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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/mechanisms-and-machine-elements-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Mechanical Engineering & MachineryMechanisms & Machine Elements Patents: Who Holds the Claim Space
- 31.6% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees hold 456 of the 1,442 records in scope, with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them.
- Filings up 54% since 2021. Recorded filings rose from 37 in 2021 to 57 in 2024, the last year publication lag allows a fair read.
- Control and AI classes dominate. G05B (control & regulating systems) and G06N (AI-based computing) each cover a quarter or more of records, ahead of classic mechanical testing classes like G01M.
1,442
Published Records
32%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+54%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (37 records) with 2024 (57) — 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 1,442 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent activity where mechanical mechanisms and machine elements intersect with load conditions, failure modes, dimensional tolerance and stress analysis — the claim language used when a mechanical joint, gearbox, or structural assembly is described in terms of how it fails or is tested rather than simply how it is built. The scope spans 2015 through the current data cut-off, covering 1,442 published records across major receiving offices including the United States, Europe, WIPO, Australia, Canada and India.
Because the search terms sit at the boundary between physical mechanism design and the software that monitors it, the composition skews toward control, sensing and predictive-analytics classes as much as toward pure mechanical structure — a signal that fault prediction and condition monitoring have become the dominant way this space is being claimed.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015 to present
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,442-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the records actually sit in. Class shares add up to more than 100% because a single record can carry several classes.
Filing trend, 2017 to present
Recorded filings ran from 38 in 2017 to a peak of 172 in 2018, before settling into a steadier band; 2021 to 2024 shows a 54% rise (37 to 57), the clearest recent-growth read the data supports. Counts from 2025 onward are still filling in due to the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, so the apparent tail-off there should not be read as a slowdown.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
G05B (control & regulating systems) leads at 25.0% of the 1,442 records, followed by H04L (digital information transmission) at 18.2% and G06N (AI-based computing) at 17.5%. Classic mechanical-testing coverage under G01M (testing machine & structure balance) sits at 8.2%, well below the software-adjacent classes, which says something about how this field is currently being claimed.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,442 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 Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Most-cited records in this landscape
Representative Filing
Fault prediction method for plant machine elements (US20190316989A1)
FUTUREMAIN CO., LTD
The filing defines rotary machine elements as fault-prediction targets, codes each fault condition into fabrication and installation, load, lubrication, and environment and operation categories, and stores associations between fault types and condition code values so incoming status information can be matched against the database to predict a fault before it occurs.Filed by FutureMain Co., Ltd, published 2019-10-17 — chosen here as representative of how fault-mode coding is being claimed across the dataset.
Highest-citation records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6402750B1 | Devices and methods for the treatment of spinal disorders | 1,255 |
| 2 | US20190339688A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for analytics and mainten… | 974 |
| 3 | US20050049708A1 | Devices and methods for the treatment of spinal disorders | 795 |
| 4 | US5210704A | System for prognosis and diagnostics of failure and wearout monitoring and for prediction of life expectancy … | 788 |
| 5 | US20200348662A1 | Platform for facilitating development of intelligence in an industrial internet of things system | 733 |
| 6 | US20210157312A1 | Intelligent vibration digital twin systems and methods for industrial environments | 716 |
| 7 | US6835205B2 | Devices and methods for the treatment of spinal disorders | 709 |
| 8 | US20180284758A1 | Methods and systems for industrial internet of things data collection for equipment analysis in an upstream o… | 600 |
| 9 | US20200225655A1 | Methods, systems, kits and apparatuses for monitoring and managing industrial settings in an industrial inter… | 563 |
| 10 | US20200103894A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for computerized maintena… | 514 |
Citation counts accumulate over time and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence within this searched corpus, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
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 Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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 decision
Three read-outs from the ranking, the trend line and the class composition, aimed at where a team should and should not spend claim-drafting effort.
Concentration
31.6%
of 1,442 records held by top 5
The top of the field is concentrated, the rest is a long tail
Five assignees account for 456 of the 1,442 records in scope, with the tenth-ranked assignee already down to 20 records. That gap between the leaders and the rest suggests most of the ranked field is filing opportunistically rather than building a defensive thicket.
Based on the 100-company ranked list
Growth
+54%
filings, 2021 to 2024
Recent growth is real, but read the tail end carefully
The rise from 37 filings in 2021 to 57 in 2024 is the most reliable recent trend the data supports. Years after 2024 will keep filling in as publications catch up, so any apparent drop in 2025-2026 reflects lag, not falling interest.
