Linear Motor Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has cooled since its 2018 peak of 15. activity dropped through a flat 2022 and has not recovered, even accounting for publication lag on the most recent years.
- H02K dominates at 133 of 138 records. adjacent classes like B60L, B66B and G05D each carry single-digit-to-low-double-digit counts, suggesting the core motor claim space is dense while application-specific integration is thinner.
- The United States leads receiving offices with 48 filings. ahead of EPO's 25 and Japan's 18, with China at 13 — a spread that argues for checking freedom-to-operate across at least three jurisdictions before committing to a design.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 138 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 around linear motor technology, scoped to iron-core and ironless linear motor designs, thrust ripple reduction techniques, and direct-drive linear propulsion. The search string anchors on core IPC classes H02K41/02, H02K41/03 and H02P25/06, which together capture the motor construction and control-side claims that define this field.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 and has since flattened, with the 2022 midpoint showing only a handful of new families — a pattern consistent with a technology whose core mechanical claims were staked out early, leaving later filers to compete over narrower refinements or move into adjacent applications like elevators, EV propulsion and photolithography stages.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 138 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those filings distribute across IPC subclasses.
A decade of flattening filings
From 13 families in 2017 to a peak of 15 in 2018, filing volume has since declined toward single digits by the 2022 midpoint and shows no year approaching the earlier peak. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the final one to two years in this trend will understate true activity, but the multi-year decline predates that lag effect.
H02K anchors the field; applications trail far behind
H02K (electric motors and generators) covers 133 of 138 records, confirming this is fundamentally a motor-construction patent set. Application-layer classes — B60L for EV propulsion, B66B for lifts and escalators, G05D for control, E05F for door gear, B65G for conveying, and G03F for photolithography stages — each register in single or low double digits, pointing to narrower, less contested claim territory outside the core motor mechanics.
Shares are the percentage of the 138 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Linear Motor Technology Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about linear motor technology landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art in this space
Secondary part of an ironless linear motor and ironless linear motor
A secondary part for an ironless linear motor includes two yoke plates having an inner side and an outer side, a first and a second set of permanent magnets fixed on the inner side of the respective yoke plate, a spacer member mounted between the two yoke plates, and a reinforcement structure. The reinforcement structure includes a reinforcement part arranged on the outer side of the yoke plates and a fixation part fixed on opposite sides of the spacer member such that the first and second sets of permanent magnets face each other to define a magnetic path for a primary part of the linear motor.Filed by ETEL S.A., published 2025-10-02 — one of the most recent substantive filings in this dataset, addressing structural reinforcement of the ironless secondary part rather than the magnetic circuit itself.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5373120A | Linear door motor system for elevators | 54 |
| 2 | US6239516B1 | High performance ironless linear motor with supported windings | 43 |
| 3 | US6160327A | Winding for linear motors without slots | 40 |
| 4 | US5302872A | Linear magnetization mover motor due to linear force resulting from the interaction between magnetostatic ind… | 32 |
| 5 | US5300846A | Lamination support for a linear motor | 30 |
| 6 | US3641939A | Speed control system for linear motor conveyors | 28 |
| 7 | EP0949749A1 | Improved winding for linear motors without slots | 27 |
| 8 | US20110298308A1 | Linear moto | 26 |
| 9 | US20090127938A1 | Linear motor coil assembly and linear motor | 25 |
| 10 | US6977451B2 | Ironless AC linear motor | 25 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; use them to identify foundational art, not current competitive priority.
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, IPC spread and citation weight are read together.
The core claim space was staked out early
Filing peaked in 2018 and has declined through a flat 2022 to near-zero in the most recent partial year. New entrants are more likely to be competing for narrow refinements — winding topology, ripple-reduction control loops — than for foundational mechanical architecture.
Application-layer integration is comparatively open
With B60L, B66B, H02P, E05F, G05D, B65G and G03F each in single or low double digits, the motor construction art itself is dense but system-level integration into elevators, EV drivetrains and conveying equipment is thinner and less contested.
No single office holds a majority
The United States leads but does not dominate; EPO, Japan and China each carry a meaningful share. A clearance search limited to one jurisdiction will miss roughly half of the documented filing activity.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to linear motor technology landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| JACOBS PRIVATE LIMITED | LIM HOWE YUEN | 2 |
| JACOBS PRIVATE LIMITED | KO KO AUNG | 2 |
| JACOBS PRIVATE LIMITED | GOH CHAI MENG | 2 |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | SAHIN NOMALER FUNDA | 1 |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | COMPTER JOHAN C | 1 |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | BOS ED | 1 |
Only 6 co-assignee pairs appear across 138 families, and the strongest pairings link a single Singapore-based assignee to individual named inventors rather than to other corporate entities — this is a field of solo filers, not joint ventures.
