Helium Recovery Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees together hold 47.2% of all 127 records in scope, and the top ten hold 60.6% — a field where a handful of filers set the terms.
- Filing has cooled since 2021. Filings fell from 10 in 2021 to 7 in 2024, a 30% decline over that span, after peaking at 12 in 2023.
- Cryogenic and separation classes dominate. C01B and B01D together cover the large majority of records, while adjacent classes like heat-exchange apparatus and catalysis sit in single digits.
Filing growth compares 2021 (10 records) with 2024 (7) — 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 127 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the helium recovery patent record shows
Helium recovery and purification patenting spans 127 records filed between 2015 and 2026, concentrated around cryogenic condensation, membrane separation and pressure-swing adsorption routes for pulling helium out of natural gas and process streams. The record set skews toward inorganic gas separation (C01B) and general filtration and separation apparatus (B01D), with a smaller but consistent presence in gas liquefaction (F25J) and glass manufacture (C03B) — the latter reflecting helium’s role as a process gas in specialty glass and fiber production.
Filing activity built through the late 2010s, peaked in 2023, and has eased since — consistent with a field where core recovery methods are well claimed and new entrants are filing around existing art rather than replacing it. China accounts for the largest share of receiving-office activity, ahead of the United States and Europe, pointing to where competitive and freedom-to-operate review should start.
Filing trend and technology composition
The two charts below use the same 127-record scope: one tracks publication year, the other breaks records out by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry more than one IPC code, the class shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings ran at 11 in 2017, rose to a peak of 12 in 2023, and dropped to 7 by 2024 — a 30% decline from the 2021 level of 10. Recent years understate true activity because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a slowdown on their own.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) appears in 79.5% of records and B01D (separation processes) in 60.6%, making these two classes the backbone of the field. F25J (gas liquefaction) and C03B (glass manufacture) form a secondary tier, while B01J, C10L, C01C and F28D each sit below 9% — smaller footholds rather than core claim territory.
Shares are the percentage of the 127 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Helium Recovery and Purification with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about helium recovery and purification and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited records
Helium Recovery From Streams Containing Helium, Carbon Dioxide, and at least one of Nitrogen and Methane
Systems and methods are provided for recovering helium from a feed comprising helium, carbon dioxide, and at least one of nitrogen and methane. The feed is separated in a first separator to form a helium-enriched stream and a CO2-enriched stream. The helium-enriched stream is separated in a pressure swing adsorption unit to form a helium-rich product stream and a helium-lean stream, with at least a portion of the helium-lean stream recycled to the first separator. Some embodiments add a membrane separation unit to enhance recovery.Filed by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., published 2017-02-16.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5632803A | Enhanced helium recovery | 104 |
| 2 | US20050217479A1 | Helium recovery from gas streams | 92 |
| 3 | US7294172B2 | Helium recovery | 46 |
| 4 | EP0601601A1 | Coolant recovery system | 39 |
| 5 | US7169210B2 | Control system for helium recovery | 34 |
| 6 | CN210237128U | 一种天然气液化含氦尾气提纯氦气的系统 | 33 |
| 7 | US20100101410A1 | Helium recovery process | 29 |
| 8 | US20090320679A1 | Methods and systems for helium recovery | 29 |
| 9 | US20140243574A1 | Helium Recovery From Natural Gas | 28 |
| 10 | US20040237789A1 | Helium recovery | 27 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and favour older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once concentration, timing and class coverage are read together: a top-heavy assignee base, a post-2021 filing slowdown, and a technology mix that leaves several adjacent classes thin.
A small group sets the terms
The five leading assignees together account for 47.2% of all 127 records in scope, and the top ten hold 60.6%. That leaves a long tail of single- and double-filing entrants working around a well-established core, rather than a fragmented field open to easy entry.
Filing has eased from its 2023 peak
Annual filings ran at 10 in 2021, climbed to a peak of 12 in 2023, then fell to 7 by 2024 — a 30% decline over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a further drop.
