LWD Resistivity Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has cooled from its 2017 peak of 45 records. the 2021-to-2024 span shows a 45% decline, though 2025-26 figures are still filling in under publication lag.
- One company dominates the ranked leaders with 387 families. the fifth-placed assignee holds 140 and the tenth-placed holds just 21, showing a steep drop-off after the top few.
- G01V and E21B classes cover the overwhelming majority of records. at 83.9% and 42.7% of the 1,369 records respectively, while AI-adjacent classes like G06N sit at under 1%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (22 records) with 2024 (12) — 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
Logging while drilling (LWD) resistivity tools measure formation properties in real time as the drill bit advances, feeding decisions on geosteering, invasion correction and anisotropy inversion. This landscape covers 1,369 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine LWD or propagation/azimuthal resistivity tool claims with correction, inversion or imaging techniques such as invasion correction, anisotropy inversion, borehole eccentricity, depth of investigation, dielectric effect and resistivity image processing.
The field sits at the intersection of downhole electromagnetics and formation evaluation software, and the assignee list is dominated by a small set of oilfield service majors with decades of continuation filings behind their core tool architectures.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below use the same 1,369-record scope: one tracks filings by year, the other breaks the same records down by IPC subclass. Because a record can carry multiple classes, subclass shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked in 2017 at 45 and the 2021-to-2024 window shows a 45% decline (22 down to 12). Treat 2025 and 2026 as incomplete: publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent bars will fill in as later-filed applications publish.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
G01V (geophysics and gravity surveying) appears on 83.9% of the 1,369 records and E21B (earth and rock drilling) on 42.7%, confirming the corpus is squarely downhole-measurement and drilling-hardware focused. Software and imaging classes such as G06F, G06N and G06T each sit under 5%, marking where digital-signal and AI-driven interpretation claims remain comparatively thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,369 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Logging While Drilling Resistivity with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about logging while drilling resistivity and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Method of generating a deep resistivity image in LWD measurements (US7894990B2)
A pseudo-image is produced by combining deep-reading azimuthally sensitive resistivity measurements with azimuthally insensitive resistivity measurements made by a multiple propagation resistivity tool. This image is useful in reservoir navigation. Features on the azimuthally sensitive measurements such as saddle-points and mid-points are diagnostic of bed geometry relative to the borehole.Filed by Baker Hughes; granted 2011. Combines two measurement classes into a single navigational image rather than claiming either sensor type alone.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6088294A | Drilling system with an acoustic measurement-while-drilling system for determining parameters of interest and… | 497 |
| 2 | US5235285A | Well logging apparatus having toroidal induction antenna for measuring, while drilling, resistivity of earth … | 354 |
| 3 | US6476609B1 | Electromagnetic wave resistivity tool having a tilted antenna for geosteering within a desired payzone | 300 |
| 4 | US6359438B1 | Multi-depth focused resistivity imaging tool for logging while drilling applications | 272 |
| 5 | US20050140373A1 | Directional electromagnetic wave resistivity apparatus and method | 253 |
| 6 | US5339037A | Apparatus and method for determining the resistivity of earth formations | 231 |
| 7 | US5869968A | Method and apparatus for avoiding mutual coupling between receivers in measurement while drilling | 224 |
| 8 | US6427124B1 | Semblance processing for an acoustic measurement-while-drilling system for imaging of formation boundaries | 214 |
| 9 | US5339036A | Logging while drilling apparatus with blade mounted electrode for determining resistivity of surrounding form… | 185 |
| 10 | US6218842B1 | Multi-frequency electromagnetic wave resistivity tool with improved calibration measurement | 181 |
Citation counts accumulate over time inside this searched corpus, so older filings such as the acoustic MWD system and toroidal induction antenna patents lead the table by volume of citing art rather than by current commercial weight.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against each other: a concentrated top of the ranking, a declining but not yet-settled filing rate, and a technology mix still weighted toward hardware over software.
A steep drop after the first few names
The leading assignee in the ranking holds 387 families, the fifth-ranked holds 140, and by the tenth position the count is down to 21. That gradient signals a field where a handful of legacy tool architectures anchor most of the claim space, while the remainder of the ranked 100 companies each hold comparatively small positions.
Filing rate has cooled from its 2017 peak
Filings peaked at 45 in 2017 and the 2021-2024 window shows a 45% decline to 12. Several of the largest assignees show 0 filings and -100% year-on-year in the most recent complete year, though this reads more as an18-month publication lag catching up than a definitive retreat from the space.
