GTF Gearbox & Engine Reliability Patent Snapshot 2026
The GTF gearbox and engine reliability patent space is an exceptionally concentrated field, with RTX Corp and its predecessor United Technologies Corp together holding essentially all ranked filings. Activity is concentrated in gas-turbine plant architecture and jet propulsion, with the dominant filing window appearing to have closed around 2017.
RTX Corp dominates a highly concentrated, single-incumbent Snapshot
RTX Corp leads the applicant ranking with 65 patent records, followed by United Technologies Corp with 15 patent records — the two entities together account for the full top-five share of the ranked applicants visible in this query, reflecting that this is effectively a single corporate lineage controlling the corpus.
The concentration is exceptional: the top five filers account for 100% of the combined total of the ranked applicants visible in this query, leaving no meaningful second tier. United Technologies Corp is the direct predecessor to RTX Corp, so the intellectual property is functionally consolidated within one successor entity.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX Corp | 65 | |
| 2 | United Technologies Corporation | 15 |
This level of consolidation implies that any entrant into GTF gearbox and engine reliability would be navigating a dense, single-owner thicket, primarily in gas-turbine plant architecture. Freedom-to-operate analysis against RTX Corp’s portfolio would be a prerequisite before any R&D investment.
The most recent filing years in the dataset (2018 onward) show zero or near-zero activity, which may reflect publication lag, a narrowing of the query scope, or a genuine cessation of filings in this specific reliability sub-domain.
A 2017 filing spike followed by apparent dormancy; gas-turbine plant architecture dominates the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition together reveal a corpus shaped almost entirely by a single burst of activity in 2017, heavily weighted toward foundational gas-turbine and jet propulsion architecture rather than discrete reliability sub-systems.
Annual filing trend
The trend shows 12 patent records filed in 2017, dropping to 2 in 2018 and zero for every subsequent year through 2026. Years from 2024 onward are subject to publication lag and should not be interpreted as confirmed zero activity; however, the drop begins as early as 2018, predating any lag window, suggesting the primary filing campaign concluded around 2017.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F02C (Gas-turbine plants) is the visible branch, followed by F02K (Jet and reaction propulsion) and F01D (Turbines and non-positive engines). Lower-share branches — F04D (Non-positive-displacement pumps), B63H (Marine propulsion), B64C (Aeroplanes and helicopters), F01M (Engine lubrication), and F16H (Gearing and transmissions) — each represent a small fraction of the corpus, indicating that the reliability coverage is concentrated in core thermodynamic and propulsion architecture rather than ancillary mechanical sub-systems.
↗ 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.
Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture
A gas turbine engine includes a very high speed low pressure turbine such that a quantity defined by the exit area of the low pressure turbine multiplied by the square of the low pressure turbine rotational speed compared to the same parameters for the high pressure turbine is at a ratio between about 0.5 and about 1.5. (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 74 |
| 2 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 43 |
| 3 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 42 |
| 4 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 32 |
| 5 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 27 |
| 6 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 24 |
| 7 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 23 |
| 8 | Geared turbofan gas turbine engine architecture | 19 |
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.
RTX Corp
RTX Corp leads with 65 patent records, concentrated in F02C (Gas-turbine plants) and F02K (Jet and reaction propulsion) based on the technology focus data for its predecessor entity United Technologies Corp. Applicant momentum data is not available for this corpus, so trajectory cannot be formally quantified, but the filing record shows the bulk of activity predates the RTX Corp entity name, reflecting the corporate reorganization rather than a new filing campaign.
patent records: 65United Technologies Corp
United Technologies Corp holds 15 patent records in the corpus, with a technology focus spanning F02C (Gas-turbine plants), F02K (Jet and reaction propulsion), and F01D (Turbines and non-positive engines). As the legal predecessor to RTX Corp, these records have been or will be transferred to the successor entity, meaning this is not a competing filer but the same economic actor under an earlier legal name.
patent records: 15Frequently asked questions
There are 14 patent families in scope for this landscape analysis.
RTX Corp leads with 65 patent records in the ranked corpus, followed by United Technologies Corp with 15 patent records. Both entities represent the same corporate lineage, as United Technologies Corp is the legal predecessor to RTX Corp.
Europe (EPO) holds the largest number of patent records, followed by the United States and Canada. WIPO (PCT) and Singapore each account for a small number of records, indicating that the primary protection strategy has been European and North American.
F02C (Gas-turbine plants) is the visible branch, followed by F02K (Jet and reaction propulsion) and F01D (Turbines and non-positive engines). Gearing-specific classification under F16H accounts for only 5 patent records despite gearbox technology being central to the GTF architecture.
Filing activity peaked in 2017 with 12 patent records, dropped to 2 in 2018, and shows zero records for every subsequent year through 2026. Years from 2024 onward are subject to publication lag, but the drop begins well before any lag window would apply.
No co-applicant or co-filing relationships are recorded in the available evidence. The filing activity appears to have been conducted entirely within the United Technologies / RTX Corp corporate group, with individual named inventors appearing as separate applicant entries rather than as external partners.
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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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