Internal Arc Protection Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
Internal arc protection in switchgear: patents, leading filers and open claim space
Concentrated at the top. The five most active filers account for 57.8% of all 64 records in scope, and the ten most active for 78.1% — a short list controls most of the filed claim space. Filings ran at 3 in 2017, rose to a peak of 6 in 2018, and have tapered since; 2026 shows 0 because the year is only partially published. With fewer than four complete post-lag years to compare, no growth rate can be stated reliably from this window alone.
- 1ABB (SCHWEIZ) AG11
- 2SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC IND SAS8
- 3GENERAL ELECTRIC CO7
- 4POWELL ELECTRICAL SYST INC6
- 5KREUTZMAN DAVID5
See the full internal arc protection in switchgear analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on internal arc protection patents
Who holds the most patents on internal arc protection in switchgear?
One assignee leads the ranked set of 25 companies with 11 of the 64 records in scope, a clear margin ahead of fifth place at 5 and tenth place at just 2. The top five filers together hold 57.8% of all records, and the top ten hold 78.1%, so most of the filed claim space sits with a small group rather than being spread evenly. Any competitive review of this space should treat that leading group’s families as the first stop, not a footnote.
Is filing activity in arc-fault protection growing or slowing down?
Filing peaked at 6 records in 2018 and has not matched that level since, based on the 2017-2026 trend in this dataset. The 2026 figure shows 0, but that reflects publication lag rather than a real stop in filing, since publication typically trails the underlying filing date by around 18 months. There are not enough complete years since the peak to state a reliable growth or decline rate, so treat the recent slowdown as directional rather than definitive.
What technology areas do internal arc protection patents cover?
The bulk of records sit in H02B (power switchboards and substations, 34.4% of the 64 records) and H02H (protective circuit arrangements, 32.8%), with switches and relays (H01H, 20.3%) and spark-gap or arc devices (H01T, 15.6%) forming a second tier. Smaller shares touch semiconductor devices, fluid heaters, grid-supply systems and photovoltaic integration, each under 8% of records. Because a single patent can carry several IPC classes, these percentages overlap and do not sum to 100%.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Internal Arc Protection in Switchgear covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.