Hydro & Ocean Resource Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- One assignee dominates a small field. The leader holds 32 records against a fifth-place figure of just 3 and a tenth-place figure of 1, in a ranking of 14 companies total.
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 13 records and has since thinned. The tracked span from 2021 (2) to 2024 (1) shows a 50% drop, though 2025-26 figures are still filling in under normal publication lag.
- Chemical and hydraulic classes dominate, not marine hardware. B01J (37.7%) and F03B (31.9%) of the 69 records in scope outrank F03D wind-motor claims (21.7%), pointing to conversion chemistry as the busier claim zone.
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (1) — 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.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 69 published records at the intersection of renewable hydro and ocean energy claims and resource-assessment hardware: temperature sensors, heat flux measurement, thermal cycle components, working fluid systems, resource flow characterisation and energy converters. The search string combines a renewable-source qualifier with a measurement or conversion-hardware qualifier, so the corpus is deliberately narrow — it is not all hydropower or ocean-energy patents, only the subset where assessment or conversion instrumentation is explicitly claimed alongside the renewable source. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-08-31 data cut-off, with the most recent one to two years understated because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
Filing in this space rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2020, and has since narrowed to a smaller number of active filers. The technology composition points toward conversion and treatment chemistry — chemical/physical processes, hydraulic machines, and water treatment classes — carrying more of the claim weight than dedicated marine-hardware classes like ships and marine vessels.
Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below cover the same 69 records in scope: one tracks filings by year, the other breaks the corpus down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares add up to well over 100% of the record total — that overlap is expected and reflects how often resource-assessment claims sit alongside conversion or treatment claims in the same filing.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 13 in 2020, then eased back. The tracked span from 2021 (2) to 2024 (1) — the last year treatable as complete — shows a 50% decline; 2025 and 2026 are still filling in and should not be read as a continued fall.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
B01J (chemical/physical processes, 37.7% of the 69 records) and F03B (hydraulic machines, 31.9%) are the two busiest classes, ahead of F03D wind motors (21.7%). B01D separation, C02F water treatment, C10L fuels and C12M bioreactors each sit at 11.6%, with B63B marine vessels at 10.1% — evidence that conversion and treatment hardware, not ship-form marine structures, carries most of the claim density here.
Shares are the percentage of the 69 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydro, Ocean & Geothermal Resource Assessment Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydro, ocean & geothermal resource assessment patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Renewable energy conversion apparatus (US20210108612A1)
A buoyant energy-converting apparatus for harvesting renewable ocean energy: a wind energy converter mounted on a buoyant platform via a connection member. In use, the platform is submerged while the connection member protrudes through the water surface so the wind energy converter sits above it — combining wave-platform buoyancy with an above-surface conversion stage in a single claimed assembly.Filed by Marine Power Systems Limited, published 2021-04-15.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160006066A1 | Energy conversion system | 79 |
| 2 | US6388342B1 | Hydro electric plant | 76 |
| 3 | US9745951B1 | Self-positioning robotic subsea power generation system | 33 |
| 4 | US8047232B2 | Enhancement of vortex induced forces and motion through surface roughness control | 33 |
| 5 | WO2019229476A1 | Renewable energy conversion apparatus | 15 |
| 6 | US20090250129A1 | Enhancement of vortex induced forces and motion through surface roughness control | 12 |
| 7 | US20210108612A1 | Renewable energy conversion apparatus | 11 |
| 8 | US20090114001A1 | Enhancement of vortex induced forces and motion through surface roughness control | 10 |
| 9 | WO2008147545A1 | Enhancement of vortex induced forces and motion throught surface roughness control | 7 |
| 10 | WO2016201312A1 | System and method for biomass growth and processing | 5 |
Citation counts reward older filings simply for having had more time to be cited — read them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once filing volume, technology mix and citation weight are read together.
One filer dominates a narrow ranking
The ranking covers 14 companies total, and the leader's 32 records dwarf the fifth-place figure of 3 and the tenth-place figure of 1. That gap suggests one organisation has built a durable filing position while most other named entrants hold only a handful of records each.
Activity has cooled from its 2020 high
Filings climbed from 6 in 2017 to 13 in 2020, then the tracked 2021-2024 window shows a 50% drop. Because 2025-26 records are still arriving under normal publication lag, this reads as cooling rather than a confirmed structural decline.
Conversion chemistry outweighs marine structure
B01J chemical/physical processes and F03B hydraulic machines together account for more claim coverage than F03D wind motors or B63B marine vessels. Anyone assuming this field is dominated by floating-structure hardware claims should check the chemistry and hydraulics classes first.
