Drilling Jars and Shock Tools Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 38.7% sits with five companies. The top five assignees combined account for 133 of the 344 records in scope, with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them.
- Filing nearly tripled from 2021 to 2024. Recorded filings rose from 2 to 6 over that span, a +200% increase, even as 2020 remains the peak year so far at 29.
- E21B dominates, but adjacent classes are thin. 92.7% of records carry an E21B drilling classification, while related classes like F16F dampers (4.1%) and F16K valves (1.5%) are comparatively under-claimed.
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (6) — 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 344 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the drilling jar and shock tool patent record shows
Drilling jars and shock tools sit at the intersection of mechanical impact design and downhole drilling control: devices that deliver a hammer-anvil blow or absorb shock to free stuck pipe, protect a bottom-hole assembly, or manage tensile overpull. The 344 records in scope span 2015 through the middle of 2026, with classification concentrated overwhelmingly in E21B, the earth and rock drilling subclass, and smaller but consistent activity in vibration damping, valve, and measurement classes.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 and has since fluctuated at a lower level, though the most recent years understate real activity because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. Growth from 2021 to 2024, the last year that can be read as complete, shows a clear upward trend rather than a maturing or declining field.
Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below cover the same 344 records: one tracks filing activity by year, the other breaks the corpus down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry more than one classification, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2015-2026
Activity climbed to a peak of 29 records in 2020, then settled into a lower but rising pattern; 2021 to 2024 alone shows filings roughly tripling, a +200% increase from 2 to 6. The final one or two years in the chart will fill in further as publications catch up with filing dates.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
E21B (earth and rock drilling) covers 92.7% of the 344 records, confirming this is fundamentally a drilling-tool field rather than a general mechanical one. The next largest classes — G01V geophysics survey at 4.9% and F16F springs and dampers at 4.1% — point to where shock-absorption and downhole-sensing claims cluster, while F16K valves, B62K/B62M cycle mechanics, and G01B/G01L measurement each sit at 1.5% or below.
Shares are the percentage of the 344 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Drilling Jars and Shock Tools with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about drilling jars and shock tools and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative early filing and the most-cited prior art
Two way hydraulic drilling jar
A two way hydraulic drilling jar which includes a tubular housing having an interior surface defining an interior bore. A mandrel is provided having an exterior surface. The mandrel is telescopically received within the interior bore of the tubular housing. The exterior surface of the mandrel has an enlarged diameter portion. An annular valve member is provided having a first end, a second end, and an interior surface defining an interior bore. The mandrel extends through the interior bore of the valve member, and the valve member is confined with capability of limited axial movement between two shoulders projecting from the interior surface of the housing.Filed by Dreco Energy Services in 1997, this filing predates the 2015-2026 window but its telescoping mandrel and annular valve architecture recurs across later hydraulic jar claims in the dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6655460B2 | Methods and apparatus to control downhole tools | 153 |
| 2 | US7025130B2 | Methods and apparatus to control downhole tools | 128 |
| 3 | US20030070842A1 | Methods and apparatus to control downhole tools | 119 |
| 4 | US7207396B2 | Method and apparatus of assessing down-hole drilling conditions | 113 |
| 5 | US4346920A | Threaded connection using variable lead threads | 100 |
| 6 | US20050284663A1 | Assessing down-hole drilling conditions | 91 |
| 7 | US5033557A | Hydraulic drilling jar | 78 |
| 8 | US7775099B2 | Downhole tool sensor system and method | 75 |
| 9 | US7310580B2 | Method for borehole measurement of formation properties | 64 |
| 10 | US4333542A | Downhole fishing jar mechanism | 64 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus; treat them as a signal of influence on subsequent filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three figures from the dataset frame the competitive picture: how tightly the top of the ranking holds the field, how classification splits across mechanical and sensing functions, and where recent filing momentum sits.
The field concentrates early, then trails off
The top five assignees combined hold 133 of the 344 records in scope (38.7%), and the top ten extend that to 188 records (54.7%). Below the tenth-ranked assignee at 10 records, the remaining 83 ranked companies thin out quickly into single- and low-count filers.
Recent growth outpaces the historic peak year
2020 remains the single highest filing year on record at 29, but the 2021-to-2024 window shows filings rising from 2 to 6, a +200% increase. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures will rise as records catch up.
