GSHP Ground & Borehole Heat Exchanger Patent Landscape
The GSHP ground and borehole heat exchanger space is a maturing, modestly sized field dominated by academic and specialist filers concentrated in China and the United States. Activity has plateaued near its 2019 peak, with no net growth in the most recent window, signalling that the core design space is established while adjacent branches remain lightly contested.
Regents of the University of Minnesota leads a fragmented, academically driven field
The Regents of the University of Minnesota holds the top position among the hundred largest filers, followed closely by Shandong Jianzhu University, Shandong Grad Group, and Renewable Energy Drilling BV — each separated by only two patent families.
The top five filers collectively account for 33% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, a moderate concentration level that reflects a field where no single commercial player has consolidated control. The tier gap between the leader and ranks two through four is narrow, meaning the competitive order could shift with a modest filing burst.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regents of the University of Minnesota | 6 | |
| 2 | Shandong Jianzhu University | 4 | |
| 3 | Shandong Grad Group | 4 | |
| 4 | Renewable Energy Drilling BV | 4 | |
| 5 | Northeast Forestry University | 3 | |
| 6 | SOO ENERGY CO LTD | 2 | |
| 7 | BALLEGEER JOHN P | 2 | |
| 8 | HALLORAN ROY DAN | 2 | |
| 9 | Gree Electric Appliance Inc. of Zhuhai | 2 | |
| 10 | J&G CO LTD | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | RICHARDSON DON RHULE | 1 | |
| 12 | SHENZHEN GENERAL INST OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & RES | 1 | |
| 13 | Shandong Beilin Energy Engineering Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 14 | Nanjing Tech University | 1 | |
| 15 | JESCO | 1 | |
| 16 | CHINA UNIV OF MINING & TECH | 1 | |
| 17 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 1 | |
| 18 | Hebei University of Engineering | 1 | |
| 19 | Earth To Air Systems | 1 | |
| 20 | Yangzhou University | 1 |
The dominance of universities and regional engineering groups rather than global HVAC or energy majors indicates that core borehole heat exchanger design is still largely a research-to-practice transfer problem — an opening for industrially focused entrants willing to patent implementation-level advances.
Filings from approximately 2024 onward are subject to publication lag and likely under-represent actual activity; trend readings for those years should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing volume has plateaued after a 2019 surge; geothermal systems dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend and the IPC composition chart together show a field that expanded sharply in 2019, settled into irregular annual volumes, and has remained near that plateau — while the technology mix is heavily weighted toward geothermal system-level patents with thinner coverage in supporting hardware classes.
Annual filing trend
A pronounced spike to 11 filings in 2019 was followed by a drop and subsequent recovery to 8–9 filings per year from 2021 onward. The 2019 peak has not been sustainably exceeded, consistent with a maturing field. Figures for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and should be read as floors rather than final counts; the 2026 figure is incomplete.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F24T (Geothermal systems) accounts for the large majority of records, with F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) and F28D (Heat-exchange apparatus) as secondary branches. Classes covering drilling mechanics (E21B), air conditioning integration (F24F), heat-exchanger construction details (F28F), and domestic heating (F24D) each hold single-digit record counts, pointing to relative sparsity in system-integration and hardware-detail branches.
↗ 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.
Geothermal heat system having reduced heat source …
Provided is a geothermal heat system having reduced heat source residual heat of a geothermal heat pump. The geothermal heat system includes a ground heat exchanger unit, a geothermal heat pump, and a residual heat storage tank. A portion of heat source residual heat remaining in the geothermal heat pump is transferred on a geothermal heat exchange medium… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A heat exchange module, in particular for a ground… | 28 |
| 2 | Geothermal and remediation system and method | 19 |
| 3 | Groundwater enhanced geothermal heat pump | 11 |
| 4 | Concentric pipe geothermal heat exchanger well head | 10 |
| 5 | Advanced Ground Thermal Conductivity Testing | 8 |
| 6 | Ground source heat pump heat exchanger | 8 |
| 7 | Groundwater enhanced geothermal heat pump | 6 |
| 8 | Geothermal heat exchanging system using automatic … | 6 |
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.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment
Four structural features of this landscape — lifecycle stage, concentration, collaborative activity, and geography — each carry distinct implications for where new IP investment is most and least defensible.
Field has plateaued; incremental differentiation required
The lifecycle evidence indicates a mature stage: annual filings have plateaued near their 2019 peak with zero net growth in the most recent window. Core borehole heat exchanger configurations are well-documented in the prior art. New entrants and incumbents alike should target differentiated sub-configurations — hybrid systems, novel grout formulations, or integrated drilling-plus-exchanger designs — rather than broad system-level claims.
Mature · plateauedModerate concentration with a shallow leader gap
The top five filers hold 33% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, and the margin between the leader (6 patent families) and ranks two through four (4 each) is slim. This shallow tier gap means the ranking is contestable. A focused filing program of even five to ten well-scoped families could shift a challenger into the top tier, particularly given the absence of a dominant commercial incumbent.
Fragmented top tierSingle documented co-filing pair: Shandong Grad Group and Shandong Jianzhu University
The only confirmed co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between Shandong Grad Group (Shandong Grad Group) and Shandong Jianzhu University, who have co-filed 2 patent families. This industry-university pairing in Shandong province suggests a regional cluster of geothermal engineering expertise. No multi-party consortia or cross-border collaboration is recorded, which leaves ecosystem-building through joint IP as an underused competitive lever elsewhere.