Who holds the claim space — and where it's thin
Recent-year momentum across the leading assignees shows a uniform pattern: every one of the most active historical filers recorded zero families in the latest year, reinforcing the broader cooldown seen in the trend data.
Established filers have gone quiet
ETEL, Yaskawa-adjacent Singapore entities, Otis, Canon, B&R Industrial Automation and Philips all show zero filings in the most recent year tracked. This does not mean the technology is abandoned — it is consistent with the broader 2018-peak decline — but it does mean recent competitive signal has to come from filing content, not filing volume.
Solo filing is the norm
With just 6 co-assignee pairings across 138 families, most patents here are filed by a single corporate or individual assignee. Joint development claims are rare enough that a co-filing pattern, where it exists, is worth individual scrutiny rather than treatment as routine.
US filing leads but the field is genuinely global
Beyond the US total, EPO (25), Japan (18) and China (13) each host a substantial slice of the corpus, plus WIPO PCT (10) and Singapore (6) filings. Assignees range from Swiss precision-motion firms to Japanese elevator and camera makers to Singapore-based motion control specialists.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| ETEL S.A. | 0 | -100% |
| JACOBS PRIVATE LIMITED | 0 | — |
| Otis Elevator Company | 0 | — |
| Canon Inc. | 0 | — |
| B&R Industrial Automation GmbH | 0 | — |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | — |
| Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up work depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or competitive tracking.
Run a freedom-to-operate check across US, EPO and Japan
With 48, 25 and 18 filings respectively in the three largest offices, a single-jurisdiction clearance search will miss most of the documented art. Prioritise these three before treating a design as clear.
Explore claims in EurekaTest claim drafts against the under-claimed branches
Thrust ripple control loops and application-layer integration (conveying, door actuation, lithography stages) show materially thinner IPC coverage than the core H02K motor construction art.
Draft and stress-test claims in EurekaTrack the quiet-filer group for revival signals
Every leading assignee shows zero filings in the latest year. A renewed filing from any of these firms would be a meaningful signal worth monitoring given the multi-year cooldown.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on linear motor patents
The dataset shows a group of established motion-control and industrial firms with the most historical filings, including ETEL, Otis, Canon, B&R Industrial Automation and Philips, alongside a Singapore-based motion control specialist. However, every one of these leading assignees recorded zero filings in the most recent tracked year, so current filing leadership is not the same as historical filing leadership. Anyone assessing competitive position should weight recent filing content over cumulative counts.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 15 families and has declined since, with the 2022 midpoint showing only a handful of new filings and the trend continuing toward near-zero in the most recent partial year. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the final year or two of any trend understates true activity, but the multi-year decline through 2022 predates that effect. Overall the pattern reads as a cooling field rather than a growing one.
Both design families sit within the core H02K classification that covers 133 of the 138 records in this dataset, with ironless designs appearing prominently among the most-cited prior art, including patents on ironless windings and lamination support. Ironless designs tend to claim winding support structures and magnetic circuit geometry to manage the absence of an iron core, while iron-core designs more often claim thrust ripple reduction techniques to counter cogging forces. The representative 2025 ETEL filing on an ironless secondary part illustrates that structural reinforcement, not just magnetic design, remains an active claim area.
Application-layer integration is comparatively under-claimed relative to core motor construction: classes like B65G (conveying), E05F (door and window gear), and G03F (photolithography stages) each carry only single-digit to low-double-digit filing counts against 133 core H02K records. Thrust ripple compensation control loops also show thinner coverage than the underlying mechanical architecture. These branches are worth checking specifically because dense core-motor prior art does not necessarily extend to how that motor is integrated into a specific system.
The United States leads with 48 filings, followed by the European Patent Office at 25, Japan at 18, China at 13, WIPO PCT filings at 10, and Singapore at 6. No single office holds a majority of the corpus, so a clearance search confined to one jurisdiction would miss a substantial share of relevant prior art. Given the international spread of assignees, from Swiss to Japanese to Singapore-based filers, a multi-jurisdiction search is the safer default for this technology.
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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.