Type-IV Hydrogen Vessel Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
Filing growth compares 2021 (15 records) with 2024 (2) — 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 88 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This review covers 88 published records matching Type-IV composite hydrogen vessel terminology — polymer-liner tanks wrapped in composite overwrap, and the storage and containment systems built around them — filed or published between 2015 and the 2026-07-31 data cut-off. Because publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, the most recent one to two years of activity are understated in any trend line drawn from this data.
The scope spans pressure-vessel engineering (F17C), fuel cell and battery integration (H01M), hydrogen-carrier chemistry (C01B), and a scatter of catalysis, powder metallurgy and dispensing classes that sit around the core tank claims rather than inside them.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 88 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filing rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 15 records in 2021, then dropped sharply to 2 by 2024 — an 87% fall over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in as publications catch up, so read the tail as incomplete rather than as a genuine decline.
IPC subclass composition
F17C pressure-vessel claims cover 48.9% of the 88 records, nearly double the 29.5% carrying H01M fuel-cell or battery integration claims. C01B hydrogen-carrier chemistry (14.8%) and B01J catalysis (12.5%) trail well behind, and each record can carry more than one class, so these shares sum past 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 88 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydrogen Storage — Type-IV Composite Hydrogen Vessels Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydrogen storage — type-iv composite hydrogen vessels patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Hydrogen storage tank and fuel cell system, as well as motor vehicle having such a hydrogen storage tank and fuel cell system (US20180195670A1, Audi)
The invention relates to a hydrogen pressure tank using a metal hydride arranged in a porous matrix material. It is provided that the metal hydride is fixed in the structure of the matrix material.The claim structure ties the storage function to a metal hydride physically fixed inside a porous matrix, rather than to the composite overwrap itself — a distinct route from pure Type-IV liner-and-wrap designs.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6106801A | Method for the reversible storage of hydrogen | 109 |
| 2 | US20070012551A1 | Hydrogen pressure tank | 62 |
| 3 | US20160301093A1 | System and method for storing and releasing energy | 50 |
| 4 | US20070190389A1 | Fuel cell system having a fuel cell, a hydrogen storage tank, and an anode circuit | 43 |
| 5 | US20030053948A1 | Method for reversibly storing hydrogen on the basis of alkali metals and alumium | 38 |
| 6 | US7731051B2 | Hydrogen pressure tank including an inner liner with an outer annular flange | 28 |
| 7 | US5862855A | Hydride bed and heat pump | 25 |
| 8 | US3943706A | Ignition system for rocket engine combustion chambers operated by non-hypergolic propellant components | 24 |
| 9 | US6814782B2 | Method for reversibly storing hydrogen on the basis of alkali metals and aluminum | 23 |
| 10 | US20070029701A1 | Manufacturing process for hydrogen pressure tank | 19 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus — treat the ranking as a signal of influence, not of current technical relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three findings that shape where a freedom-to-operate search or a new filing should focus.
A short list of repeat filers controls most of the field
37 companies are ranked in the assignee list, but the top 5 already account for 53.4% of all 88 records and the top 10 for 78.4%. The leader alone holds 14 records against a fifth-place figure of 7 and a tenth-place figure of 4 — activity drops off quickly once past the top handful.
Peak filing has passed, but the tail is still forming
2021 was the peak year at 15 records; by 2024, the last year treatable as complete, filings had fallen to 2, an 87% drop. That fall says the initial rush of design patenting has cooled, not that the technology itself has stalled — 2025-2026 counts are still incomplete.
The tank structure itself is still the busiest claim territory
F17C pressure-vessel and gas-storage claims appear in 48.9% of records, ahead of H01M fuel-cell integration at 29.5%. Liner and overwrap engineering remains the densest prior art to clear before a new tank-structure filing.
Co-filing is thin and concentrated on one cluster
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest pairing links the same two firms across all of their joint records. Most assignees file alone, so collaborative filing is not yet a meaningful route to freedom-to-operate here.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydrogen storage — type-iv composite hydrogen vessels patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this next
The dataset points to a small set of next steps for a team deciding where to file or where to watch.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on liner-boss sealing
F17C claim density is highest at the interface between the polymer liner and the metal boss fitting — a new filing here needs a tight search against the top-10 assignees before drafting.
Explore this branch in EurekaWatch the marine-hydrogen co-filing cluster
The strongest co-assignee pairing in this dataset centres on zero-emission marine applications; a competitor tracking this space should monitor that cluster's joint filings specifically.
Track assignee activity in EurekaRevisit metal-hydride matrix fixation as a filing route
The representative Audi filing ties storage to a metal hydride fixed inside a porous matrix rather than to the composite wrap itself — a structurally distinct claim route worth mapping against C01B chemistry filings.
Map this claim route in EurekaCommon questions about Type-IV hydrogen vessel patents
The assignee ranking in this dataset lists 37 companies across 88 published records. It is not a top-50 or top-100 cut — it is the full ranked list the underlying data returns. Activity is concentrated: the top 5 assignees account for 53.4% of all 88 records and the top 10 for 78.4%, so most of the ranked list holds only one or two filings each.
Filing peaked at 15 records in 2021 and had dropped to 2 by 2024, an 87% decline over that three-year span. That likely reflects an early wave of design patenting around composite overwrap and liner geometry settling once core claim territory was staked out, rather than declining interest in the technology. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued fall.
F17C pressure-vessel and gas-storage claims appear in 48.9% of the 88 records and cover the tank structure itself — liner material, composite overwrap, boss fittings and burst behaviour. H01M claims, present in 29.5% of records, instead cover how the tank integrates with a battery or fuel cell system, such as anode circuits or energy management. A filing strategy needs to know which side of that line its claims sit on, since prior-art density differs sharply between the two.
The lower-density classes in this dataset — B01D separation processes at 5.7% of records, B22F powder metallurgy and B67D dispensing at 4.5% each — sit well below the F17C and H01M core and suggest less-crowded claim territory. Specific sub-areas worth checking include liner-to-boss weld sealing, metal hydride matrix fixation, and modular tank-array dispensing for marine or fleet applications. A proper white-space assessment still requires a dedicated freedom-to-operate search rather than relying on class-level density alone.
The most-cited record in this dataset is US6106801A, 'Method for the reversible storage of hydrogen,' with 109 citations, followed by US20070012551A1 'Hydrogen pressure tank' at 62. High citation counts in a search corpus like this one tend to favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations, so treat these as markers of historical influence rather than current technical relevance.
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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.