Hydrogen Refueling Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 26.6% concentration at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 162 of 608 records in scope, but the remaining ranked leaders and a long tail of single-filing entrants still cover most of the field.
- Filings grew 145% from 2021 to 2024. That is the last year publication lag lets us treat as complete, rising from 22 to 54 records — a clear acceleration, not a plateau.
- Storage dominates the claim map. F17C pressure-vessel and gas-storage claims sit in 44.7% of all 608 records, far ahead of catalysis, electrolysis or pipeline transport classes.
Filing growth compares 2021 (22 records) with 2024 (54) — 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 608 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the hydrogen refueling patent record actually shows
The dataset covers 608 published records filed against hydrogen refueling, dispensing and fueling-station claims cross-referenced with pressure, purity, catalyst, stack-temperature, carrier and purification terms. That combination captures station-level engineering — pumps, dispensers, storage vessels — as well as the upstream chemistry that determines gas quality and delivery pressure. Filing activity is uneven across time: it built steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2022 at 118 records, and the growth from 2021 to 2024 (+145%) shows the technology moving from prototype station design into commercial deployment claims.
Reading the assignee ranking alongside the IPC composition tells a specific story: storage and pressure-vessel engineering is the most heavily claimed ground, chemistry and catalysis classes are present but thinner, and a handful of automakers and industrial gas companies account for over a quarter of all filings while most of the ranked field files only once or twice.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 608-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records split across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several classes, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 21 in 2017 to a peak of 118 in 2022, then grew from 22 (2021) to 54 (2024) — a 145% increase over that span. 2025 and 2026 are shown for completeness but understate true filing volume because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
F17C (pressure vessels and gas storage) leads at 44.7% of the 608 records, followed by C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) at 26.0% and H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) at 21.1%. Catalysis (B01J), electrolytic production (C25B), EV propulsion (B60L), alloys (C22C) and pipeline transport (F17D) each sit in the single-digit-to-low-teens range, marking them as active but far less contested than storage.
Shares are the percentage of the 608 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydrogen Refueling Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydrogen refueling patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA recent filing that shows where claims are heading
Cryogenic pump with designed leakby for hydrogen fueling station (US20250320855A1)
A hydrogen fueling station includes a cryogenic pump with a hydrogen piston positioned within a hydrogen pump cylinder. A variable volume working chamber is defined by the piston, a seal around it, and the cylinder end. The cylinder couples to a thermal decoupling cylinder; the seal deliberately allows hydrogen leakage at a first pressure to an area beneath it, and a blow-by seal directs leakage to the thermal decoupling cylinder, with a relief path managing the resulting pressure.Filed by Robert Bosch GmbH — a station-level mechanical claim on a cryogenic dispensing pump, not a chemistry or storage-material claim.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6786245B1 | Self-contained mobile fueling station | 280 |
| 2 | US6755225B1 | Transportable hydrogen refueling station | 211 |
| 3 | US7169489B2 | Hydrogen storage, distribution, and recovery system | 183 |
| 4 | US20040023087A1 | Hydrogen storage, distribution, and recovery system | 173 |
| 5 | US6195999B1 | Electrochemical engine | 133 |
| 6 | US20040016769A1 | Hydrogen storage, distribution, and recovery system | 124 |
| 7 | US20020112479A1 | Power plant with energy recovery from fuel storage | 120 |
| 8 | US20040163731A1 | Self-contained mobile fueling station | 117 |
| 9 | US20050178463A1 | Control method for high-pressure hydrogen vehicle fueling station dispensers | 104 |
| 10 | US7128103B2 | Hydrogen fueling system | 99 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to be cited — read them as a signal of historical 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.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern means for a claims strategy
Three findings stand out once volume, composition and concentration are read together.
The top of the field is real but not dominant
Five assignees hold 162 of the 608 records in scope, and the top ten hold 257 (42.3%). That leaves a majority of filings spread across a long tail — a workable field for a new entrant, provided the claim sits outside the storage and vessel-design ground the leaders occupy.
Growth is recent and still accelerating into complete years
The jump from 22 filings in 2021 to 54 in 2024 is the clearest complete-year signal in the dataset. 2022's peak of 118 records suggests a filing surge tied to station buildout announcements rather than a single company's push, since concentration at the top did not spike in step.
