranked table on this page for the exact order, since it is drawn directly from the underlying data rather than summarised here.
Is patent filing in crane automation still growing?
Filing peaked at 11 records in 2022 and then fell sharply, down -89% from 9 filings in 2021 to 1 in 2024, the most recent year that can be treated as reasonably complete. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any such dataset will understate actual filing activity and should not be read as a genuine slowdown yet. A clearer read on the current trajectory will only be possible once another one to two years of publications have caught up.
What technologies dominate crane automation patent claims?
Crane and hoist mechanics (IPC class B66C) appear on 60.7% of the 135 records in this dataset, making it the largest single category by a wide margin. Positioning, radar and sonar technology (G01S) follows at 34.1%, ahead of conveying and material handling (B65G) at 22.2% and container/packaging claims (B65D) at 11.1%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100%, and the presence of G01S at over a third of records signals that sensing and localisation are now central to how this field is claimed, not a peripheral add-on to crane hardware.
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 Crane Automation and Container Handling 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.