Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Catalyst Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- Filing peaked in 2019 at 51 records and has declined since, with the trend flat-to-down through the 2022 midpoint of 20 — a maturing rather than expanding field.
- H01M dominates the IPC mix at 1,410 of 1,575 records while catalysis-specific B01J (232) and electrolytic C25B (112) filings trail well behind, pointing to where claim density is thinner.
- Every tracked assignee shows 0 filings in the latest year including the strongest historical filer, which posted -100% YoY — recent momentum has essentially paused across the leaderboard.
Filing growth compares 2021 (19 records) with 2024 (33) — 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 1,575 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the patent record shows
Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) catalyst work sits at the intersection of electrochemistry and industrial gas processing. The search corpus tracked here pulls 1,575 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine MCFC or nickel-electrode terminology with cathode or anode catalyst claims. The bulk of activity classifies under H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells), but meaningful secondary clusters sit in C01B inorganic chemistry, B01J catalysis, and C25B electrolytic production — evidence that MCFC catalyst innovation draws as much from gas-processing chemistry as from cell architecture.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2019, and has since trended flat or downward toward the 2022 midpoint. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any such trend will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be — but even allowing for that lag, the multi-year decline from the 2019 peak is a real signal, not an artefact of the cut-off date.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,575-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those families split across IPC subclasses.
A 2019 peak followed by a multi-year decline
Filings rose from 17 in 2017 to a peak of 51 in 2019, then eased back toward 20 by the 2022 midpoint, with the final years understated by publication lag. The shape reads as a field that had a defined burst of activity rather than sustained compounding growth.
H01M carries the weight; catalysis classes trail
H01M accounts for 1,410 of 1,575 records, an order of magnitude ahead of the next classes — C01B (270) and B01J (232) — with C25B, C10G, C10K, H01B and C07C forming a long tail of adjacent chemistry and materials classes. That gap between the fuel-cell class and the catalysis-specific classes is one of the clearest structural features of this landscape.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,575 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Catalyst with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about molten carbonate fuel cell catalyst and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Integrated operation of molten carbonate fuel cells (US20170271701A1)
In various aspects, systems and methods are provided for operating a molten carbonate fuel cell at increased fuel utilization and/or increased CO2 utilization. This can be accomplished in part by performing an effective amount of an endothermic reaction within the fuel cell stack in an integrated manner. This can allow for a desired temperature differential to be maintained within the fuel cell.Filed by ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, published 2017-09-21.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4524113A | Direct use of methanol fuel in a molten carbonate fuel cell | 221 |
| 2 | US20030162067A1 | Fuel water vapor replenishment system for a fuel cell | 173 |
| 3 | US20100077752A1 | Methods and/or systems for removing carbon dioxide and/or generating power | 164 |
| 4 | US20030157386A1 | Load matched power generation system including a solid oxide fuel cell and a heat pump and an optional turbine | 162 |
| 5 | US20070259256A1 | Systems and methods for detecting and indicating fault conditions in electrochemical cells | 150 |
| 6 | US20050016839A1 | Reactive deposition for electrochemical cell production | 140 |
| 7 | US20080210089A1 | Gas Conditioning System | 124 |
| 8 | US20100275781A1 | Gas conditioning system | 123 |
| 9 | US20030170527A1 | Temperature sensitive adsorption oxygen enrichment system | 110 |
| 10 | US20070072036A1 | Solid polymer electrolyte and process for making same | 109 |
Citation counts reflect influence inside this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of historical impact rather than current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Reading the trend, the IPC split and the citation table together points to a field with concentrated claim density in one class and a filing curve that has already crested.
The growth phase has passed
Activity climbed steadily from 17 filings in 2017 to a peak of 51 in 2019, then declined toward 20 by 2022. Combined with every tracked assignee showing zero filings in the latest year, this reads as a technology area past its filing peak rather than one still building.
Cell architecture claims dominate the class mix
Nearly 90% of records sit in H01M, the general fuel-cell class, while catalysis-specific B01J holds only 232 and electrolytic C25B just 112. That imbalance suggests catalyst-composition claims are comparatively less crowded than cell-level system claims.
Older foundational filings still anchor the field
The most-cited record dates to the original methanol-fuelled MCFC work, well ahead of the 2015-2026 filing window tracked here. Citation leadership in this corpus favours early, foundational filings rather than the most recent activity.