Storage and pressure engineering, not chemistry, is the crowded ground
F17C claims appear in nearly half of all records, more than double the next largest class (C01B at 26.0%). Catalysis (B01J, 13.0%) and electrolytic production (C25B, 9.0%) are present but comparatively open, suggesting chemistry-side claims face less prior art density than vessel and pressure-management claims.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydrogen refueling patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Kia Corporation | Hyundai Motor Company | 25 |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) | Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Sinopec | 19 |
| Kia Corporation | Hoseo University Academic-Industry Cooperation Foundation | 10 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Hoseo University Academic-Industry Cooperation Foundation | 10 |
| FUELSELL TECH | REDMOND SCOTT D | 6 |
| Kia Corporation | Myongji University Academic-Industry Cooperation Foundation | 2 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Myongji University Academic-Industry Cooperation Foundation | 2 |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) | Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Only 8 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest pairings are automaker-and-affiliate or refiner-and-research-institute combinations — a sign that most hydrogen refueling patenting is done independently rather than through joint filings.
Who is filing, and what is still under-claimed
The ranked field spans industrial gas suppliers, automakers, refiners and specialist station-equipment makers. Recent-year momentum has cooled across several of the largest historical filers, which is consistent with publication lag rather than a genuine drop in activity.
A single leader, then a fast drop-off
The leading assignee holds 38 records against a fifth-place figure of 25 and a tenth-place figure of 14 — a steep early drop that flattens into a long tail across the rest of the 100-company ranking.
Automaker pairs dominate joint filing
The strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset links two major automakers at 25 joint records, well ahead of the next pairing. That points to shared platform development on fueling-station-adjacent vehicle systems rather than open collaboration across the wider field.
Recent-year counts understate true activity
Several of the largest historical filers, including automaker and refiner leaders, show 0 filings in the latest recorded year with some at -100% YoY. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this reads as a data-visibility gap rather than an exit from the technology.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Nel Hydrogen AS | 0 | — |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| AMOGY INC | 0 | — |
| Kia Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Hyundai Motor Company | 0 | -100% |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) | 0 | — |
| FUELSELL TECH | 0 | — |
| Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Sinopec | 0 | — |
Turning this landscape into a filing decision
A composition chart shows where claim density sits; it does not tell you whether a specific claim you're drafting collides with existing prior art.
Check a draft claim against the crowded ground
F17C storage and pressure-vessel claims cover 44.7% of records in this dataset. Before drafting in that space, run the specific claim language against the existing filings rather than relying on the category share alone.
Run a claim check in Patsnap EurekaTrack momentum in the under-claimed branches
Catalysis, electrolytic carrier production and alloy-based storage sit well below the leading classes. Monitoring filing velocity there over the next few quarters will show whether that gap is closing.
Set up monitoring in Patsnap EurekaQuestions practitioners ask about hydrogen refueling patents
Within this 608-record dataset, a single assignee leads with 38 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 25 and the tenth-ranked at 14. The top 5 assignees combined hold 162 records, 26.6% of all records in scope, and the top 10 hold 257, or 42.3%. Beyond that the ranking flattens into a long tail across the full 100-company list, so no single company controls the field outright.
Filings grew from 22 records in 2021 to 54 in 2024, a 145% increase over that span, with a peak year of 118 records in 2022. Activity in 2025 and 2026 appears lower in the raw counts, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than a real slowdown — those years are still filling in. Treat 2024 as the most recent complete-year data point when judging momentum.
Pressure vessels and gas storage (IPC class F17C) appear in 44.7% of the 608 records, making it by far the most heavily claimed area. Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds (C01B) follow at 26.0% and batteries/fuel cells (H01M) at 21.1%. Catalysis, electrolytic production, EV propulsion, alloys and pipeline transport are all present but each covers well under 15% of records, marking them as comparatively open ground.
The IPC composition shows storage and pressure-vessel engineering heavily claimed while catalysis (13.0%), electrolytic carrier production (9.0%) and alloy-based storage materials (5.4%) are proportionally thin. Stack-temperature-linked dispensing control and catalyst formulations specific to gas purification also show limited claim density in this dataset. These branches are worth scoping first for a new entrant looking to avoid the most contested ground.
The United States leads with 229 records, followed by Europe via the EPO at 100 and the WIPO PCT route at 95. China follows at 38, with Australia at 33 and Canada at 25. The US and PCT/EPO combined account for the large majority of filing activity, suggesting most applicants are pursuing broad international protection alongside a US filing rather than filing narrowly in a single jurisdiction.
Research Hydrogen Refueling Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole hydrogen refueling patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.