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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/dynamic-positioning-system-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Marine & Offshore EngineeringDynamic Positioning System Patents: Who Leads and Where the Field Is Still Open
A data-backed look at dynamic positioning system patents: who leads filings, how the technology field breaks down by IPC class, where filing activity is concentrated, and where white space remains for new entrants.
1,296
Published Records
24%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-59%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth = 2021 (70 records) → 2024 (29); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 1,296 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the dynamic positioning system patent record shows
Dynamic positioning systems keep a vessel or offshore structure on station without anchors, using thrusters controlled against real-time position and heading feedback. The 1,296 records in this dataset span filings from 2015 through the current data cut-off, drawn from receiving offices across the United States, Europe, China, the WIPO PCT route, South Korea and Australia. Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 93 records and has declined since, though the most recent years are still understated because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months.
Classification data shows the bulk of activity sits in ship and vessel structure claims (B63B) and marine propulsion and steering (B63H), with smaller but meaningful clusters in control systems, drilling, cranes, hydraulic engineering, ship auxiliaries and power supply. Ownership is moderately concentrated: the ranked leaders account for roughly a third of all records in scope, but the remainder is spread across a long tail of shipyards, energy majors and specialist controls firms.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015 onward
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,296-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across the IPC subclasses that define the dynamic positioning system field.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose to a peak of 93 records in 2018, then eased through the early 2020s; 2021 stood at 70 and 2024 — the most recent complete year — at 29, a 59% decline over that span. Years after 2024 are still filling in as publications catch up to filing dates.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
Ship and marine vessel structures (B63B) and propulsion and steering (B63H) dominate the classification mix at 72.5% and 38.2% of all records respectively. Control systems (G05D), drilling (E21B), cranes (B66C), hydraulic engineering (E02B), ship auxiliaries (B63J) and power supply (H02J) each cover a smaller but distinct slice, and because records can carry multiple IPC codes these shares sum to well above 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,296 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Representative and most-cited filings
Representative Filing
Dynamic positioning systems and methods (US9195234B2)
GE ENERGY POWER CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY LTD.
Dynamic positioning systems and methods for controlling thrusters of a vessel. A dynamic positioning system includes a controller configured to predict position and heading of the vessel and efficiently control the thrusters based on the predicted position and heading.Filed by GE Energy Power Conversion Technology, this filing sits squarely in the predictive-control branch of the field rather than the thruster-hardware branch that dominates the most-cited list.
Most-cited records in the dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6848382B1 | Portable dynamic positioning system with self-contained electric thrusters | 161 |
| 2 | US6257165B1 | Vessel with movable deck and method | 87 |
| 3 | US20100023192A1 | Relating to Control of Marine Vessels | 71 |
| 4 | US6799528B1 | Portable dynamic positioning system with self-contained diesel hydraulic thrusters | 64 |
| 5 | US6056478A | Pipelaying vessel and a method of converting a maritime vessel to a pipelaying vessel | 63 |
| 6 | EP2654157A1 | Fault protection system for a power system of dynamically positioned vessel | 55 |
| 7 | US8145371B2 | Dynamic control system for a marine vessel | 55 |
| 8 | US6328502B1 | Horizontal reel barge | 55 |
| 9 | US20150246711A1 | Method and system for static and dynamic positioning or controlling motion of marine structure | 54 |
| 10 | US4014279A | Dynamic positioning system for a vessel containing an ocean thermal energy conversion system | 53 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later work, not as a marker of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing strategy
Four read-outs from the dataset that matter for anyone deciding where to file next or who to watch.
Concentration
23.5%
of 1,296 records held by top 5 assignees
Ownership is concentrated but not locked up
The five leading assignees hold 305 of the 1,296 records in scope, and the ranked ten hold 439 — 33.9% of the total. That leaves roughly two-thirds of the field spread across a long tail of shipyards, energy operators and controls specialists, which is where most freedom-to-operate analysis should focus.
Source: assignee ranking, 100 companies
Filing Momentum
-59%
filings, 2021 to 2024
Volume has pulled back from its 2018 peak
Filings peaked at 93 in 2018 and fell from 70 in 2021 to 29 in 2024, the last year with a reasonably complete count. That drop reflects a maturing claim space more than declining interest — later years in the dataset are understated because publication lags filing by about eighteen months.