Filing is mostly solo, with one dense partnership
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, and the strongest — Berlowitz and Barckholtz, both linked to ExxonMobil-side filings — accounts for 54 shared families. Co-filing is the exception, not the norm, in this landscape.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to molten carbonate fuel cell catalyst, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape and where the gaps sit
The leaderboard is topped by names with long MCFC histories, but recent-year momentum has gone flat across the board — every tracked assignee shows zero filings in the latest year, several down 100% year over year from their prior activity.
A pause, not necessarily an exit
Names historically associated with MCFC catalyst work show no filings in the most recent year, with some posting -100% YoY. Given the 18-month publication lag, some of this is timing rather than a genuine stop, but the multi-year downward trend from 2019 supports a real slowdown.
US and EPO carry most of the filing volume
The United States leads receiving offices at 578, followed by Europe (EPO) at 292 and WIPO/PCT at 179, with Canada, Australia and Germany trailing. Filing strategy in this field is heavily weighted toward US and European protection rather than broad multi-jurisdiction coverage.
One partnership stands out from a thin field
Co-filing is rare overall, but the Berlowitz/Barckholtz pairing and its 39-family sibling pairing point to a sustained internal collaboration pattern at one organisation rather than cross-company joint filing.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company | 0 | -100% |
| Resonac Holdings Corporation | 0 | — |
| Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Ultra Battery Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| FuelCell Energy, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| 3M Innovative Properties Company (USA) | 0 | — |
| BERLOWITZ PAUL J | 0 | — |
| BARCKHOLTZ TIMOTHY ANDREW | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The trend and class data point to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, sourcing or scouting.
Check freedom-to-operate against the H01M cluster
With 1,410 of 1,575 records classed under H01M, any new cell-architecture claim needs a close read against that cluster before filing.
Run a claim search in EurekaScan the catalysis-specific classes for open space
B01J and C25B hold a fraction of the volume seen in H01M, which is where a narrower catalyst-composition claim is more likely to clear.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch for renewed filing after the lag window closes
Every assignee shows zero filings in the latest year, but the 18-month publication lag means 2025-2026 activity is still arriving.
Track assignee activity in EurekaCommon questions on MCFC catalyst patents
The leaderboard in this dataset is topped by organisations with long-standing MCFC programmes, including entities tied to ExxonMobil's research arm and FuelCell Energy, based on 1,575 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026. That said, every tracked assignee shows zero filings in the most recent year, so current leadership reflects historical filing depth rather than active momentum. Anyone assessing freedom-to-operate should look at cumulative family counts alongside the recent-year pause before drawing conclusions about who is currently active.
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 51 records and has trended down since, reaching around 20 by the 2022 midpoint, with every tracked assignee showing zero filings in the latest year. Some of that apparent drop is publication lag, since patents typically publish roughly 18 months after filing, so the very last one or two years in any dataset understate true activity. Even accounting for that lag, the multi-year decline from the 2019 peak suggests the field has cooled from its earlier filing intensity.
The overwhelming majority, 1,410 of 1,575 records, classify under H01M, the general batteries and fuel cells class. Secondary clusters appear in C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds, 270 records) and B01J (catalysis, 232 records), with smaller counts in C25B, C10G, C10K, H01B and C07C. This spread shows MCFC catalyst innovation draws on gas-processing and inorganic chemistry as much as on cell-level engineering.
US20170271701A1, assigned to ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company and published in September 2017, covers integrated operation of a molten carbonate fuel cell for increased fuel and CO2 utilisation by running an endothermic reaction inside the stack itself. Anyone designing a system that manages stack temperature differential through an integrated endothermic reaction should review this filing's specific claim language before finalising a design. It is one representative filing among 1,575 in this corpus, so a full freedom-to-operate check should not stop at this single document.
The clearest gap sits between the dense H01M cluster (1,410 records) and the much thinner catalysis-specific classes B01J (232) and C25B (112), which points to narrower catalyst-composition and electrolyte-interface claims being comparatively less crowded than broad cell-architecture claims. Sub-areas such as nickel-oxide cathode dissolution suppression, anode sulfur tolerance and CO2-capture-integrated catalyst systems show up as under-claimed relative to the overall filing volume. That said, thinner filing density in a class is a starting point for a search, not a guarantee of an open claim — a proper novelty check against the full corpus is still required.
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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.