Drilling classification dominates, damping and valves trail
Almost all records sit in E21B, the core drilling subclass, but F16F vibration damping (4.1%) and F16K valve and tap mechanisms (1.5%) show where shock-isolation and fluid-bypass claims are being staked out in smaller numbers.
US and UK offices lead receiving volumes
The United States receives the largest single share of filings at 114 records, followed by the United Kingdom at 53 and Canada at 43, with the EPO, WIPO/PCT, and Australia each recording meaningful but smaller volumes.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to drilling jars and shock tools, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who files, who is active now, and where claim space is open
The ranking spans 93 assignees built from patent families, so it reflects distinct invention efforts rather than raw document counts. Recent-year momentum figures show that even leading assignees have largely gone quiet in the latest tracked year, which is consistent with the publication lag rather than a real slowdown.
A single leader sits well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 31 records, notably more than the fifth-place holder at 23 and more than double the tenth-place holder at 10. That gap suggests a sustained, multi-year filing program rather than a one-off cluster of applications.
The top five hold a meaningful but not dominant share
Fifth place at 23 records and tenth place at 10 show a gradual taper rather than a sharp cliff, meaning multiple companies maintain active, comparable-sized portfolios rather than one or two firms locking up the space entirely.
Co-filing is limited and concentrated on a few links
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest of these ties one operator to a named inventor rather than to another corporate assignee, indicating that most patenting here happens inside a single organisation rather than through joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Drilling AS | 1 | 0% |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | 0 | — |
| ROTOJAR INNOVATIONS LIMITED | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services Inc | 0 | — |
| Rotojar Innovations Limited | 0 | — |
| Weatherford Technology Holdings LLC | 0 | — |
| Baker Hughes Co | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis next
This landscape frames the filing pattern; turning it into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claims and specific assignees.
Check claim scope on the leader's portfolio
The top-ranked assignee's 31 records likely include continuations and variants; reviewing independent claims across that set shows how much of the mandrel-and-valve architecture is actually locked up.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches to your design
Metering orifice and fluid bypass port claims sit in thinner classes than core E21B drilling claims; comparing a specific tool design against that thinner prior art is faster than searching the full 344-record set by hand.
Run a white space search in EurekaCommon questions about drilling jar and shock tool patents
One assignee leads the ranked list with 31 records, ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 23 and the tenth-ranked company at 10. The top five assignees combined hold 133 of the 344 records in scope, or 38.7%, and the top ten extend that to 54.7%. Below that point the ranking, which covers 93 assignees total, thins into a long tail of companies with only a handful of filings each, so no single company controls the field outright.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 at 29 records, and the years since have moved at a lower but rising pace: from 2021 to 2024, the last year that can be treated as reasonably complete, recorded filings grew from 2 to 6, a +200% increase. The most recent one to two years in any chart will look artificially low because patent publication typically lags the filing date by around 18 months, so those figures should not be read as a real decline.
The core of the field, at 92.7% of the 344 records, falls under E21B, the IPC subclass for earth and rock drilling equipment. Smaller but consistent activity appears in G01V geophysics and survey instruments (4.9%) and F16F springs and vibration dampers (4.1%), reflecting the shock-absorption and downhole-sensing functions that pair with the core mechanical jar design. Valve mechanisms, measurement instruments, and a couple of mechanical-transmission classes each account for 1.5% or less.
The classes adjacent to the dominant E21B drilling category carry far fewer records: F16K valve and tap mechanisms sit at 1.5% of the 344-record dataset, and specific functions like metering-orifice flow tuning, fluid bypass port geometry, and tensile-overpull triggering appear only within the broader E21B and F16F counts rather than as their own dense clusters. That pattern suggests narrower prior art around fluid-control and load-sensing sub-mechanisms than around the core impact tool architecture itself, though any filing decision should still start from a claim-level search rather than the class-level share alone.
With the top five assignees holding 38.7% of the 344 records and the top ten holding 54.7%, the field is moderately concentrated: a handful of companies file consistently, but well over half the tracked records sit outside the top ten. Co-filing is also limited, with only 10 identified co-assignee pairs across the whole dataset, suggesting most development happens inside individual organisations rather than through joint patenting arrangements.
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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.