Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Patent Landscape 2026
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Patent Landscape in 2026
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a concentrated, post-peak field dominated by a small group of U.S.-headquartered applicants, with Lockheed Martin Corp holding the largest single position. Annual filing volume peaked in 2019 and has since eased, placing the technology in a decline stage that rewards disciplined niche entry over broad portfolio investment.
Lockheed Martin leads a concentrated field with four applicants holding commanding positions
Lockheed Martin Corp ranks first among all filers, followed closely by Innovator Energy LLC, Abell Foundation Inc, and Lone Gull Holdings Ltd — the top four applicants together account for the bulk of activity at the upper tier.
The top five filers collectively hold 35% of the combined patent records of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately concentrated but not wholly monopolistic competitive structure. A clear tier gap exists between the top four and the remaining applicants, with Havkraft at fifth position holding roughly one-third the volume of the fourth-ranked player.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lockheed Martin Corp | 49 | |
| 2 | Innovator Energy LLC | 45 | |
| 3 | Abell Foundation Inc | 36 | |
| 4 | Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 34 | |
| 5 | Havkraft | 17 | |
| 6 | Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | 15 | |
| 7 | McAlister Technologies LLC | 15 | |
| 8 | Yale University | 12 | |
| 9 | Von Herzen Brian | 12 | |
| 10 | Frazier Scott Raymond | 12 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Single Buoy Moorings Inc | 10 | |
| 12 | RE Syst | 10 | |
| 13 | KOREA INSTITUTE OF OCEAN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | 9 | |
| 14 | Diamond Shamrock Corp | 9 | |
| 15 | Advanced Green Innovations LLC | 9 | |
| 16 | Raytheon Co | 8 | |
| 17 | Global Marine Inc | 8 | |
| 18 | R & D ASSOCIATES INC | 8 | |
| 19 | Gateff Jean Paul | 8 | |
| 20 | Subsea Micropiles Ltd | 8 |
Lockheed Martin’s dominance, paired with a significant academic and SME presence (Yale University, Abell Foundation Inc, individual inventors), suggests the field is populated by both large defense/aerospace integrators and mission-driven smaller entities — a bifurcated competitive dynamic uncommon in mature energy technology sectors.
Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and should be read as provisional minimums rather than confirmed totals. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2019 filing peak has given way to easing annual volumes; hydraulic and marine vessel classes dominate the technology mix
The annual trend chart and IPC composition together reveal a field that experienced a sharp surge around 2019 and has since contracted, while the technology branches point to a hardware-intensive, system-level focus rather than controls or digital optimization.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose from 20 in 2017 to a pronounced peak of 44 in 2019, then fell back through 2020–2022 before declining further. The 2024–2026 bars are subject to publication lag and understate true recent activity; read them as floor estimates. The overall multi-year window nonetheless shows net negative growth relative to the peak.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F03B (Hydraulic machines & engines) and B63B (Ships & marine vessels) are the two largest IPC branches, reflecting OTEC’s engineering core in turbomachinery and offshore platform design. F03G (miscellaneous motors) ranks third, capturing the thermodynamic conversion mechanisms central to OTEC. Branches such as C02F (water treatment), F01K (steam and thermal power plants), and H02J (power grid systems) appear at lower volumes, pointing to secondary but recurring system concerns around desalination, power-cycle efficiency, and grid integration.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Ocean thermal energy conversion
An open cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant generates electricity and desalinated water. The plant comprises an inner chamber (shell) 2 surrounded by an outer chamber 1, one of the chambers containing a vacuum. Relatively warm ocean water is pumped into the vacuum containing chamber where it is evaporated, the vapour passing through a turbine… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maritime power plant system with processes for pro… | 360 |
| 2 | Wave energy conversion system | 141 |
| 3 | Wave energy conversion system | 120 |
| 4 | Wave energy conversion system | 111 |
| 5 | Platform provided with a plurality of renewable en… | 111 |
| 6 | System and method for extracting power from fluid … | 108 |
| 7 | Large diameter turbogenerator for generating elect… | 108 |
| 8 | Sustainable economic development through integrate… | 98 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four analytical lenses — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — together shape the investment calculus for any organization considering entry or expansion in OTEC.
Decline stage: annual filings have eased from the 2019 peak
The lifecycle evidence classifies OTEC as in decline, with annual filing volume easing back from a 2019 peak of 44 records. A recent-window growth figure of –60% confirms the contraction is sustained rather than a single-year anomaly. For R&D planners, this stage signals that foundational system patents are largely staked, and differentiation requires either narrower sub-system focus or novel application contexts not yet well-covered.
Lifecycle: DeclineFour applicants own the commanding positions; a long tail of smaller filers follows
The top five filers account for 35% of the combined records of the hundred largest filers. Lockheed Martin Corp (49 patent records), Innovator Energy LLC (45), Abell Foundation Inc (36), and Lone Gull Holdings Ltd (34) form a distinct leading tier. The gap to fifth-ranked Havkraft (17 records) is substantial, but the long tail of individual inventors and small firms signals that entry barriers are not prohibitive for targeted innovations.
Moderate concentrationBright Energy Storage Technologies anchors the most active co-filing relationships
The most frequent co-applicant pairings both involve Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP as a shared partner: Von Herzen Brian co-filed 12 times with Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP, and Frazier Scott Raymond co-filed 12 times with the same entity. Two additional pairings (2 co-filings each) repeat the same trio in a slightly different configuration. This tight cluster suggests a small inventor-led consortium rather than broad open-innovation partnerships across the field.
