GSHP Compressor Patent Snapshot 2026
The GSHP compressor patent space is a small, highly concentrated niche in decline, with Ontario Power Generation holding a commanding lead among a thin field of applicants. Annual filing volume peaked in 2020 and has since eased substantially, signalling a field with limited fresh IP activity and significant room for new entrants willing to invest.
Ontario Power Generation dominates a very small field
The corpus covers 5 patent families in total. Ontario Power Generation Inc sits at the top of the ranking with 4 patent records, followed at a distance by Envirotherm Heating & Cooling Systems and Grenier Michel. A, each holding 2 patent records.
The top five filers account for 56% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query, a high concentration figure for such a small corpus. The tier gap between the leader and every other applicant is stark: no single challenger comes close to matching Ontario Power Generation’s position.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ontario Power Generation Inc | 4 | |
| 2 | ENVIROTHERM HEATING & COOLING SYST | 2 | |
| 3 | Grenier Michel A | 2 | |
| 4 | Ontario Hydro (Canada) | 1 | |
| 5 | WaterFurnace International Inc | 1 | |
| 6 | Raveen C | 1 | |
| 7 | Dr. A. Vijayakumar | 1 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Ligin R | 1 | |
| 9 | Mr. Gowrishankar R | 1 | |
| 10 | US Power Corp | 1 | |
| 11 | Carrier Corporation | 1 | |
| 12 | Sivaramakrishnan R M | 1 | |
| 13 | Hebei Yimin Hardware Manufacturing | 1 |
This concentration implies that the visible assignee’s portfolio decisions — licensing posture, litigation strategy, or lapse — could materially reshape the assignee snapshot. For new entrants, the incumbents’ IP coverage is narrow enough that differentiated filings in adjacent branches face limited blocking risk.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and may be under-counted in current data. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2020 peak followed by rapid decline, with refrigeration dominating the technology mix
The annual filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal a field that experienced a brief surge around 2020 and has since contracted sharply, with the refrigeration and heat pump class (F25B) accounting for the overwhelming share of activity.
Annual filing trend
Filings were absent from 2017 through 2019, rose to a peak of 2 in 2020, then stepped down to 1 in both 2021 and 2022 before returning to zero in 2023 and 2024. A single filing appears in 2025, though that figure remains subject to publication lag. The overall trajectory confirms a field in decline from its modest 2020 high.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) is visible in with 21 patent records, far ahead of F24D (Domestic heating systems), F24F (Air conditioning and ventilation), F24J, and F24T (Geothermal systems), each represented by only 1 patent record. The lopsided composition confirms that compressor innovation in the GSHP context has been filed almost exclusively under the refrigeration machinery class.
↗ 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.
Modular tube bundle heat exchanger and geothermal …
A geothermal heat exchanger having modular tube bundles is provided in a novel heat pump system. The modular tube bundles are particularly adapted to be placed within a narrow excavation in the ground, such as a trench excavated using a backhoe bucket, which trench can be V-shaped. A heat resistant soaker hose is disposed above or about the rectangular tube… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geothermal heat pump system | 178 |
| 2 | Modular tube bundle heat exchanger and geothermal … | 137 |
| 3 | Ground source heat pump system | 122 |
| 4 | Heat pump having an accumulator with refrigerant l… | 114 |
| 5 | Direct expansion ground source heat pump | 50 |
| 6 | Heat pump | 24 |
| 7 | Geothermal-ready heat pump system | 8 |
| 8 | Ground source heat pump system | 5 |
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.
Ontario Power Generation Inc
Ontario Power Generation Inc holds 4 patent records, the largest position in the corpus. Its technology emphasis sits firmly in F25B subclasses covering refrigeration cycles, heat pump configurations, and expansion/control components (F25B13, F25B30, F25B41). No momentum data is available for this filer, consistent with the field’s overall decline trajectory since 2020.
patent records: 4Envirotherm Heating & Cooling Systems
Envirotherm Heating & Cooling Systems holds 2 patent records and shares its IPC focus with Grenier Michel A across F25B13, F25B30, and F25B40 — refrigeration cycle, heat pump, and refrigerant charge/recovery subclasses. The challenger tier is effectively flat: Grenier Michel A also holds 2 patent records, and all remaining filers hold exactly 1.
patent records: 2Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 5 patent families in total. This is a very small niche, and the applicant ranking is measured in patent records, which can differ from the family count when a family designates multiple jurisdictions.
Ontario Power Generation Inc leads with 4 patent records, well ahead of the next-ranked filers — Envirotherm Heating & Cooling Systems and Grenier Michel A — who each hold 2 patent records.
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filings peaked at 2 in 2020 and have since eased back, reaching zero in 2023 and 2024, with only a single filing appearing in 2025.
The United States leads with 7 patent records, followed by Canada with 4, Germany and Europe (EPO) with 2 each, and single records in Austria, China, Spain, India, South Korea, and via WIPO PCT.
F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) is visible in with 21 patent records. F24D, F24F, F24J, and F24T each account for only 1 patent record, making them sparse adjacent branches relative to the F25B core.
No co-applicant filings are recorded in this corpus. Every applicant in the ranking appears to have filed independently, with no consortium or joint-inventor arrangements evident in the available evidence.
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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.