Downhole Motors and Turbodrills Patents: Top Companies, Trends 2026
- 44.6% of all 12,266 records sit with the five leading assignees, and 60.6% with the top ten — this is a field with a narrow set of incumbents controlling most of the claim space.
- Filing held essentially flat, +2%, from 380 records in 2021 to 389 in 2024, after a 2017 peak of 708 — this is a mature filing base, not a growth curve.
- 84.3% of records sit in E21B alone, while control-software classes like G06F and G06N each cover under 6% of records — software-adjacent downhole control is comparatively open ground.
Filing growth compares 2021 (380 records) with 2024 (389) — 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 12,266 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What downhole motor and turbodrill patents actually cover
Downhole motors and turbodrills convert drilling fluid flow into rotary power at the bit, and the patent activity in this dataset clusters tightly around the mechanical hardware that makes that conversion reliable under load: power sections, elastomer stators, bent housings, rotor coatings and thrust bearing assemblies. The search scope pairs those hardware terms with differential pressure and thrust bearing claims specifically, which is why the corpus reads as an engineering field rather than a services or software one — 84.3% of the 12,266 records in scope carry an E21B earth-and-rock-drilling classification.
A smaller but persistent share of records also touch geophysics and surveying (G01V), digital data processing (G06F) and AI-based computing (G06N), which points to a second, thinner layer of activity: downhole sensing and control logic layered on top of conventional motor hardware. That layer is where the newest claim activity tends to sit, even though the mechanical core still dominates the record count.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
The trend and classification data below are drawn from the full 12,266-record set in scope. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years understate real filing activity and should be read as provisional.
Filing activity, 2017 peak to present
Filings peaked at 708 in 2017 and have since settled into a lower, largely flat band: 380 records in 2021 against 389 in 2024, a +2% move over that three-year span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete rather than as evidence of decline.
Where the claims sit by IPC subclass
E21B (earth and rock drilling) carries 84.3% of all records, confirming that mechanical drilling hardware is still the dominant claim target. Control and computing classes — G06F, G06N and G05B — each sit under 6% individually, marking downhole control logic as a comparatively thin layer against a dense mechanical base. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares are read against the full record total, not against each other.
Shares are the percentage of the 12,266 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Downhole Motors and Turbodrills with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about downhole motors and turbodrills and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art shaping this field
Bearing assembly for a drilling tool (US20160108675A1)
A thrust bearing assembly for a drilling tool built around a first thrust frame with a cylindrical hollow body, flow diverters protruding from its inner surface, and flow ports formed between adjacent diverters. A stationary thrust bearing with axially extending legs sits within the flow path defined by those diverters, structuring how drilling fluid moves across the bearing under thrust load.Filed by Smith International in 2016, this record sits squarely in the thrust bearing and differential pressure claim territory that the search scope targets directly.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6176323B1 | Drilling systems with sensors for determining properties of drilling fluid downhole | 861 |
| 2 | US6092610A | Actively controlled rotary steerable system and method for drilling wells | 738 |
| 3 | US4560014A | Thrust bearing assembly for a downhole drill motor | 634 |
| 4 | US6206108B1 | Drilling system with integrated bottom hole assembly | 555 |
| 5 | US6021377A | Drilling system utilizing downhole dysfunctions for determining corrective actions and simulating drilling co… | 539 |
| 6 | US5842149A | Closed loop drilling system | 506 |
| 7 | US6088294A | Drilling system with an acoustic measurement-while-drilling system for determining parameters of interest and… | 497 |
| 8 | US5924499A | Acoustic data link and formation property sensor for downhole MWD system | 488 |
| 9 | US5160925A | Short hop communication link for downhole MWD system | 456 |
| 10 | US4813495A | Method and apparatus for deepwater drilling | 447 |
Citation counts favour older records that have had more time to accumulate references — read them as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a ranking of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once family-level concentration, filing trend and classification density are read together.
A narrow incumbent core, not a fragmented field
With 44.6% of all records held by five assignees and 60.6% by ten, this is a field where a small number of established drilling-services firms control most of the granted and pending claim space around motor and turbodrill hardware. New entrants filing on core power-section or thrust bearing geometry are filing directly into that density.