Tight inventor clusterUnited States is the primary jurisdiction; PCT and EPO provide meaningful secondary coverage
The United States leads with 147 patent records, well ahead of WIPO PCT filings (66) and the EPO (63). Japan (56) and the United Kingdom (43) follow, with China (35) notably lower given its broader renewable-energy filing intensity. This U.S.-centric profile reflects both the research provenance of key filers (Lockheed Martin, Abell Foundation, Innovator Energy) and the historical U.S. government interest in OTEC as an energy-security technology.
U.S.-centric filing baseGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Von Herzen Brian | Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | 12 |
| Frazier Scott Raymond | Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | 12 |
| Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | Frazier Scott Raymond | 2 |
| Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | Von Herzen Brian | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Lockheed Martin and Innovator Energy lead on volume; their technology emphases diverge sharply
The two largest filers have built their positions around different subsystem bets — Lockheed Martin on offshore vessel and pipe infrastructure, Innovator Energy on hydraulic conversion and grid integration — making them complementary rather than directly substitutable in the OTEC value chain.
Lockheed Martin Corp
With 49 patent records, Lockheed Martin Corp holds the largest position in the OTEC corpus. Its technology focus clusters around B63B 35 (marine vessels and platforms), F16L 1 (pipes and pipe fittings), and B63B 21 — a profile consistent with large offshore plant integration and cold-water pipe engineering rather than the thermodynamic conversion cycle itself. Momentum data for this applicant is not available in the current evidence set.
families: 49Innovator Energy LLC
Innovator Energy LLC holds 45 patent records and focuses on F03B 13 (hydraulic machines and engines), H02J 15 (power supply and grid systems), and E02B 9 (hydraulic and waterway engineering) — a deeper thermodynamic and grid-side emphasis than Lockheed Martin. Recent momentum is flat at 0% versus the prior period (19 recent records), suggesting the applicant is maintaining rather than accelerating its position.
families: 45| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Innovator Energy LLC | 19 | ▬ 0% |
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 3 | ▼ -90% |
Under-served branches adjacent to the OTEC core worth monitoring
Several IPC branches appear at notably lower volumes relative to the dominant hydraulic and marine-vessel classes; two stand out as having both plausible technical relevance and limited current coverage.
C02F · Water & Wastewater Treatment
C02F accounts for only 38 patent records (roughly 2% share of the IPC distribution), yet desalination is a frequently cited co-product of OTEC plants — deep cold seawater naturally supports membrane and thermal desalination. The sparse filing activity suggests that the water-treatment dimension of integrated OTEC-desalination systems has not been systematically claimed. An entrant with expertise in membrane or distillation technology could anchor differentiated IP around this co-product stream, particularly for island-nation or coastal applications where freshwater access is a parallel need.
Search this in Eureka →F01K · Steam & Thermal Power Plants
F01K (steam and thermal power plants) appears at 38 patent records, equivalent to a 2% share, despite the Rankine cycle being the thermodynamic backbone of most OTEC designs. This relative sparsity likely reflects that most OTEC Rankine-cycle work is tagged primarily under F03B or F03G rather than F01K, but it also suggests that closed-cycle and hybrid-cycle plant engineering — particularly efficiency improvements to the working-fluid loop — may be under-claimed as a standalone subject. Teams with power-cycle or heat-exchanger expertise could find room to build in this branch.
Search this in Eureka →How leading OTEC filers diverge by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | F03B 13 · Hydraulic machines & engines | F03G 7 · Spring/weight & misc. motors | B63B 35 · Ships & marine vessels | F03B 17 · Hydraulic machines & engines | F03D 9 · Wind motors (wind turbines) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abell Foundation Inc | Absent | Strong · 35 | Strong · 35 | Absent | Absent |
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | Strong · 34 | Absent | Moderate · 17 | Absent | Absent |
| Lockheed Martin Corp | Absent | Strong · 17 | Strong · 33 | Absent | Absent |
| Innovator Energy LLC | Strong · 36 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 3 |
| Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP | Strong · 15 | Strong · 8 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Frazier Scott Raymond | Strong · 12 | Moderate · 6 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Havkraft | Strong · 17 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 196 patent families in scope for ocean thermal energy conversion, covering filings across more than 30 jurisdictions.
Lockheed Martin Corp holds the largest position with 49 patent records, followed by Innovator Energy LLC (45), Abell Foundation Inc (36), and Lone Gull Holdings Ltd (34).
Annual filing activity peaked in 2019 at 44 records. Volume has eased since then, and the lifecycle evidence classifies the field as in decline. The 2024–2026 bars are subject to publication lag and represent provisional minimums.
The United States leads with 147 patent records, followed by WIPO PCT (66), the European Patent Office (63), Japan (56), and the United Kingdom (43). China holds 35 records, lower than its typical share in renewable-energy fields.
F03B (Hydraulic machines and engines) and B63B (Ships and marine vessels) are the two largest IPC branches, reflecting the offshore platform and turbomachinery engineering core of OTEC. F03G (miscellaneous motors) ranks third, capturing thermodynamic conversion mechanisms.
The most active co-filing cluster centres on Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP. Von Herzen Brian co-filed with Bright Energy Storage Technologies LLP on 12 occasions, as did Frazier Scott Raymond — the tightest collaboration pair in the corpus. This suggests a small inventor-led consortium rather than broad industry partnerships.
Ready to map your own OTEC patent landscape?
Join 18,000+ innovators using PatSnap Eureka to map any technology landscape: search 2B+ patents and papers, surface key assignees, and generate a report like this in minutes.
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.