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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/low-gwp-refrigerants-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · HVAC & RefrigerantsLow-GWP Refrigerant Patents: Filing Trends and Who Holds the Claims
- Filing peaked in 2018 at 43 records and has fallen since, with the 2022 midpoint at just 7 — this is a landscape that already had its filing wave.
- Lubricant compatibility work sits inside the refrigerant claims C10M and C10N together account for 50 of 154 records, meaning ester-lubricant chemistry is claimed alongside the working fluid, not separately.
- No single assignee is gaining ground right now every tracked assignee shows flat or negative year-over-year momentum, including a full drop to zero for several established filers.
154
Published Records
61%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+71%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (7 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. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 154 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What the low-GWP refrigerant patent record actually shows
Low-GWP refrigerant patenting sits at the intersection of three older disciplines: refrigerant chemistry (C09K5), mechanical refrigeration system design (F25B9, F25B1), and lubricant formulation for the resulting working fluids. The search set of 154 patent families spans 2015 through the 2026 cut-off and clusters heavily around drop-in replacement claims, flammability classification, and system efficiency under new refrigerant blends rather than around novel refrigerant molecules themselves.
The filing curve rose to a peak of 43 records in 2018, coinciding with the compliance pressure created by phase-down schedules for high-GWP HFCs, then declined through the following years. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the final year or two of any such trend always understates true filing activity, but the multi-year decline visible well before the cut-off is unlikely to be a lag artefact alone.
Top assignees by patent family count
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 154-family dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how it splits across the IPC subclasses that define the technical scope of a low-GWP refrigerant claim.
A filing wave that crested in 2018 and has not returned
From 2 records in 2017 to a peak of 43 in 2018, filings dropped back toward single digits by the 2022 midpoint. Read the final one to two years as directionally incomplete rather than as evidence of renewed decline, given publication lag.
Refrigerant chemistry dominates; lubricant and vehicle A/C are secondary clusters
C09K (materials, 112 records) and F25B (refrigeration and heat pump systems, 75) anchor the dataset. C10M and C10N together (50 records) show lubricant compatibility is a persistent secondary claim axis, while B60H (21) marks a distinct vehicle-specific sub-market and F24F, F25D and F04B remain thin at single-digit-to-low-double-digit counts.
Shares are the percentage of the 154 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Low-GWP Refrigerants with Eureka
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The most-cited records anchoring this space
Representative Filing
Lubricant for Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerant Systems
THE LUBRIZOL CORPORATION
The disclosed technology relates to a working fluid for a low global warming potential (GWP) refrigeration system that includes a compressor, where the working fluid includes an ester based lubricant and a low GWP refrigerant, and where the ester based lubricant includes an ester of one or more branched carboxylic acids where said branched carboxylic acid contains 8 or less carbon atoms. The disclosed technology provides commercially useful low GWP working fluids that do not have the solubility and/or miscibility problems commonly seen in low GWP fluids, including high viscosity fluids and applications.Filed by The Lubrizol Corporation, published 2017-01-05.
View full filingHighest-citation records in the corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6575716B1 | Linear compressor | 37 |
| 2 | WO2000032934A1 | Linear compressor | 24 |
| 3 | US20230130167A1 | Climate control systems for use with high glide working fluids and methods for operation thereof | 23 |
| 4 | WO2019023267A1 | Refrigerant composition measurement system | 16 |
| 5 | US20160009974A1 | Working Fluids Comprising Fluorinated Olefins / Fluorinated Saturated Hydrocarbon Blends and Polyol Esters | 13 |
| 6 | WO2017184975A1 | Refrigerant compositions and low global-warming-potential blends | 12 |
| 7 | JP2011027374A | Expansion valve | 12 |
| 8 | US20160312095A1 | Refrigerant compositions | 9 |
| 9 | JP2010265777A | compressor | 9 |
| 10 | WO2023069273A1 | Climate control systems for use with high glide working fluids and methods for operation thereof | 8 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the data means for a filing or freedom-to-operate decision
Three patterns stand out once the filing trend, IPC split and citation table are read together.
Filing Momentum
43 → 7
peak (2018) vs. midpoint (2022)
The compliance-driven filing wave has passed
The 2018 peak of 43 records lines up with regulatory phase-down pressure on high-GWP HFCs; the fall to 7 by 2022 suggests the initial claim space around drop-in blends and flammability classification was staked out early and has not attracted a second wave of filers.
Read the last one to two years as understated due to publication lag, not as a fresh downturn.
Claim Overlap
50 of 154 records
C10M + C10N (lubricant) share
Lubricant compatibility is claimed inside refrigerant filings
A third of the dataset touches lubricant chemistry or lubricant property indices, meaning a refrigerant blend claim frequently carries dependent claims on the ester lubricant it must run with. Freedom-to-operate work on a new blend cannot stop at the refrigerant composition itself.
Ester-lubricant compatibility is a recurring, not incidental, claim element.
