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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/electric-propulsion-power-processing-units-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Space Electric PropulsionElectric Propulsion Power Processing Units: Where Patent Claims Concentrate
- 47.3% sits with five filers. The top five assignees account for 114 of the 241 records in scope, and the top ten hold 59.8% — concentration is heavy at the very top but not a monopoly.
- Filing activity has cooled since its 2023 peak. The field peaked at 23 records in 2023 and posted a -38% move from 16 records in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year with complete publication data.
- Class overlap runs deep. C01B, H02S, H02J and H05H each cover roughly a fifth of the 241 records, meaning most filings straddle materials, power electronics and plasma/particle physics rather than sitting in one silo.
241
Published Records
47%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-38%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (16 records) with 2024 (10) — 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 241 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent set actually covers
Power processing units sit at the junction of high-voltage switching, thermal and radiation-hardened electronics, and the discharge physics of the thruster itself. The search string underlying this dataset pairs power-supply and conversion terms — power processing unit, discharge power supply, arc recovery circuit — with the technical qualifiers that separate a flight-grade converter from a generic power supply, such as radiation tolerant converter and high voltage isolation. That combination pulls in 241 published records spanning 2015 through the current cut-off.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the underlying filing activity actually was. Treat 2024 as the most recent year with a reasonably complete count, and read 2025 and 2026 as provisional.
Filing activity by year
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Filing Data
Filing trend and technology composition
The 241 records in scope break down by publication year, receiving office and IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares below sum to more than 100% of the record total — that's expected and reflects genuine technical overlap, not double-counting.
A 2023 peak followed by a cooling filing rate
Filings rose from 2 records in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2023, then eased to 10 by 2024 — a -38% move from the 2021 level of 16. Readers should not treat 2025-2026 figures as confirming a further decline; they are still filling in under the publication lag.
Overlap between power electronics and discharge physics
C01B (19.9% of records) and H02S (18.3%) lead, closely followed by H02J and H05H, each at 17.8%. G21B, H01L and H05G each cover 12-13% of records, and G03F trails at 9.5% — together showing that most filings in this space combine materials or plasma chemistry claims with power-conversion circuitry rather than claiming either in isolation.
Shares are the percentage of the 241 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 Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units with Eureka
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Representative filing and most-cited prior art
Representative Record
DC microgrid charge/discharge system for series-connected secondary batteries
LG CNS CO., LTD
This filing describes an algorithm and DC microgrid architecture that raises charge/discharge voltage by connecting multiple secondary batteries in series, sets microgrid voltage near twice the maximum battery-group voltage to improve DC/DC converter conversion efficiency, and adds a linear constant current source so charging and discharging remain stable despite changes in the battery group.Filed by LG CNS CO., LTD, published 2014-10-02 as US20140292259A1.
Most-cited records in this dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6110213A | Fabrication rules based automated design and manufacturing system and method | 151 |
| 2 | JP1992295202A | Motor driving and power processing apparatus | 108 |
| 3 | US6847853B1 | Fabrication rules based automated design and manufacturing system and method | 93 |
| 4 | US6337224B1 | Method of producing silicon thin-film photoelectric transducer and plasma CVD apparatus used for the method | 81 |
| 5 | US20120031070A1 | Apparatus, systems and methods for establishing plasma and using plasma in a rotating magnetic field | 75 |
| 6 | US5650708A | Inverter control apparatus using a two-phase modulation method | 73 |
| 7 | US20030175569A1 | Membrane electrode assembly, fuel cell, electrolytic cell, and solid electrolyte | 62 |
| 8 | US20040141165A1 | Radiation source, lithographic apparatus, and device manufacturing method | 52 |
| 9 | US20030164225A1 | Processing apparatus, exhaust processing process and plasma processing | 49 |
| 10 | US6230403B1 | Interconnection system | 40 |
Citation counts favor older filings simply because they've had more time to accumulate them — treat this table as a map of influential prior art, not of current filing priority.
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 Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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 decision
Three patterns recur across the assignee ranking, the filing trend and the class breakdown, each with a direct implication for anyone deciding where to file next.
Concentration
47.3% / top 5
share of 241 records
The top of the field is dense, the rest is a long tail
Five assignees hold 114 of the 241 records in scope, and the ranked list runs to 84 companies total. A filer entering fresh needs to check whether a proposed claim sits adjacent to one of those five portfolios before assuming open space.
Based on the assignee ranking of 241 records.
