Offshore Wind Foundations (Fixed/Floating) Patent Landscape
The offshore wind foundations space encompasses 1,161 patent families and is led by the University of Maine, with Europe (EPO) as the dominant filing jurisdiction. The field reached peak annual output in 2022 and has since eased, indicating a maturing competitive structure where established positions are increasingly difficult to displace.
University of Maine leads a moderately concentrated field
The University of Maine holds the top position with 86 patent families, followed by Principle Power Inc. (66 families) and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (64 families). The top five applicants together account for 31% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate concentration rather than monopoly dominance.
A clear tier gap separates the top three filers — University of Maine, Principle Power Inc., and Siemens Gamesa — from the fourth-ranked Equinor Energy (48 families) and beyond. This suggests that the leading positions reflect deep, sustained R&D commitment rather than opportunistic filings.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Maine | 86 | |
| 2 | Principle Power Inc. | 66 | |
| 3 | Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | 64 | |
| 4 | Equinor Energy AS | 48 | |
| 5 | Freia Offshore AB | 35 | |
| 6 | Aerodyn Consulting Singapore Pte. Ltd. | 32 | |
| 7 | Vestas Wind Systems AS | 26 | |
| 8 | Single Buoy Moorings Inc. | 23 | |
| 9 | PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Ltd. | 22 | |
| 10 | EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG | 20 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Rosen Swiss AG | 19 | |
| 12 | Pur Wind ApS | 17 | |
| 13 | Seaway 7 Engineering BV | 17 | |
| 14 | Dalian University of Technology | 17 | |
| 15 | Hitachi Ltd. | 16 | |
| 16 | Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute | 16 | |
| 17 | GOLDWIND SCI & TECH CO LTD | 15 | |
| 18 | Technip Energies France SAS | 13 | |
| 19 | SIF Holding NV | 11 | |
| 20 | Fred. Olsen Ocean Ltd. | 11 |
The presence of an academic institution (University of Maine) at the apex is unusual and signals that foundational platform IP — particularly for floating foundations — originated in publicly funded research, which may create both licensing opportunities and freedom-to-operate complexity for commercial entrants.
Filing counts for 2024 and especially 2025–2026 are under-counted due to standard patent publication lag of 18–24 months; the apparent decline from 2023 onward should not be interpreted as a real contraction in activity.
Activity peaked in 2022; structural IP sits at the wind-turbine / marine-vessel intersection
The annual filing trend and technology branch breakdown together reveal a field that surged through 2019–2022 and has since plateaued, while its IP mass sits firmly at the intersection of wind turbine engineering and marine vessel design.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed from 76 families in 2017 to a peak of 206 in 2022, then eased to 153 in 2023 and 118 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 figures (49 and 6, respectively) are substantially under-counted due to publication lag and should not be read as a real decline; the 2022 peak represents the clearest high-water mark.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F03D (wind turbines) and B63B (ships and marine vessels) together dominate the branch mix by a wide margin, reflecting the dual engineering challenge of offshore foundations. E02B (hydraulic and waterway engineering) and E02D (foundations and earth drilling) are the next largest branches, capturing the civil and geotechnical work particular to fixed foundations. All remaining branches are sparse relative to these four.
↗ 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.
Floating offshore wind turbine integrated with ste…
A floating offshore wind turbine integrated with a steel fish farming cage mainly includes a wind turbine, a wind turbine tower, a living quarter, a floating wind turbine foundation in a conic steel structure, a mooring system, a lateral net encircling the floating wind turbine foundation, a bottom net, and lifting systems. The upper end of the wind turbine… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Column-stabilized offshore platform with water-ent… | 224 |
| 2 | Column-stabilized offshore platform with water-ent… | 198 |
| 3 | Floating offshore wind turbine | 186 |
| 4 | Offshore floating wind power generation plant | 111 |
| 5 | Floating Wind Turbine Platform and Method of Assem… | 83 |
| 6 | A floating wind turbine and a method for the insta… | 72 |
| 7 | 半潜式海上浮动风机基础 | 59 |
| 8 | 半潜式海上浮动风机基础 | 56 |
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 lenses — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — frame the strategic context for an engineer or R&D director deciding where to place bets in offshore wind foundations.
Field is at Maturity, with annual volume easing from its 2022 peak
Annual filings plateaued near their 2022 peak and have since eased, placing the field firmly in a Maturity stage. Core platform concepts — semi-submersible and tension-leg floating structures, monopile fixed foundations — are well-covered. New entrants face a crowded prior-art landscape and should focus on differentiated subsystems or novel deployment methods rather than broad platform claims.
