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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/fischer-tropsch-synthesis-for-efuels-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Efuels & MethanolFischer Tropsch synthesis patents for efuels: who leads and where claim space is still open
- 37.8% of the field sits with five assignees. 544 of 1,439 records in scope belong to the top five filers, with a longer tail of single- and low-count entrants behind them.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 51 records. and fell to 30 by 2024, a documented -41% over that span — though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in under publication lag.
- C10G hydrocarbon oil processing dominates. 774 records (53.8%) touch this class, well ahead of catalysis (B01J, 31.1%) and inorganic chemistry (C01B, 25.1%).
1,439
Published Records
38%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-41%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (51 records) with 2024 (30) — 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 1,439 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Fischer Tropsch synthesis converts syngas into liquid hydrocarbons, and it sits at the centre of most efuel and synthetic crude pathways. This landscape draws on 1,439 patent records published between 2015 and mid-2026 that reference Fischer Tropsch synthesis, synthetic fuel or syncrude upgrading alongside a specific technical element — cobalt catalysts, chain growth probability control, wax handling, microchannel reactors, hydrocracking steps or carbon efficiency measures. That pairing narrows the set to filings that go beyond naming the reaction and instead claim a mechanism for running it.
The scope spans reactor engineering, catalyst chemistry and downstream upgrading, so a single record can carry claims that touch several of these at once. Reading the ranking and the class breakdown together shows not just who is active, but which parts of the reaction chain are already dense with prior art and which are still open.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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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The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,439 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Filings rose to a peak of 51 records in 2021, then declined to 30 by 2024 — a documented -41% over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures (down to 3 by 2026) are not a real drop-off; publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent two years are still filling in.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C10G (hydrocarbon oils and refining) appears in 53.8% of records, more than any other class, followed by C07C acyclic compound chemistry at 33.4% and B01J catalysis at 31.1%. Gasification (C10J, 10.5%) and fuel gas purification (C10K, 7.2%) trail well behind, marking the lighter-claimed ends of the chain. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares sum to more than 100% of the 1,439 records in scope.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,439 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 Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Most-cited records and a recent filing
Representative recent filing
System, apparatus, and method to create synthetic fuel (WO2025179041A1)
HUNT ENERGY ENTERPRISES, L.L.C.
The filing describes a synthetic fuel creation system built around a syngas creation station, a crude creation station producing heavy syncrude, and a crude cracking station that converts that syncrude into synthetic fuel. Syngas generation runs through an electrocatalysis system with an anode, a cathode, oxygen evolution reaction catalysts, and hydrogen/carbon monoxide evolution reaction catalysts that include a graphitic carbon nitride.Filed by Hunt Energy Enterprises, L.L.C., published 2025-08-28.
Highest-cited records in the corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5324335A | Process for the production of hydrocarbons | 216 |
| 2 | US5504118A | Process for the production of hydrocarbons | 191 |
| 3 | US7481275B2 | Plant and a method for increased oil recovery | 171 |
| 4 | WO1999042214A1 | Process for producing hydrocarbons from a synthesis gas, and catalysts therefor | 161 |
| 5 | WO2007027669A1 | Improved biodiesel fuel, additives, and lubbricants | 157 |
| 6 | US5763716A | Process for the production of hydrocarbons | 131 |
| 7 | US7168488B2 | Method and plant or increasing oil recovery by gas injection | 128 |
| 8 | US20090293359A1 | Process for upgrading a carbonaceous material using microchannel process technology | 117 |
| 9 | US20100031560A1 | Engineered fuel feed stock useful for displacement of coal in coal firing plants | 114 |
| 10 | US20100018113A1 | Engineered fuel feed stock | 112 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations within this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current technical 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 Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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 strategy
Three findings that shape where to file, where to license, and where prior art is thinnest.
Concentration
37.8%
of 1,439 records held by top 5 assignees
The top of the field is settled, the rest is fragmented
Five assignees account for 544 of the 1,439 records in scope, and the top ten reach 50.5% (727 records). Below that threshold the ranking runs into a long tail — the tenth-placed assignee holds only 25 records against a leader with 169. New entrants competing head-on with the leaders on core reactor and catalyst claims face dense prior art; the tail suggests more room in narrower, application-specific filings.
Based on the full 100-company assignee ranking
Filing momentum
-41%
change from 2021 peak (51) to 2024 (30)
Activity has cooled from its 2021 peak, but recent years are incomplete
Filings rose steadily to 51 in 2021 before falling to 30 by 2024 — a real, documented decline. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than a further drop in activity; treat only the 2021-2024 comparison as evidence of a trend.