2024 is the last year treated as complete
Composition
25.0%
of records carry G05B
Control systems and AI classes outweigh pure mechanical testing
G05B and G06N together sit ahead of G01M, the subclass most associated with mechanical stress and structural balance testing. Claim activity in this space is increasingly framed around monitoring and prediction rather than the mechanism geometry itself.
Class shares sum above 100% by design
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to mechanisms & machine elements patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the activity has cooled
The ranked leaders span industrial IoT platforms, medical device makers and materials licensors rather than a single dominant mechanical-equipment incumbent, which matches a field defined by cross-cutting claim language rather than one product category.
Leader
308
records
One assignee holds a clear lead
The top-ranked assignee's record count is more than ten times the tenth-place figure, which points to a single portfolio built through sustained, deliberate filing rather than a crowded near-tie at the top.
Leader vs. tenth place: 308 vs. 20
Momentum
-75%
YoY, leading assignee
Even the leader's latest-year activity has slowed
The top-ranked assignee filed just 1 record in the latest tracked year, down 75% year over year, and several other ranked assignees show zero latest-year activity. This is consistent with publication lag rather than a real stop in filing.
Latest-year counts understate true activity
Collaboration
10
co-assignee pairs
Co-filing is limited and concentrated in a few pairs
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest pairs linked to a small number of named individuals rather than joint-venture-style corporate co-filing. That is a low-collaboration field by this measure.
Strongest pairs recur at 3-4 shared filings
Recent-year filing momentum
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016 LLC | 1 | -75% |
| Ichor Medical Systems Inc | 0 | — |
| V Squared Wind | 0 | — |
| Brilliant Light Power Inc | 0 | — |
| Cognibotics | 0 | — |
| EnerVault Corp | 0 | — |
| 3M Innovative Properties Co | 0 | — |
| KCI Licensing Inc | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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 trend and composition data point to a field where claim activity is shifting toward monitoring and prediction; the next step is testing a specific claim idea against that occupied space.
Map a specific mechanism against the ranked leaders
Take a candidate mechanism or fault-detection scheme and check it against the filings held by the leading assignees in this ranking before drafting.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTest white space claims before filing
Run a candidate claim in one of the under-claimed sub-areas above through prior art search to confirm the gap holds before committing drafting time.
Search prior art in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
The ranked list in this dataset covers 100 companies, and it is concentrated rather than evenly spread: the top 5 combined hold 456 of the 1,442 records in scope, or 31.6%. The single leading assignee holds 308 records, more than ten times the count at tenth place, which is a wide gap for a mechanical engineering field. Below the top five, filing counts drop off quickly into a long tail of assignees with only a handful of records each, so most of the ranking should be read as opportunistic filers rather than sustained portfolio builders.
Filings rose from 37 in 2021 to 57 in 2024, a 54% increase over that three-year span, which is the clearest recent trend the data supports. Counts appear to taper after 2024, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between when a patent is filed and when it publishes, not a genuine drop in activity. Treat 2024 as the most recent complete year and be cautious drawing conclusions from 2025 or 2026 figures until more publications catch up.
US20190316989A1, filed by FutureMain Co., Ltd, describes a method for predicting faults in rotary machine elements by coding fault conditions into four categories -- fabrication and installation, load, lubrication, and environment and operation -- and matching incoming status data against a stored association database. It is representative of a broader pattern in this dataset where fault-mode coding and prediction, rather than the mechanism's physical structure, is the subject of the claims. Anyone building a fault-prediction scheme for rotary equipment should check their specific coding taxonomy and data-matching approach against this filing and its family rather than assume mechanical novelty alone clears it.
In this dataset, G05B (control & regulating systems) covers 25.0% of the 1,442 records and G06N (AI-based computing) covers 17.5%, both ahead of G01M (testing machine & structure balance) at 8.2%. That pattern reflects the search scope itself, which centres on failure modes, load conditions and stress analysis -- concepts increasingly claimed through sensing, monitoring and predictive software layered on top of a mechanism, not through the mechanism's geometry alone. A filer targeting pure mechanical structure claims in this space is competing in a comparatively less crowded corner of the same dataset.
The technology composition shows heavier claim density in control and AI-adjacent classes than in classes tied to mechanical testing and structural analysis, such as G01M at 8.2% of records. That gap suggests sub-areas like dimensional tolerance stack-up claims, mechanical joint fatigue under mixed load, and lubrication-condition sensing integration are less thoroughly claimed relative to fault-prediction software layers. Co-filing is also limited, with only 10 co-assignee pairs across the dataset, indicating little collaborative claiming in these adjacent branches -- worth confirming with a targeted prior art search before drafting.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Mechanisms & Machine Elements Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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.