Core claim territory is narrow
C01B and B01D between them cover the large majority of the 127 records, while F25J, C03B, B01J, C10L, C01C and F28D each cover a single-digit-to-mid-teens share. Heat-exchange apparatus and catalysis-linked filings are present but thin, which is where less-crowded claim space tends to sit.
China leads receiving-office volume
China accounts for 62 of the records reviewed for receiving office, ahead of the United States at 25 and Europe at 15, with Canada, Japan and WIPO PCT filings trailing. Freedom-to-operate review for new entrants should weight Chinese-office prior art accordingly.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to helium recovery and purification, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The ranked leaders span industrial gas majors, refining conglomerates and a long tail of smaller Chinese energy-services entrants. Co-assignee pairs are rare — only 10 recorded — showing most work here is filed by a single applicant rather than through joint ventures.
One filer sets the pace
The leading assignee holds 31 records, well ahead of fifth place at 4 and tenth place at 3 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail field rather than a broad multi-way contest.
Many single-filing entrants
Beyond the leading group, the ranking includes dozens of assignees with only one or two records — refining companies, regional energy-services firms and research institutes testing narrow process variants rather than building broad portfolios.
Joint filing is uncommon
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, the strongest linking a refining parent to its own research institute. Most filers here protect recovery methods independently rather than through joint development structures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Praxair Technology, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Anhui Wanrui Cryogenic Electric Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) | 0 | — |
| L'Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC | 0 | — |
| Qingyang Ruihua Energy Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry | 0 | — |
| Xi'an Shiyou University | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this from here
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy, or spotting open claim space.
Check the leading assignee's full claim scope
With 31 records against a fifth-place figure of 4, the top filer's claims are the first thing to map before filing anywhere near cryogenic or membrane-based recovery.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaWatch the post-2021 filing pattern
The 30% drop from 2021 to 2024 could mean saturation, consolidation, or simply a slower filer cohort; treating 2025-2026 data as final would be premature given publication lag.
Track filing trends in EurekaTest under-claimed IPC branches
Heat-exchange apparatus, catalysis and nitrogen-compound co-recovery each cover a small share of the 127 records, suggesting narrower but more open claim space than the core separation classes.
Run a white space search in EurekaCommon questions about helium recovery patents
The ranking of 74 assignees is led by a single company holding 31 of the 127 records in scope, far ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 4 records and tenth place at 3. That gap marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail field: one filer has built a broad position while most others hold only one or two records apiece. Anyone assessing competitive risk should start with the leader's claim scope rather than assume the field is evenly spread.
Filings rose through the late 2010s, peaked at 12 in 2023, and fell to 7 by 2024, a 30% decline from the 2021 level of 10. That looks like a slowdown, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 counts in any dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a further drop. The 2021-to-2024 window is the most reliable recent signal available.
Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds (IPC class C01B) appear in 79.5% of the 127 records, and separation processes such as filtration (B01D) appear in 60.6%, making these two classes the backbone of the field. Gas liquefaction (F25J) and glass manufacture (C03B) form a secondary tier. Because a record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, which is expected and reflects overlapping claim coverage rather than double-counting error.
The technology composition data shows several IPC classes with low record counts relative to the core separation classes: heat-exchange apparatus (F28D) at 3.1%, catalysis-linked processes (B01J) at 5.5%, and nitrogen-compound co-recovery (C01C) at 3.1%. These are not necessarily easy to file in, but they carry noticeably less claim density than cryogenic condensation or membrane separation, which sit inside the two dominant classes. A first claim aimed at heat-exchange loop design for cryogenic helium recovery, for instance, would face far less prior art than one aimed at the core separation step.
China is the largest receiving office with 62 records, followed by the United States at 25 and Europe (EPO) at 15, with Canada, Japan and WIPO PCT filings trailing further behind. This distribution suggests that freedom-to-operate review for new entrants should weight Chinese-office prior art heavily, alongside the more commonly reviewed US and European filings. The gap between China and the next-largest office is substantial enough to change where a search should start.
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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.