Minimal co-filingChina leads filings; US and South Korea are secondary jurisdictions
China accounts for the largest share of jurisdictional records, followed by the United States, South Korea, WIPO PCT, Canada, Europe (EPO), and the Netherlands. The China-heavy profile reflects both the active domestic filer base and China’s role as a primary deployment market for ground-source heat pump systems. For applicants targeting European or North American markets, the EPO and PCT counts suggest limited direct coverage, creating room for jurisdiction-targeted filing strategies.
China-led, multi-marketGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Shandong Grad Group Co., Ltd. | Shandong Jianzhu University | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
University of Minnesota leads on geothermal systems; Renewable Energy Drilling BV is distinct in drilling-integrated IP
The top two players illustrate the field’s academic-versus-specialist divide: the leading university filer concentrates on geothermal system design, while the leading commercial specialist focuses squarely on drilling mechanics combined with heat exchanger architecture.
Regents of the University of Minnesota
Holds 6 patent families, the most among all ranked applicants, concentrated entirely in F24T 10 (Geothermal systems). The momentum data flags this entity as a new entrant in the recent window with 2 recent filings, suggesting the position was built relatively quickly and may continue to grow. As an academic institution, its IP is often licensed rather than practiced, making it a potential collaboration or licensing target.
families: 6Renewable Energy Drilling BV
Holds 4 patent families with a markedly different technology profile: E21B 19 and E21B 7 (Earth and rock drilling) each appear alongside F24T 10, making this the only top-ranked filer with substantive drilling-mechanics IP. All 4 recent filings were logged in the current window as a new entrant, indicating a rapid, focused entry strategy. This drilling-integrated approach is largely uncontested by the academic leaders and represents a distinct competitive moat.
families: 4| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Regents of the University of Minnesota | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Shandong Grad Group Co., Ltd. | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Renewable Energy Drilling BV | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Northeast Forestry University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Gree Electric Appliance Inc. of Zhuhai | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| SOO ENERGY CO LTD | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC classes adjacent to the dominant F24T core have low record counts relative to their technical relevance to borehole heat exchanger systems. These represent observations of relative sparsity; whether they constitute actionable opportunities depends on a filer’s specific technical capabilities and commercial targets.
E21B · Earth & Rock Drilling (Wells)
With only 5 records, drilling-mechanics IP is nearly absent from this landscape despite borehole construction being central to GSHP installation cost and performance. Renewable Energy Drilling BV is the only ranked filer with meaningful E21B coverage. Entry paths include claims on coaxial-pipe installation methods, reusable casing systems, or directional drilling adaptations for urban GSHP deployments — areas where mechanical engineering expertise translates directly to patentable differentiation.
Search this in Eureka →F28F · Heat-Exchanger Construction Details
F28F holds just 7 records, indicating that component-level design detail — fin geometry, tube materials, manifold configurations, and thermal contact optimization — is lightly covered in the existing corpus. Given that heat exchanger thermal performance is a primary efficiency lever, this branch has plausible technical value for materials or precision-manufacturing firms. The sparse prior art also means claim scope may be broader than in the crowded F24T space.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | F24T 10 · Geothermal systems | F25B 30 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F28D 20 · Heat-exchange apparatus | F24F 5 · Air conditioning & ventilation | F24T 50 · Geothermal systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shandong Jianzhu University | Strong · 4 | Moderate · 2 | Moderate · 2 | Absent | Moderate · 2 |
| Shandong Grad Group Co., Ltd. | Strong · 4 | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Moderate · 2 |
| Regents of the University of Minnesota | Strong · 6 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| BALLEGEER JOHN P | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent |
| SOO ENERGY CO LTD | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Moderate · 1 | Absent | Moderate · 1 |
| Gree Electric Appliance Inc. of Zhuhai | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Moderate · 1 | Absent |
| Renewable Energy Drilling BV | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The dataset covers 56 patent families in scope. It is a focused, specialist corpus rather than a broad category, reflecting the relative novelty and technical specificity of borehole heat exchanger configurations within the wider GSHP market.
The Regents of the University of Minnesota leads with 6 patent families, ahead of Shandong Jianzhu University, Shandong Grad Group, and Renewable Energy Drilling BV, each with 4 patent families. The margin is narrow throughout the top tier.
The field is assessed as mature, with annual filings having plateaued near the 2019 peak and zero net growth recorded in the most recent window. Figures for 2024 and 2025 remain subject to publication lag and may rise as more applications are published, but the multi-year trend does not indicate an expanding frontier.
China accounts for the largest share of jurisdictional records, followed by the United States, South Korea, WIPO PCT, Canada, Europe (EPO), and the Netherlands. The heavy China weighting reflects both an active domestic filer base and China’s large ground-source heat pump deployment market.
The most-cited work in the evidence is titled ‘A heat exchange module, in particular for a ground…’, which has accumulated 28 citations. It is followed by ‘Geothermal and remediation system and method’ with 19 citations and ‘Groundwater enhanced geothermal heat pump’ with 11 citations.
The only documented co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between Shandong Grad Group and Shandong Jianzhu University, which have co-filed 2 patent families. No other multi-party or cross-border co-filing arrangements are recorded in this dataset.
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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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