A mature field holding steady, not accelerating
Filing volume fell sharply from its 2017 peak and then flattened: 380 records in 2021 versus 389 in 2024. That pattern reads as a stabilised, mature technology base rather than a field still working through rapid invention cycles.
Mechanical hardware dominates; control logic is thin
E21B claims cover the overwhelming majority of records, while G06F, G06N and G05B — the classes covering digital control, AI-based computation and regulating systems applied downhole — each sit under 6% individually. That gap is the clearest signal in the dataset of where claim space is comparatively open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to downhole motors and turbodrills, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
The ranked leaders in this dataset are dominated by a handful of large drilling-services groups and their affiliated entities, with a long tail of single- or few-filing organisations behind them.
One assignee well ahead of the field
The leading assignee's 1,801 records sit far above fifth place at 508 and tenth place at 324, indicating a single dominant filer whose portfolio anchors the mechanical core of this field.
A cluster of large drilling-services filers
Positions two through five hold enough combined volume to bring the top-5 share to 44.6% of all 12,266 records, suggesting affiliated entities within the same corporate groups file separately across related jurisdictions and business units.
Recent-year filings down sharply across the board
Every assignee with notable recent-year activity shows a steep year-on-year drop, consistent with publication lag rather than a genuine pullback — the most recent filing years are always the least complete in the record.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | 9 | -84% |
| Schlumberger | 3 | -85% |
| Schlumberger Canada Ltd | 3 | -86% |
| GeoQuest Systems Inc | 2 | -85% |
| Schlumberger Technology LLC | 1 | -89% |
| National Oilwell Varco LP | 1 | -67% |
| Baker Hughes Holdings LLC | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe where claim density sits today. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going deeper on specific sub-claims and specific assignees.
Map a specific claim against the leaders' portfolios
Concentration at the top means a new filing on power section or bearing geometry likely overlaps an incumbent's existing claims. Checking the leader's granted claim language before drafting narrows that risk early.
Explore assignee portfolios in Eureka →Track the thin control-logic layer for openings
G06F, G06N and G05B classes each cover under 6% of records despite sitting on top of a dense mechanical base. That gap is where a downhole sensing or control claim has the most room to stand on its own.
Search white space in Eureka →Common questions about downhole motor and turbodrill patents
The assignee ranking for this dataset is led by one company with 1,801 records, well ahead of the rest of the field — fifth place sits at 508 and tenth at 324. The top five assignees combined hold 44.6% of all 12,266 records in scope, and the top ten hold 60.6%. Several of the leading names are affiliated entities within the same corporate groups, filing under related but distinct legal entity names across jurisdictions, which is common in the drilling-services sector.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 708 records and has since settled at a lower, largely flat level: 380 records in 2021 versus 389 in 2024, a +2% move over that span. This is best read as a mature field holding steady rather than one accelerating or declining. Figures from 2025 onward are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so recent-year drops should not be read as a real slowdown.
E21B, the earth-and-rock-drilling classification, covers 84.3% of the 12,266 records in scope, confirming that mechanical hardware — power sections, elastomer stators, bent housings, thrust bearing assemblies — is the dominant claim target. Smaller but present shares sit in geophysics and surveying (G01V, 9.8%) and digital data processing (G06F, 5.8%), pointing to a secondary layer of sensing and control activity built on top of the mechanical core.
The clearest gap sits in control and computing classes: G06F, G06N and G05B each cover under 6% of records individually, versus 84.3% for the mechanical E21B class. That means claims on AI-based motor condition sensing, digital control logic, or software-defined regulation of motor operation face far less prior-art density than claims on the mechanical hardware itself. Sub-areas like rotor coating durability and bent housing angle adjustment also show thinner coverage relative to core power-section claims.
US20160108675A1, filed by Smith International in 2016, claims a thrust bearing assembly built around a specific flow diverter and flow port geometry on the thrust frame's inner surface, paired with a stationary thrust bearing whose legs sit within that defined flow path. It blocks designs that replicate that specific diverter-and-port arrangement for managing fluid flow across a thrust bearing under load. Designs using different flow-management geometry, different bearing frame structures, or bearing assemblies outside that particular fluid-routing approach would sit outside its claim scope, though a full freedom-to-operate check requires reading the granted claims in full.
Research Downhole Motors and Turbodrills in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole downhole motors and turbodrills corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.