Momentum
23 in 2023, 10 by 2024
peak year vs. latest complete year
Activity has pulled back from its peak, not accelerated
The -38% move from 16 records in 2021 to 10 in 2024 marks a real slowdown in complete-year filings, not an artifact of publication lag. New entrants should weigh whether this reflects claim space filling up or funding cycles moving elsewhere.
2025-2026 figures are still incomplete and excluded from this comparison.
Technology mix
4 classes near 18-20%
share of 241 records each
Filings rarely stay inside one IPC silo
C01B, H02S, H02J and H05H each cover close to a fifth of records, and G21B, H01L and H05G each cover roughly an eighth. A converter claim drafted without touching the discharge-physics or materials classes is likely narrower than the state of the art already filed.
Shares sum above 100% because records carry multiple IPC codes.
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to electric propulsion power processing units, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gates sit
The ranked list covers 84 companies across 241 records. Recent-year momentum is muted across the board — most of the leading assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, which is consistent with the broader slowdown from the 2023 peak rather than any single company exiting the field.
Leader position
57 records
leading assignee
One filer sits well ahead of the pack
The top-ranked assignee holds 57 of the 241 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 8 and tenth place at 5 — the drop-off after the leader is sharp.
Ranking counted by patent family across 241 records.
Mid-field
8 vs 5
5th vs 10th place records
The mid-field is thin and closely spaced
Fifth place holds 8 records and tenth holds 5 — a narrow gap that means a handful of new filings could reshuffle mid-table rankings quickly.
Based on the full 84-company ranking.
Recent activity
0 YoY for most leaders
latest tracked year
Most leading assignees show no latest-year filings yet
Recent-year momentum tracking shows several top-ranked assignees at zero filings in the latest year, with one leader still filing at a flat 0% year-on-year pace. This likely reflects publication lag as much as any pullback in R&D.
Momentum figures reflect the most recent tracked year only.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Brilliant Light Power Inc | 1 | 0% |
| ASML Netherlands BV | 0 | — |
| Intel Corp | 0 | — |
| HBL CORP | 0 | — |
| Kaneka Corp | 0 | — |
| Extreme Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Raytheon Company | 0 | — |
| NEC Corp | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific follow-up questions rather than a single conclusion. These are the paths worth pursuing depending on what decision you're making.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top five
With 47.3% of records held by five assignees, a proposed converter or discharge-regulation claim should be checked against those portfolios before drafting, not after.
Run a freedom-to-operate checkWatch the 2025-2026 publication window
The apparent slowdown from 2023's peak of 23 records to 10 in 2024 could reverse once the 18-month publication lag catches up — recheck this trend in a future cut.
Track filing trends over timeScope claims across overlapping IPC classes
Because C01B, H02S, H02J and H05H each touch roughly a fifth of records, drafting a claim confined to one class risks missing adjacent prior art in the others.
Explore the technology breakdownSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this patent landscape
One assignee leads with 57 of the 241 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 8 records. The ranking covers 84 companies in total, so while the top of the field is concentrated, the majority of ranked filers hold only a handful of records each. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at both the leader's portfolio and the mid-field cluster around fifth to tenth place, since that group is closely spaced and could shift with a small number of new filings.
Filing activity peaked at 23 records in 2023 and then declined to 10 records in 2024, a -38% move from the 2021 level of 16 records. That 2024 figure is the most recent year with reasonably complete publication data. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the lower counts for 2025 and 2026 in any chart should not be read as continued decline — they are still filling in.
The dataset shows heavy overlap between power electronics and discharge or materials physics rather than a single dominant subclass. C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) covers 19.9% of the 241 records, H02S (photovoltaic and solar power) covers 18.3%, and H02J (power supply and grid systems) and H05H (plasma and particle accelerators) each cover 17.8%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, which reflects genuine technical overlap across converter, materials and plasma claims.
Sub-areas such as arc recovery circuit topology, radiation-tolerant converter packaging, and discharge current regulation under variable load show thinner overlap with the dominant IPC classes and the leading assignees' core claims. That doesn't mean these areas are unclaimed, but the concentration is lower than in the C01B, H02S, H02J and H05H classes that dominate the dataset. A freedom-to-operate search focused specifically on these narrower branches is more likely to surface open claim space than a search across the broad power-conversion category.
It is concentrated at the top but has a long tail beneath it. The top five assignees hold 114 of the 241 records in scope, or 47.3%, and the top ten hold 59.8%. Below that, the ranking extends to 84 companies, many holding only one or two records, which means the field is not a closed market even though a handful of players dominate raw filing counts.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electric Propulsion Power Processing Units covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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.