Direct Air Capture Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 425 records, one-fifth of the field. The five most active filers together hold 21.6% of all 1,969 records in scope — real concentration, but not a lock on the technology.
- Filings roughly tripled from 2021 to 2024. 176 records in 2021 grew to 494 in 2024, a +181% increase across that span, before the count that always looks lower simply because recent publications are still catching up.
- Separation and adsorption claims dominate the class mix. B01D covers 78.3% of all records and B01J another 27.0%, leaving commerce-layer classes like G06Q at only 3.9% — most of the claim activity is still hardware and process, not software.
Filing growth compares 2021 (176 records) with 2024 (494) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,969 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the direct air capture patent record actually shows
Direct air capture patenting sits at the intersection of gas separation engineering and climate infrastructure. The corpus tracked here spans 1,969 published records filed against a search built around solid sorbents, air contactors, sorbent regeneration, capture modules and humidity swing adsorption — the mechanical and chemical building blocks of pulling CO2 out of ambient air rather than a flue gas stream. Filing activity was modest through the late 2010s and accelerated sharply from 2021 onward, tracking public and private capital moving into the space.
The class mix tells a hardware story: separation processes and catalysis-adjacent chemistry account for the overwhelming majority of records, while drilling and hydrocarbon-refining classes appear only at the margins, reflecting oil-and-gas-adjacent players exploring capture as a secondary line. Receiving-office data shows the United States and the WIPO PCT route carrying the largest volumes, with Europe, Canada, Australia and India as the next tier — a filing footprint consistent with a technology still establishing which jurisdictions matter for enforcement rather than one already settled into a stable multi-region pattern.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,969-record dataset: filing volume by year, and the IPC subclasses those records claim into. Because a single record can carry several classes, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
A field that grew fast, then hit a publication-lag plateau
Annual filings climbed from 52 records in 2017 to a peak of 494 in 2024, with 2021's 176 records growing to 2024's 494 — a +181% increase over three years. The 2025 and 2026 counts sit lower, but that reflects the roughly 18-month gap between filing and publication, not a slowdown in actual filing activity.
Separation and adsorption chemistry, not software
B01D (separation processes) appears in 78.3% of records and B01J (chemical and physical processes, catalysis) in 27.0%, with C01B inorganic compound chemistry at 12.4% and C25B electrolytic production at 6.9%. Business-method class G06Q appears in only 3.9% of records, and drilling-related E21B in 2.7% — the claim space is still overwhelmingly about how to move and treat air, not how to monetise the process.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,969 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Direct Air Capture Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about direct air capture patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in the field
Air management system comprising a direct air capture module and method of controlling the air management system
The filing describes an HVAC supply-air conduit fitted with a direct air capture module built from actuable adsorbent units: each unit can be moved into or out of the ambient air flow, and a controller switches the module between active and other states, folding CO2 capture directly into a building's air-handling system rather than a standalone contactor.Filed by Robert Bosch GmbH, published 2025-09-04 as WO2025180620A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190359894A1 | Method and system for synthesizing fuel from dilute carbon dioxide source | 168 |
| 2 | WO2014170184A1 | Low-pressure drop structure of particle adsorbent bed for adsorption gas separation process | 160 |
| 3 | US20200346165A1 | Systems and methods for carbon capture | 94 |
| 4 | WO2016005226A1 | Steam assisted vacuum desorption process for carbon dioxide capture | 85 |
| 5 | US20100034724A1 | Carbon Dioxide Capture | 72 |
| 6 | US20170203249A1 | Steam assisted vacuum desorption process for carbon dioxide capture | 70 |
| 7 | WO2015185434A1 | Direct air capture device | 67 |
| 8 | WO2020212146A1 | High troughput direct air capture device for capturing co2 from air and method of its operation | 64 |
| 9 | US20170106330A1 | Direct air capture device | 62 |
| 10 | US20170326494A1 | Low-pressure drop structure of particle adsorbent bed for adsorption gas separation process | 59 |
Citation counts are pulled from within this searched corpus and skew toward older records that have simply had longer to accumulate citations — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Four figures from the dataset that matter more than the raw record count when deciding where to file, cite or design around.
The top of the field is real but not a monopoly
The five most active filers hold 425 of 1,969 records combined, and the top ten hold 701, or 35.6%. That leaves nearly two-thirds of the corpus spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants — concentrated enough to watch closely, open enough to still enter.
Capital moved in, filings followed with a lag
Annual filings nearly tripled between 2021 (176) and 2024 (494), the field's peak year so far. Treat 2025-2026 counts as provisional: publication lag of roughly 18 months means the true filing rate for those years is still being reported.
