Ground-Source Heat Pump Patent Snapshot 2026
The GSHP patent space is compact and past its 2019 peak, with academic and specialist commercial filers dominating a field where no single entity has locked in broad control. The University of Minnesota leads among the top hundred filers, but the top five collectively hold only about a third of that group’s combined output, leaving meaningful room for targeted entrants.
Academic and specialist firms lead a fragmented field
The Regents of the University of Minnesota tops the applicant ranking with 6 patent records, followed closely by Get Green Energy Corp at 5 and Earth to Air Systems and PAS Inc each at 4. The podium is split between an academic institution and pure-play geothermal commercializers, reflecting a field where applied research and niche engineering firms have driven the bulk of protected innovation.
The top five filers account for 34% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, a moderate concentration ratio that points to a genuinely fragmented second tier. Beyond the top five, rankings drop quickly to 3 or 2 patent records per entity, confirming no single commercial incumbent has achieved decisive portfolio breadth.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regents of the University of Minnesota | 6 | |
| 2 | Get Green Energy Corp | 5 | |
| 3 | Earth to Air Systems LLC | 4 | |
| 4 | PAS Inc. | 4 | |
| 5 | WaterFurnace International Inc. | 3 | |
| 6 | ICAX Ltd. | 3 | |
| 7 | Reno L. Barban | 2 | |
| 8 | Claudia Irma Ochnik | 2 | |
| 9 | Michel A. Grenier | 2 | |
| 10 | Geothermal Design Center Inc. | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hokkaido University | 2 | |
| 12 | NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN ENGINEERING CO LTD | 2 | |
| 13 | Don Rhule Richardson | 1 | |
| 14 | Brett Troy Ross | 1 | |
| 15 | Bruce R. Cole | 1 | |
| 16 | Garen N. Ewbank | 1 | |
| 17 | CHINA UNIV OF MINING & TECH | 1 | |
| 18 | Judith A. Slglin | 1 | |
| 19 | Dandelion Energy Inc. | 1 | |
| 20 | Richard A. Clemenzi | 1 |
The University of Minnesota’s position at the summit, combined with a new-entrant momentum flag, suggests that academic-to-commercial transfer pathways remain active. Commercial challengers such as WaterFurnace International and ICAX hold smaller but technically focused positions in domestic heating and HVAC integration respectively.
Filings from approximately 2024 onward are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lags of 18–24 months; apparent recent-year totals should not be read as the final activity level for those periods. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2019 peak followed by declining annual volume; refrigeration and geothermal dominate the mix
The annual filing chart captures a field that spiked in 2019 and has trended downward since; the technology composition chart reveals that heat-pump refrigeration circuits and dedicated geothermal system classes together account for the large majority of classified activity.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked sharply at 9 records in 2019, then fell back in subsequent years. The multi-year window still shows accumulated volume, but annual pace has clearly eased from that peak. Years from 2024 onward are subject to publication lag and should be treated as provisional.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) is the visible IPC branch with 41 patent records, signalling that compressor-cycle and refrigerant-circuit innovation is central to the corpus. F24T (Geothermal systems) follows at 16 records, with F24J, F24D (Domestic heating), and F24F (Air conditioning and ventilation) forming a secondary tier. Lower-density branches such as F28D (Heat-exchange apparatus), H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies), and E02D (Foundations and earth drilling) sit in the single digits.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Groundwater enhanced geothermal heat pump
A geothermal heat pump system includes a main heat exchanger, a borehole that extends in a vertical direction through an aquifer, a ground loop and a pump. The main heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat between a ground loop flow and a heat distribution system. The ground loop includes a groundwater heat exchanger, an input pipe and an output pipe… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ground source heat pump system | 122 |
| 2 | Variable capacity staged cooling direct expansion … | 79 |
| 3 | Geothermal Water Heater | 73 |
| 4 | Recoverable ground source heat pump | 62 |
| 5 | Staged cooling direct expansion geothermal heat pump | 57 |
| 6 | Direct expansion geothermal heat pump | 50 |
| 7 | Multi-split Heat Pump for Heating, Cooling, and Wa… | 38 |
| 8 | Biothermal and geothermal heat exchange apparatus … | 30 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Regents of the University of Minnesota
Holds 6 patent records, the highest count in the ranking, concentrated entirely in F24T (Geothermal systems). Momentum data flags it as a new entrant in the recent filing window, suggesting its position is being actively built rather than maintained from legacy filings. Its academic base implies a technology-transfer or licensing orientation rather than direct product deployment.
patent records: 6Get Green Energy Corp
Ranks second with 5 patent records, focused across F25B refrigerant-circuit sub-classes including heat-pump and refrigeration apparatus branches. As a dedicated commercial entity its portfolio likely targets licensable system configurations. No momentum flag is available in the evidence, so trajectory relative to prior periods cannot be confirmed.
patent records: 5Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 27 patent families. Applicant rankings and IPC branch counts are reported at the patent-record level and can exceed the family total because a single family may generate multiple records across jurisdictions or classification entries.
The Regents of the University of Minnesota leads with 6 patent records, all concentrated in F24T (Geothermal systems). It is flagged as a new entrant in the most recent filing period, indicating active portfolio building.
The United States is the visible filing jurisdiction with 24 patent records. Canada follows at 8, WIPO PCT at 7, China and the United Kingdom each at 4, Europe (EPO) at 3, and Australia and Japan each at 2.
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filings peaked at 9 records in 2019 and have eased since. The multi-year corpus still reflects accumulated activity, but the annual pace has retreated from that peak.
One confirmed collaboration pair appears in the evidence: Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd. and Hokkaido University co-filed 2 patent records. This is the only documented co-applicant relationship in the corpus.
F28D (Heat-exchange apparatus) and E02D (Foundations and earth drilling) each have very low patent-record counts — 3 and 2 respectively — despite being directly relevant to GSHP hardware and installation. H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies) and G06F (Digital data processing) are also sparse, pointing to limited coverage of controls and optimization software.
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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.
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