Electric Machines & Drives Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked down. the top 5 assignees hold 15.3% of all 17,652 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 23.0% — a leader plus a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 1,001 records and fell to 455 by 2024, a 455-from-1,001 (-55%) three-year decline; 2025 and later years are still filling in as publications lag filing by roughly 18 months.
- Motors and generators dominate the claim space. H02K alone covers 67.7% of all records, while power conversion (H02M, 3.6%) and grid-side systems (H02J, 2.9%) remain comparatively thin.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1,001 records) with 2024 (455) — 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 17,652 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the electric machines and drives filing record shows
The dataset covers 17,652 published records filed against electric machines and drives terminology — motor winding, magnetic flux, fault current, protection relay, drive circuit and electrical insulation — between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off. Filing activity is not evenly spread: a handful of assignees account for a meaningful share of the total, while the majority of the ranked field files only occasionally. Patent families, rather than raw document counts, give the fairer read on where real R&D investment sits, because families strip out the inflation from continuations and multi-jurisdiction refiling of the same invention.
Technology composition skews heavily toward core motor and generator construction, with control electronics, magnetic components and vehicle propulsion claims forming a second tier. Filing offices split across the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, with WIPO PCT filings indicating an internationally-minded subset of applicants seeking broad early coverage.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 17,652 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
A 2021 peak followed by a real but partial decline
Filings ran from 849 in 2017 to a peak of 1,001 in 2021, then declined to 455 by 2024 — a -55% move over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are shown for completeness but should be read as undercounted, since publication typically lags the underlying filing by around 18 months.
H02K dominates; control and conversion trail well behind
Electric motors and generators (H02K) appear in 67.7% of all 17,652 records, more than five times the share of the next largest class, control of motors and generators (H02P) at 13.6%. Magnets, inductors and transformers (H01F, 7.2%) and EV propulsion (B60L, 5.8%) form a middle tier, while power conversion (H02M), measurement (G01R), grid systems (H02J) and insulation/cabling (H01B) each sit under 4% — narrower, more specialized claim territory.
Shares are the percentage of the 17,652 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Electric Machines & Drives Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about electric machines & drives patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this dataset
Rotatable Electric Machines (US20180109166A1)
Filed by Dynacircumotion Ltd. in 2018, this application describes a rotatable common shaft carrying multiple electric machines arranged so their disk assemblies co-rotate. The stated aim is reducing net cogging force imparted to the shaft by combining the machines' individual cogging torques in a configuration that cancels rather than compounds them.A mechanical-arrangement claim rather than a materials or control-electronics claim — it constrains how multiple machines are physically stacked on a shaft, not how any single machine is wound or driven.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6936948B2 | Electric machine having an integrally continuous stator winding and stator slot bridges | 1,209 |
| 2 | US7583063B2 | Architecture for electric machine | 1,145 |
| 3 | US20080298784A1 | Method of Sensing Speed of Electric Motors and Generators | 775 |
| 4 | US20030066638A1 | Devices using a medium having a high heat transfer rate | 428 |
| 5 | US6512966B2 | System, method and computer program product for enhancing commercial value of electrical power produced from … | 403 |
| 6 | US10193429B2 | Air gap control systems and methods | 399 |
| 7 | US20100169030A1 | Machine condition assessment through power distribution networks | 377 |
| 8 | US6670721B2 | System, method, rotating machine and computer program product for enhancing electric power produced by renewa… | 334 |
| 9 | US7498080B2 | Ferromagnetic powder for dust core | 303 |
| 10 | US6952060B2 | Electromagnetic linear generator and shock absorber | 300 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favor older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — read them as a signal of influence on the field, 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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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting claims in this space.
A leader plus a long tail, not a monopoly
The leading assignee holds 711 records, with the fifth-place holder at 439 and tenth place at 216 — a steep drop-off after the top few. The top 10 combined account for 23.0% of all records in scope, leaving the remaining three-quarters spread across the rest of the ranked field and unranked filers.
