Cylinder Head Gasket Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
Cylinder head and multi-layer steel gasket patents: who leads and where the claim space is still open
61.7% concentration. The top five assignees combined hold 235 of the 381 records in scope — well over half the field sits with a small group of established gasket makers. Filings ran from 1 in 2017 up to a peak of 10 in 2019, then eased. The 2021-to-2024 window shows a -100% change; 2025 and 2026 are undercounted because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so recent-year figures should not be read as a real decline yet.
- 1DANA AUTOMOTIVE SYST GRP LLC63
- 2FEDERAL MOGUL CORPORATION58
- 3FEDERAL MOGUL SEALING SYSTEMS GMBH43
- 4DANA CORP38
- 5REINZ DICHTUNGS G M B H33
See the full cylinder head and multi layer steel gaskets 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 this landscape
Who holds the most patents on cylinder head and multi-layer steel gaskets?
Filing in this field is concentrated: the top five assignees combined hold 235 of the 381 records in scope, which is 61.7% of everything tracked. The leading assignee alone holds 63 records, well ahead of fifth place at 33. This is a field shaped by a small number of long-established automotive sealing suppliers rather than a broad spread of independent filers, so any freedom-to-operate check should start with those named leaders.
Is patent filing on MLS gaskets increasing or slowing down?
Filing peaked at 10 records in 2019 and the 2021-to-2024 window shows a -100% change, the last span that can be read as complete data. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still low, but publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so those years understate real activity rather than proving a slowdown. Treat any 2025–2026 apparent decline with that lag in mind rather than as a confirmed trend.
What technology areas do these gasket patents actually cover?
The bulk of records sit in F16J, pistons seals and gaskets, covering 81.4% of the 381 records, with F02F, engine cylinders and pistons, covering 47.8%. Smaller shares appear in sheet-metal working, coatings, addition polymers, and temperature and flow sensing, each under 3% of records. This confirms the field is defined primarily by mechanical sealing structure — bead geometry, stopper layers, load distribution — with materials and sensing as secondary, less-claimed layers.
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 Cylinder Head and Multi Layer Steel Gaskets 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.