Source: filing trend, 2017–2026
Technology Mix
72.5%
of records touch B63B (ships & vessels)
Vessel structure claims dominate the classification mix
B63B (ships and marine vessels) and B63H (propulsion and steering) cover 72.5% and 38.2% of records respectively, far ahead of drilling, cranes, hydraulic engineering and power-supply classes, each in the single-digit percentages. New filings pushing into control-system integration (G05D, at 17.4%) sit on comparatively less-occupied ground.
Source: IPC subclass distribution
Collaboration
10 pairs
co-assignee pairings identified
Co-filing is limited and clustered
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest links running between Kongsberg Maritime, Rolls-Royce Marine and Kongsberg Seatex entities at seven joint filings each. Outside that cluster, co-filing is rare, meaning most dynamic positioning system patents are filed by a single owner rather than through joint ventures.
Source: co-assignee pair analysis
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Collaboration patterns
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Kongsberg Maritime AS | Rolls-Royce Marine Ltd. | 7 |
| Kongsberg Maritime AS | Kongsberg Seatex AS | 7 |
| Rolls-Royce Marine Ltd. | Kongsberg Seatex AS | 7 |
| Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd | VANDENWORM NICOLAAS J | 4 |
| Abermarle Masco | Noble Drilling LLC | 4 |
| Marine Cybernetics AS | JOHANSEN TOR ARNE | 3 |
| Marine Cybernetics AS | SRENSEN ASGEIR JOHAN | 2 |
| Marine Cybernetics AS | SKJETNE ROGER | 2 |
Joint filing is the exception rather than the rule in this field; where it happens, it clusters around a small group of Scandinavian marine controls entities.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking or identifying open claim space.
Map freedom-to-operate against the top holders
With just over a third of records held by the ranked ten assignees, a freedom-to-operate review should prioritise their claim scope in propulsion control and thruster allocation before looking at the long tail.
Run an FTO scan in EurekaTrack the shift toward control-system claims
G05D filings sit at a smaller share of the field than vessel-structure claims, suggesting predictive and adaptive control approaches are less crowded than hardware-focused thruster designs.
Monitor control-system filings in EurekaWatch the Scandinavian filing cluster
The strongest co-assignee links all run through Kongsberg and Rolls-Royce Marine entities, making this cluster the one to watch for licensing moves or consolidation signals.
Set up an assignee alert in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about dynamic positioning system patents
The dataset's assignee ranking covers 100 companies, with the leader holding 134 records out of 1,296 total. The top five combined account for 23.5% of all records, and the top ten for 33.9%, so while there is a recognisable leadership group, the majority of filings are spread across a long tail of shipyards, energy operators and marine controls specialists. Anyone doing competitive tracking should watch both the leading names and the broader tail, since single-filing entrants can still hold blocking claims in specific sub-branches.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 93 records and has since declined, falling from 70 filings in 2021 to 29 in 2024 — a 59% drop over that span. 2024 is the most recent year with a reasonably complete count; years after that are understated because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months. The decline suggests core claim space in the field is increasingly occupied rather than that commercial interest in dynamic positioning has fallen away.
The largest concentration sits in ship and marine vessel structure claims (B63B), covering 72.5% of the 1,296 records, followed by propulsion and steering (B63H) at 38.2%. Smaller but distinct clusters cover control systems (G05D), drilling (E21B), cranes and hoists (B66C), hydraulic and waterway engineering (E02B), ship auxiliaries (B63J) and power supply (H02J). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100%, reflecting how often a filing touches several technical areas at once.
The United States receives the highest count in this dataset at 208 records, followed by the European Patent Office at 180, China at 134, the WIPO PCT route at 121, South Korea at 110 and Australia at 84. This spread reflects both the offshore energy and shipbuilding hubs where dynamic positioning technology is developed and the jurisdictions where applicants seek the broadest commercial protection. A filer weighing where to prosecute should treat the US and EPO as the most contested venues based on volume alone.
US9195234B2, assigned to GE Energy Power Conversion Technology, covers dynamic positioning systems and methods that use a controller to predict a vessel's position and heading and then control its thrusters accordingly. It represents the predictive-control branch of the field rather than the thruster-hardware branch that dominates the most-cited records, such as the portable self-contained thruster patents. For anyone building a control algorithm rather than a thruster housing, this filing is one of the more relevant reference points in the dataset.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Dynamic Positioning System Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.