Citation Signal
37 citations
top-cited record (US6575716B1)
The most-cited prior art is compressor hardware, not chemistry
The two highest-cited records in the corpus are linear compressor patents rather than refrigerant compositions, indicating that mechanical system design around new working fluids has drawn more downstream citation traffic than the chemistry itself.
Older hardware patents anchor citation counts; treat this as historical influence, not current filing direction.
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to low-gwp refrigerants, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is active, and who has stalled
Receiving-office data shows the United States (40), Europe (22) and Japan (19) as the primary filing venues, with WIPO PCT filings (17) indicating multi-jurisdiction strategies among a subset of assignees. China (8) and India (8) trail well behind.
Momentum Check
0 in latest year
across every tracked assignee
No assignee is currently accelerating
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum, including established refrigerant and lubricant specialists, shows zero filings in the latest year and flat-to-negative year-over-year change. This is consistent with the broader post-2018 decline rather than any single company exiting the space.
Treat the latest year as thin on data, not necessarily on activity, given publication lag.
Filing Venues
40 / 22 / 19
US / EPO / Japan filings
Filing activity concentrates in three mature markets
The United States, European Patent Office and Japan account for the bulk of receiving-office activity, with WIPO PCT filings suggesting a smaller group of assignees pursuing coordinated multi-country protection rather than single-market filing.
China and India, at 8 filings each, remain comparatively open venues for this claim space.
Collaboration
7 co-assignee pairs
across the dataset
Co-filing is rare and concentrated in one corporate family
Only seven co-assignee pairs appear across 154 families, and the strongest pairing links two related Mitsubishi Electric entities. This is a landscape of largely independent filers rather than joint-venture or cross-licensing patterns.
Sparse co-filing suggests limited pooled IP strategy so far in this space.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| The Chemours Company FC, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| RPL Holdings Limited | 0 | — |
| The Lubrizol Corporation | 0 | — |
| Trane International Inc. | 0 | — |
| Fujitsu General Limited | 0 | — |
| Chemtura Corporation | 0 | — |
| Panasonic Corporation (Japan) | 0 | — |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature but stalled filing wave with a few technically specific gaps still open. These are reasonable next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or monitoring.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on lubricant-blend dependent claims
Given that half the dataset ties lubricant compatibility to the refrigerant composition, any new blend should be checked against C10M/C10N claim language, not just C09K refrigerant composition claims.
Explore lubricant-compatibility claims in EurekaInvestigate the high-glide working fluid branch
US20230130167A1 signals active interest in climate control systems for high-glide fluids; the surrounding claim space appears thinner than the core drop-in-replacement cluster.
Search high-glide working fluid filings in EurekaMonitor for a second filing wave ahead of the next compliance deadline
With every tracked assignee flat or declining, a renewed regulatory trigger is the most likely cause of the next uptick — worth setting an alert rather than assuming the space is closed.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about low-GWP refrigerant patents
The dataset shows filing activity spread across a set of refrigerant chemical companies and HVAC/compressor manufacturers rather than a single dominant holder. No assignee shows positive momentum in the most recent tracked year, and several well-known lubricant and refrigerant specialists have dropped to zero recent filings. This suggests the early claim positions were staked out during the 2017-2019 filing wave and have not been meaningfully contested since.
Filings rose to 43 records in 2018, likely reflecting a rush to claim drop-in replacement compositions and system adaptations ahead of regulatory phase-down deadlines for high-GWP HFCs. The subsequent decline to a midpoint of 7 filings by 2022 indicates that the initial wave of assignees secured their core claims early rather than a market that continued expanding. Publication lag of about 18 months means the very latest years in any such trend will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be, but a multi-year decline visible well before the cut-off is not fully explained by lag alone.
In this corpus, drop-in replacement claims typically focus on matching the performance envelope, flammability class and lubricant compatibility of an existing refrigerant so that equipment does not need redesign, while new blend claims focus on the composition itself. Many records combine both: a composition claim paired with dependent claims on system efficiency or lubricant miscibility. This is why C10M and C10N lubricant-related IPC codes appear in roughly a third of the dataset rather than sitting in a separate lubricant-only silo.
High filing density in a subclass like C09K means that particular claim space is occupied, not that the underlying technology has stopped developing. The steep decline after 2018 is more consistent with the core drop-in-replacement and flammability-classification claims being staked early, leaving narrower technical niches, such as high-glide working fluids or vehicle-specific A/C integration, comparatively open. A new regulatory trigger or a technical breakthrough in blend chemistry could still restart filing activity.
Based on IPC composition, the thinnest represented areas relative to the core C09K and F25B clusters are air-conditioning-specific system integration (F24F, 4 records), positive-displacement pump compatibility (F04B, 5 records) and refrigerator-specific cooling applications (F25D, 6 records). The high-glide working fluid climate control approach referenced in recent filings also appears to sit in a less crowded part of the landscape than the core drop-in-replacement claims. These are reasonable starting points for a narrower novelty search before drafting new claims.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Low-GWP Refrigerants covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.