Drill Tool Testing & Inspection Patent Snapshot 2026
The drill tool testing and inspection patent space is tightly concentrated, with Halliburton Energy Services holding the largest single share among the top filers and the Schlumberger group collectively challenging across multiple entities. Activity peaked around 2018 and has plateaued since, signalling a maturing field where incremental differentiation rather than broad claim staking defines current strategy.
Halliburton leads a highly concentrated field dominated by three oilfield-services majors
Halliburton Energy Services ranks first with 14 patent records among the top filers, followed by Schlumberger Tech Corp at 5 and Baker Hughes at 4. The top five filers collectively account for 79% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating a field where three established oilfield-services majors and their affiliates hold decisive coverage.
The tier gap is pronounced: the gap between Halliburton’s 14 records and the next-ranked applicant’s 5 records is substantial for a corpus of this size, reinforcing a two-tier structure in which a single incumbent holds roughly twice the patent records of its nearest rival. Below the top three, all remaining filers hold only one record each.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halliburton Energy Services Inc | 14 | |
| 2 | Schlumberger Tech Corp | 5 | |
| 3 | Baker Hughes Company | 4 | |
| 4 | Schlumberger Technology BV | 3 | |
| 5 | Services Petroliers Schlumberger SA | 1 | |
| 6 | Lanpec Technologies Limited | 1 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Shanghai Lanbin Petrochem Equipment Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 8 | Schlumberger Canada Ltd | 1 | |
| 9 | Xu Changxu | 1 | |
| 10 | CHENGDU HAOHAN WELL COMPLETION & LOGGING SCI & TECH | 1 | |
| 11 | Yangtze University | 1 | |
| 12 | China University of Petroleum (East China) | 1 |
Halliburton’s position implies deep, layered coverage across both E21B downhole-drilling subclasses and G01V geophysics subclasses. Challengers seeking freedom to operate should map their inventions carefully against that dual-domain coverage before committing R&D resources.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and likely understate true activity; conclusions about recent-period volume should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2018 filing peak followed by plateau, anchored in well-drilling and geophysics classes
The annual trend chart reveals where activity accelerated and where it has since eased; the technology composition chart shows which IPC classes underpin the field and which remain sparsely populated.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose from a single record in 2017 to a peak of five in 2018, dipped in 2019, recovered to five in 2022, then show zero for 2023–2026 — a pattern consistent with a maturity-phase plateau. Years from 2023 onward are subject to publication lag and should not be read as a real decline; actual recent activity is likely higher than recorded.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
E21B (Earth and rock drilling — wells) and G01V (Geophysics and gravity surveying) together are visible in the IPC distribution, reflecting the field’s core focus on in-situ downhole measurement and acoustic/seismic sensing. Secondary classes — H10N, B06B, H02N, G01N, and G21K — each hold very small shares, pointing to under-served adjacent branches in solid-state sensing, vibration generation, and material analysis.
↗ 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.
Downhole tool apparatus, system, and methods
A downhole tool can include a photon beam source configured to transmit a photon beam into materials lining a wellbore. The materials may comprise fluid, casing, and cement. A photon detector in the tool is configured to count detected photons received at a predetermined angle from the materials. The density of the borehole material may be determined in… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downhole tool | 39 |
| 2 | Guided mode beamforming for probing open-hole and … | 23 |
| 3 | Piezoelectric actuator for downhole applications | 21 |
| 4 | Downhole tool | 14 |
| 5 | Guided mode beamforming for probing open-hole and … | 13 |
| 6 | 旋转导向钻井工具系统加速度计间歇故障检测方法 | 11 |
| 7 | Downhole tool apparatus, system, and methods | 9 |
| 8 | 一种可溶桥塞性能测试装置 | 8 |
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.
Halliburton Energy Services
Halliburton Energy Services holds 14 patent records, the largest count among all filers. Its technology focus spans E21B 47 (downhole measurements while drilling), G01V 1 (seismic), and G01V 5 (nuclear geophysics), indicating layered coverage across sensing modalities. Applicant-momentum data does not flag a recent acceleration for Halliburton, consistent with a mature, established position rather than an expansion phase.
14 patent recordsSchlumberger Tech Corp
Schlumberger Tech Corp holds 5 patent records and is classified as a new entrant in the most recent filing window, suggesting recent activity despite a smaller cumulative count. Its focus spans E21B 47, G01V 1, and E21B 49 (sampling of earth formations), reflecting a balanced drilling-measurement and formation-evaluation strategy that complements the broader Schlumberger-group portfolio of 10 combined records across all affiliated entities.
5 patent recordsFrequently asked questions
The evidence covers 15 patent families in scope. Applicant rankings and IPC class counts are reported at the patent-record level, so those figures can exceed 15 because a family filing in multiple jurisdictions generates multiple records.
Halliburton Energy Services ranks first with 14 patent records among the ranked applicants visible in this query — roughly double the count of the nearest rival, Schlumberger Tech Corp at 5 records.
The evidence classifies the field as Maturity. Annual filings peaked around 2018 and have since plateaued. The recent multi-year window shows 25% growth, but annual volume has eased from the 2018 peak. Filing counts for 2023–2026 are subject to publication lag and should not be read as a true decline.
The United States leads with 9 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 7, China at 5, the United Kingdom at 4, and WIPO (PCT) at 4. Norway also appears with 1 record, reflecting North Sea oilfield activity.
The seven co-applicant pairings identified in the evidence are entirely within the Schlumberger corporate family — various combinations of Schlumberger Tech Corp, Schlumberger Technology BV, Services Petroliers Schlumberger SA, and Schlumberger Canada Ltd — plus one pairing between Lanpec Technologies Limited and Shanghai Lanbin Petrochem Equipment. No cross-competitor co-filings are recorded.
The sparsest IPC branches are H10N (solid-state devices, 4 records), B06B (mechanical vibrations, 2 records), H02N (electric machines, 2 records), G01N (material analysis, 1 record), and G21K (particle and radiation handling, 1 record). These represent observations of relative sparsity; G01N and B06B in particular may have plausible technical relevance to drill tool diagnostics, but further search is needed to confirm whether activity is simply captured under different classification codes.
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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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