Citation weight favours earlier filings
The most-cited record in this corpus, an energy conversion system, carries 79 citations — well ahead of more recent filings that have had less time to accumulate them. Treat citation rank as a marker of historical influence within this search, not of present-day technical relevance.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydro, ocean & geothermal resource assessment patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
A single dominant assignee, a long tail of small filers, and near-zero recent-year activity from the named leaders together describe a field that consolidated early and has gone quiet at the top — leaving several specific sub-areas without a clear claim-holder.
A single organisation anchors the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 32 of the records in the ranking, far ahead of the rest of the field. Its filing position appears to have been built over the earlier part of the coverage window rather than in recent years.
Most named entrants hold only a handful of filings
Fifth place in the ranking holds 3 records and tenth place holds just 1, indicating that beyond the leader this is a field of small, often single-filing participants rather than a cluster of mid-sized competitors.
Recent-year activity has gone quiet across the board
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum, including the leader, shows zero filings in the latest year. Combined with the 2021-2024 decline, this points to a field where incumbents have paused rather than accelerated.
Co-filing is rare and concentrated in one relationship
Only 4 co-assignee pairs appear in the data, and the strongest of them links two individual inventors who also co-file with a university. Collaborative filing is the exception here, not the norm.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Brisa International LLC | 0 | — |
| Marine Power Systems Limited | 0 | — |
| Neste Oyj | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of Michigan | 0 | — |
| SYED REZWAN | 0 | — |
| RAGHAVAN KAMALDEV | 0 | — |
| BERNITSAS MICHAEL M | 0 | — |
| Indian Institute of Technology Madras | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a consolidated but quiet field with specific technology gaps. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, first-mover claims, or monitoring a dominant incumbent.
Map claim boundaries around the leading assignee
With one filer holding 32 of the ranked records, a freedom-to-operate check should start by mapping its claim scope in B01J and F03B before designing around it.
Explore assignee claim scope in Eureka →Probe the under-claimed sub-areas directly
Working-fluid instrumentation and geothermal heat-flux sensing show thin dedicated coverage relative to the broader B01J and F03B classes, making them candidates for a first claim.
Run a white-space search in Eureka →Track whether filing resumes
Every tracked assignee shows zero filings in the latest year; monitoring whether activity resumes as 2025-26 publications arrive will clarify if the cooldown is temporary.
Set up filing alerts in Eureka →Common questions on this landscape
Within this dataset of 69 published records, one assignee leads the ranking with 32 records, well ahead of the fifth-place filer at 3 and the tenth-place filer at just 1. The ranking covers 14 companies in total, so beyond the leader the field is a long tail of small filers rather than a cluster of similarly-sized competitors. This concentration suggests the leader built its position early, since recent-year momentum data shows zero filings from it in the latest tracked year.
Filing rose from 6 records in 2017 to a peak of 13 in 2020, then declined; the tracked span from 2021 (2 filings) to 2024 (1 filing) shows a 50% drop over that complete-year window. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so it would be premature to call this a confirmed long-term decline rather than a lull. The clearest signal so far is that activity has cooled markedly from its 2020 peak.
Chemical and physical process claims (IPC class B01J) appear in 37.7% of the 69 records in scope, and hydraulic machine claims (F03B) appear in 31.9% — both ahead of wind-motor claims (F03D) at 21.7%. Separation, water treatment, fuels and bioreactor classes each sit around 11.6%, with marine-vessel claims (B63B) at 10.1%. This indicates that conversion chemistry and hydraulic hardware, not ship-form marine structures, carry the bulk of the claim density in this corpus.
US20210108612A1, filed by Marine Power Systems Limited and published 2021-04-15, claims a buoyant apparatus combining a submerged platform with a wind energy converter held above the water surface by a connection member. It blocks designs that use this specific submerged-platform-plus-surface-piercing-connector architecture for combining buoyancy with above-surface conversion, but it does not on its own cover working-fluid, heat-flux or resource-flow instrumentation claims, which sit in separate IPC classes in this dataset. Anyone designing a hybrid buoyant converter should check this claim's connection-member language specifically before assuming freedom to operate.
The technology composition shows heavier coverage in B01J and F03B classes and comparatively thinner dedicated coverage in working-fluid thermal-cycle instrumentation, geothermal heat-flux sensing and bioreactor-integrated energy converters. Combined with zero recent-year filings from every tracked assignee, these branches look under-claimed relative to their technical relevance rather than saturated. A first claim there would need to tie a specific sensing or working-fluid mechanism to a renewable hydro or ocean energy source to fit within the scope this search string defines.
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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.