Hardware and geophysics claims dominate
G01V and E21B together cover the large majority of the 1,369 records, while digital-processing and AI-adjacent classes (G06F, G06N, G06T) each sit at under 5%. That gap suggests interpretation and imaging software built on top of established sensor hardware is comparatively under-claimed relative to the hardware itself.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to logging while drilling resistivity, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
The ranked leaders are dominated by a small number of large oilfield service groups, several of which appear under multiple corporate-entity names for the same underlying filer, alongside a long tail of smaller and single-filing entrants.
One filer anchors the top of the ranking
The leading assignee's family count is more than double the fifth-ranked entrant's 140, consistent with a legacy tool platform that has been extended through repeated continuation filings across resistivity imaging and inversion claims.
Shared filings cluster inside single corporate groups
The strongest co-assignee pairs identified in this dataset link entities that belong to the same corporate family under different registered names, reflecting internal restructuring and cross-jurisdiction filing practice rather than cross-company collaboration.
Recent-year counts have gone quiet across the board
Several of the largest assignees, including entities tied to the leading corporate groups, show zero filings in the latest year and -100% year-on-year change. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this is best read as an incomplete recent window rather than an exit from the technology.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Baker Hughes Holdings LLC | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Schlumberger Technology LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Schlumberger Holdings Limited | 0 | — |
| Schlumberger Technology Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Schlumberger Limited | 0 | -100% |
| Schlumberger Canada Limited | 0 | -100% |
| Prad Research and Development Limited | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures here describe the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claim sets and checking them against a live application.
Map claim scope against a specific tool design
Cross-check a candidate resistivity or inversion architecture against the highest-cited filings before committing to a claim strategy.
Explore in Eureka →Track the leading assignees' recent filings
Recent-year counts are still filling in under publication lag; monitoring new publications from the top-ranked assignees will clarify whether the 2021-2024 decline continues.
Set up monitoring in Eureka →Probe the under-claimed branches
Software-side classes like G06N and G06T remain thin relative to G01V and E21B; a targeted search can confirm whether that gap is real white space or simply unindexed.
Run a deeper search in Eureka →Common questions on LWD resistivity patents
The ranking of 100 assignees in this dataset shows one company clearly ahead with 387 patent families, more than double the fifth-ranked entrant's 140. Several major oilfield service groups appear under multiple registered entity names in the underlying data, which reflects corporate restructuring rather than separate competitors. Beyond the top few names, family counts drop quickly, down to 21 for the tenth-ranked assignee, indicating a long tail of smaller filers.
Filings peaked in 2017 at 45 records and the most recent complete comparison window, 2021 to 2024, shows a 45% decline from 22 to 12. Years 2025 and 2026 should not be read as confirming a further drop, because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months and those years are still filling in. The honest read is a field that cooled meaningfully from its 2017 high, with the very latest trend still uncertain.
G01V, the geophysics and gravity surveying subclass, appears on 83.9% of the 1,369 records in scope, and E21B, earth and rock drilling, appears on 42.7%. These two classes together account for the large majority of filing activity, confirming the corpus is centred on downhole measurement hardware and drilling operations. Software-adjacent classes such as G06F, G06N and G06T each cover under 5% of records, suggesting comparatively lighter claim density around digital interpretation and AI-based processing.
The clearest gap sits between the dominant hardware classes and the thin software-side classes: G06N (AI-based computing) and G06T (image processing) each cover under 1% of the 1,369 records despite resistivity imaging being a core application. Specific sub-areas worth investigating include AI-based anisotropy inversion, real-time resistivity image processing, and multi-frequency depth-of-investigation modelling. Any first claim in these areas should be checked against the highest-cited hardware patents to confirm it does not simply restate an existing measurement method in software form.
US7894990B2, assigned to Baker Hughes, claims a method of generating a deep resistivity pseudo-image by combining azimuthally sensitive and azimuthally insensitive propagation resistivity measurements, using features like saddle-points and mid-points to infer bed geometry. It blocks approaches that combine these two specific measurement types into a single navigational image using that diagnostic-feature method. It does not by itself block resistivity imaging methods built on different measurement combinations or different image-generation logic, so a freedom-to-operate check should focus on whether a new design reproduces this particular combination-and-diagnosis approach rather than resistivity imaging generally.
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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.