Low-GWP Refrigerants Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Low-GWP Refrigerants Patents: Filing Concentration and Open Claim Space
60.4% of all filings sit with five companies. Top 5 combined account for 814 of the 1,348 records in scope — a concentration that leaves the remaining 82 ranked assignees fighting over a much smaller share. Filings indexed from 100 in 2017 rose to a peak of 247 in 2019, then eased before recovering to 90 records in 2024 — up 29% from 70 in 2021. The 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under normal publication lag and should not be read as a decline.
- 1THE CHEMOURS CO FC LLC388
- 2MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP122
- 3DAIKIN INDUSTRIES LTD122
- 4THE LUBRIZOL CORP97
- 5HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC85
See the full low-gwp refrigerants patent landscape 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 about the low-GWP refrigerants patent landscape
Who holds the most patents on low-GWP refrigerants?
One assignee leads this dataset with 388 of the 1,348 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 85 records and the tenth at 43. The top five companies combined hold 60.4% of all records, so the field is concentrated rather than evenly spread. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should start with that leader’s portfolio before looking at the rest of the ranked list of 87 companies.
Is the low-GWP refrigerant patent field still growing?
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 247 records and eased afterward, but the most recent complete year shows renewed growth: 2024 filings reached 90, up 29% from 70 in 2021. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look low only because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, not because activity has actually stopped. Read the last one to two years of any trend chart with that lag in mind.
What technology areas do low-GWP refrigerant patents cover?
The largest single IPC subclass is C09K, covering materials for miscellaneous applications, present on 54.0% of the 1,348 records, followed by F25B for refrigeration and heat pumps at 37.5% and C10M for lubricants at 28.9%. Smaller subclasses include F24F for air conditioning and ventilation, B60H for vehicle heating and A/C, and H02P for motor and generator control. Because records often carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages sum to more than 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 Low-GWP Refrigerants Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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.