The claim space is mechanical and chemical, not digital
Separation-process claims (B01D) and catalysis-adjacent process claims (B01J) dominate the corpus, while G06Q business-method claims sit at just 3.9%. Anyone benchmarking freedom-to-operate should focus engineering review on contactor and sorbent mechanics before software layers.
Even leading filers show a latest-year dip — read it as lag, not retreat
Several of the most active historical filers show sharp year-over-year drops in the latest tracked year, including one leader down 69% and others down further still. Given the publication lag affecting the whole field, this is far more likely to be reporting delay than a real pullback in R&D.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to direct air capture patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and who has slowed down
The ranked list covers 100 companies drawn from the 1,969 records in scope. It is not a top-100 or top-50 shortlist — it is the full ranking the dataset returns, and reading it alongside the momentum figures separates sustained programmes from early movers who have since gone quiet.
One filer sits well ahead of fifth place
The leading assignee holds 109 records against 61 for fifth place and 53 for tenth — a real gap at the very top, but the drop-off from first to fifth is steep enough that no single company controls the field's direction.
Some of the earliest movers have stopped publishing entirely
Three previously active assignees show zero records in the latest tracked year, a full drop from their prior filing pace. Combined with the leading filer's own 69% year-over-year decline, the picture is of a field where early leadership does not guarantee continued output.
Co-filing is limited and clusters around one corporate family
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest of them link entities within a single oilfield-services group. Cross-company joint filing is not yet a common pattern in this field, which suggests most technical development is still happening inside single organisations rather than through formal partnerships.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| CARBON ENG ULC | 5 | -69% |
| Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co KG | 4 | -67% |
| X Development LLC | 3 | -40% |
| Climeworks AG | 0 | -100% |
| Carbon Engineering Ltd | 0 | -100% |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V. | 0 | -100% |
| Schlumberger Technology Corporation | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to three practical follow-ups for a team deciding where to file or where to watch.
Map freedom-to-operate against the B01D core
With 78.3% of records touching separation-process claims, any new contactor or sorbent design should be checked against this class first, not against the thinner software-adjacent classes.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaWatch the momentum shifts, not just the leaderboard
Several early leaders show steep year-over-year declines that publication lag alone may not fully explain; tracking their next disclosed filings will show whether they are re-entering or exiting.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaDraft claims into the under-claimed branches
Humidity swing regeneration and building-integrated capture show thinner claim density than core separation processes, leaving room for a narrowly scoped first filing.
Explore white space with EurekaCommon questions about direct air capture patents
The dataset's leading assignee holds 109 of the 1,969 records in scope, with fifth place at 61 and tenth place at 53. That gap between first and fifth is meaningful, but the top ten together account for only 35.6% of the field, so the majority of activity still sits with a long tail of smaller filers. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at both the leaderboard and this long tail, since a large share of technical variety comes from outside the top ranks.
Filing volume grew sharply between 2021 and 2024, rising from 176 to 494 records, a +181% increase, with 2024 the highest year recorded so far. The apparent dip in 2025 and 2026 should not be read as a slowdown: patent publication typically lags the actual filing date by around 18 months, so the most recent years are still incomplete in the data. The underlying filing rate is better judged from 2024 backward.
Separation processes (IPC class B01D) appear in 78.3% of the 1,969 records, making it by far the largest single category, followed by chemical and physical process claims under B01J at 27.0%. Inorganic compound chemistry (C01B) and electrolytic production (C25B) appear in smaller but still notable shares. Business-method and software-adjacent claims under G06Q are comparatively rare at 3.9%, indicating the field's claim activity is concentrated in hardware and process engineering rather than digital layers.
Relative to the dense claim activity around core separation and sorbent chemistry, sub-areas like humidity swing regeneration cycles, modular contactor swap-out mechanisms, and building-integrated or HVAC-coupled capture modules show thinner coverage. These branches sit adjacent to the dominant classes rather than replacing them, which is exactly why they are worth checking before assuming the space is fully occupied. A narrow, well-drafted claim in one of these areas can still find open ground even in a field with nearly 2,000 published records.
Yes, though at a smaller scale than dedicated capture specialists. Classes tied to drilling and well operations (E21B) and hydrocarbon refining (C10G) appear in 2.7% and 3.8% of records respectively, and at least one major oilfield-services group shows co-assignee filing activity within its own corporate family. This suggests oil and gas players are exploring direct air capture as an adjacent line of technology rather than a core focus, often through subsidiaries rather than joint ventures with outside firms.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.