2024 is the latest year treated as complete
Class distribution
53.8%
of records classified under C10G
Hydrocarbon oil processing dominates the claim space
C10G appears in over half of all records, well ahead of catalysis-focused B01J (31.1%) and inorganic chemistry C01B (25.1%). Gasification (C10J) and fuel gas purification (C10K) sit under 11% each, marking segments of the syngas-to-fuel chain that carry comparatively fewer claims relative to the downstream refining and catalyst work.
Shares sum above 100% because records carry multiple IPC classes
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to fischer tropsch synthesis for efuels, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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 momentum has shifted
The ranking spans 100 companies drawn from the full 1,439-record dataset. Reading the leaders against recent-year momentum shows where activity has cooled even among the largest holders.
Leader
169
records held by the top-ranked assignee
A clear leader, but not a runaway one
The top-ranked assignee holds 169 records, well ahead of the fifth-placed filer at 77 and the tenth at 25. That gap between first and fifth place is where most of the top-5 concentration (37.8% of all 1,439 records) sits.
Rank 1 vs rank 5 vs rank 10
Momentum
0
latest-year filings across several major assignees
Several major holders show no filings in the latest year
Recent-year momentum data shows multiple large, established assignees recording zero filings in the most recent year tracked. Given the 18-month publication lag, this likely reflects filings still in the pipeline rather than an exit from the field, but it does mean the visible leaderboard understates who is actively filing right now.
Read alongside the publication-lag caveat
Collaboration
10
co-assignee pairs identified
Co-filing is limited and concentrated in a few relationships
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest pairings linking a major oil major to an individual inventor and two energy companies to each other. Co-filing is not a major feature of this field; most assignees file independently.
Strongest pairs by joint record count
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron U.S.A. Inc. | 0 | — |
| Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V. | 0 | — |
| Sasol Technology (Pty) Ltd | 0 | — |
| Velocys Technologies Ltd | 0 | — |
| Expander Energy Inc. | 0 | — |
| Velocys Inc. | 0 | — |
| Statoil ASA | 0 | — |
| Accordant Energy, LLC | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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 analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or identifying a filing gap.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top 10
With 50.5% of records held by ten assignees, any new reactor or catalyst filing should be checked against their claim scope before drafting.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches in detail
Wax handling, microchannel scale-up and carbon efficiency loops show thinner coverage than core hydrocarbon processing claims — worth a targeted prior-art pull.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack filings still in the publication pipeline
Zero recent-year filings from several major holders likely reflects the 18-month publication lag, not an exit — worth monitoring as 2025-2026 data fills in.
Set up monitoring in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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 on Fischer Tropsch efuels patents
The assignee ranking in this dataset covers 100 companies drawn from 1,439 records, and it is led by a single assignee holding 169 records. The top five combined hold 544 records, or 37.8% of the field, while the tenth-ranked assignee holds only 25 — showing a clear leader followed by a steep drop into a long tail of smaller filers. This concentration pattern is typical of a mature refining-adjacent technology where a handful of oil majors and specialist reactor developers built out core claims early.
Filing activity rose to a peak of 51 records in 2021 and had fallen to 30 by 2024, a documented -41% decline over that three-year span. Numbers for 2025 and 2026 appear lower still, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual continued slide — those years are still filling in. The fair read is a real cooling from the 2021 peak, not a field in freefall.
Hydrocarbon oil processing and refining (IPC class C10G) appears in 53.8% of the 1,439 records, making it the single most common classification. Acyclic and carbocyclic organic chemistry (C07C, 33.4%) and catalysis-related chemical processes (B01J, 31.1%) follow. Gasification and fuel gas purification classes each appear in roughly one in ten records, marking comparatively lighter claim density in those parts of the syngas-to-fuel chain.
Relative to the dense claim coverage in hydrocarbon oil processing and catalysis, sub-areas such as wax handling and separation, microchannel reactor scale-up, and carbon efficiency optimisation show thinner representation in this dataset. These are not unclaimed, but they carry less concentrated prior art than the core reactor and catalyst chemistry claims held by the leading assignees. A freedom-to-operate or filing strategy focused on these branches is likely to encounter fewer blocking claims from the top holders.
It is moderately concentrated: the top five assignees hold 37.8% of all 1,439 records in scope, and the top ten hold 50.5%. That leaves roughly half the field spread across the remaining 90 ranked assignees plus filers outside the ranking, so while the leaders have built substantial claim positions, there is meaningful activity outside the top tier. This is a field with a defined leadership group but not a monopoly.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis for Efuels 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.