A real decline, but read the recent years cautiously
Filing volume dropped meaningfully from its 2021 peak through 2024, the last year that can be treated as complete. 2025 and 2026 figures in the trend are still filling in, since publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so they should not yet be read as continuing the decline.
Core motor construction is heavily claimed; adjacent control layers less so
Electric motors and generators (H02K) dominate the corpus, while power conversion (H02M, 3.6%), grid-side systems (H02J, 2.9%) and cabling/insulation (H01B, 2.8%) are each claimed far less densely — a record can carry multiple IPC classes, so these figures are not mutually exclusive shares of one pie.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to electric machines & drives patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity is cooling
Recent-year momentum diverges sharply from historical filing totals — several assignees with substantial historical portfolios show little or no activity in the latest tracked year.
Largest single portfolio in the ranked field
The top-ranked assignee's 711 records set the pace for the whole dataset, roughly 60% larger than the fifth-place total of 439. Scale alone does not indicate current activity, however — recent-year momentum for several large historical filers has slowed sharply.
Several established filers show near-zero recent output
Multiple assignees with substantial historical totals recorded 0-4 records in the latest tracked year, with year-over-year changes ranging from -60% to -100%. This pattern is consistent with the broader 2021-2024 volume decline rather than any single company exiting the field.
Co-filing is limited but concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest pairing linked by 37 shared records — an individual inventor working consistently with one corporate assignee. Most filers in this field patent independently rather than through joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Denso Corp | 4 | -60% |
| Rolls-Royce plc | 2 | -67% |
| General Electric Co | 1 | 0% |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corp | 0 | -100% |
| Ford Global Technologies LLC | 0 | -100% |
| ABB AB | 0 | — |
| Hoganas AB | 0 | — |
| GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or competitive tracking.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on core motor claims
With H02K covering 67.7% of records, any new motor or generator design should be checked against the densest part of this corpus before drafting, not just against the top assignees by volume.
Explore claim scope in EurekaWatch the 2025 filing data as it publishes
The 2021-2024 decline is real but the most recent years are still incomplete due to the typical 18-month publication lag; revisit the trend once 2025 filings finish appearing.
Track filing trends in EurekaScope the under-claimed branches before a competitor does
Power conversion, grid-side systems and insulation monitoring show comparatively low filing density relative to core motor construction — a starting point for whitespace claim drafting.
Map whitespace in EurekaCommon questions about the electric machines and drives patent landscape
The dataset ranks 100 assignees by record count, with the leading assignee holding 711 records and the fifth-place holder at 439. The top 5 combined account for 15.3% of all 17,652 records in scope, and the top 10 combined account for 23.0%. This is a leader-plus-long-tail structure rather than a market controlled by one or two firms, so freedom-to-operate work needs to look beyond just the largest filers.
Filing volume rose to a peak of 1,001 records in 2021 and declined to 455 by 2024, a -55% move over that three-year span. That is the most recent period that can be treated as complete. Years after 2024 in the trend data are still filling in because publication typically lags the actual filing date by roughly 18 months, so it is too early to read those years as a continuing decline.
Electric motors and generators, classified under IPC subclass H02K, appear in 67.7% of all 17,652 records — by far the largest single category. Control of motors and generators (H02P) follows at 13.6%, with magnets and transformers (H01F) and EV propulsion (B60L) forming a smaller middle tier. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than summing to 100%.
Several branches show comparatively low filing density relative to core motor construction: power conversion (H02M, 3.6% of records), grid-side power systems (H02J, 2.9%), and cable/insulation claims (H01B, 2.8%) are all narrower than the dominant H02K category. Fault-current-limiting drive topologies and in-situ winding insulation monitoring are specific sub-areas within these classes worth a closer prior-art review before assuming they are crowded. Low density is not proof of an open path, but it is a reasonable place to start scoping a new filing.
Moderately concentrated at the very top, then long-tailed. The top 5 assignees hold 15.3% of all 17,652 records and the top 10 hold 23.0%, meaning more than three-quarters of the field's records sit outside the ten largest filers. Co-assignee collaboration is also limited, with only 10 identified co-filing pairs across the whole dataset, suggesting most parties patent independently rather than through joint filing 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.