Lifecycle · MaturityTop five hold nearly a third of the leading-filer output
The top five filers account for 31% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, a level that is meaningful but not prohibitive. The tier gap between the top three and the rest of the top ten leaves room for challengers — particularly in floating foundation sub-systems — if they can sustain multi-year filing programs. Mid-tier players like Freia Offshore AB (35 families) and Aerodyn Consulting Singapore (32 families) demonstrate that focused specialty portfolios can achieve ranking.
Concentration · ModerateTotalEnergies anchors the most active co-filing cluster
The most active co-filing relationships in evidence all involve TotalEnergies SE as a central node, paired with Ecole Centrale de Marseille, Techlam, CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), and Aix-Marseille University — each pair sharing three co-filed patent families. This cluster reflects a structured industrial-academic consortium model focused on floating foundation technology in France, which may signal coordinated standard-setting activity.
Ecosystem · ConsortiumEurope leads filings; Asia-Pacific is a fast-growing secondary front
Europe (EPO) is the top jurisdiction with 314 patent records, followed by the United States (289) and China (210), with WIPO PCT filings (200) indicating applicants seeking broad international coverage. The United Kingdom (70), South Korea (52), and Australia (51) form a secondary tier, reflecting active or emerging offshore wind markets. China’s volume — driven in part by PowerChina, Goldwind, and Huaneng — signals growing domestic capability that will increasingly compete in export markets.
Geography · Europe-LedGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| TotalEnergies SE | Ecole Centrale de Marseille | 3 |
| TotalEnergies SE | Techlam | 3 |
| TotalEnergies SE | CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) | 3 |
| TotalEnergies SE | Aix-Marseille University | 3 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
University of Maine and Principle Power define opposing models: academic platform vs. commercial product
The top two filers illustrate the two dominant archetypes in this space: a research institution holding broad foundational IP, and a commercial specialist with a tightly focused floating-platform portfolio.
University of Maine
The University of Maine leads with 86 patent families, concentrated in F03D 13 (offshore wind turbine systems) and B63B 35 (special-purpose marine vessels), with B63B 21 (mooring) as a secondary focus — a profile consistent with broad floating-foundation platform IP. Recent momentum has eased (filing pace down approximately 47% versus the prior period), which is typical for a maturing academic portfolio transitioning toward licensing. Engineers evaluating freedom-to-operate in floating foundations should map this portfolio carefully.
patent families: 86Principle Power Inc.
Principle Power Inc. ranks second with 66 patent families and shows a distinct emphasis on B63B 35 and B63B 39 (buoyancy and stability), with F03D 13 as a tertiary class — reflecting a commercial product focus on the WindFloat semi-submersible platform rather than broad turbine-system coverage. Filing pace is down approximately 50% versus the prior period, consistent with a post-development, commercialization-stage portfolio. Its concentrated floating-vessel IP makes it a key licensing or partnership consideration for project developers.
patent families: 66| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| University of Maine | 9 | ▼ -47% |
| Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | 16 | ▼ -64% |
| Principle Power Inc. | 8 | ▼ -50% |
| Equinor Energy AS | 7 | ▼ -82% |
| Heerema Marine Contractors (IQIP / Heerema group) | 25 | ▲ +9% |
| Freia Offshore AB | 2 | ▼ -94% |
| Aerodyn Consulting Singapore Pte. Ltd. | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches at the edge of the core IP cluster
Several IPC branches sit adjacent to the dominant F03D / B63B core but carry far fewer patent records, making them worth monitoring as the technology matures and project-phase engineering challenges shift from platform design to installation, civil works, and multi-use integration.
E02D · Foundations & earth drilling
With 192 patent records versus over 1,000 in F03D and B63B, the foundations and geotechnical drilling branch is relatively sparse given the engineering centrality of seabed interaction for both fixed monopiles and floating anchor systems. As projects move to deeper water and more complex seabed conditions — soft clays, hard rock, layered substrates — there is a plausible technical need for novel pile-driving, suction-caisson, and anchoring innovations. Geotechnical specialists and offshore piling contractors represent a realistic entry path with relatively limited incumbent IP to navigate.
Search this in Eureka →B66C · Cranes & hoists
The crane and heavy-lift branch holds 68 patent records, a share of approximately 2% of the classified corpus — low given that installation vessel capability is frequently the binding constraint on offshore wind project economics. The Heerema / IQIP / Seaway 7 cluster active in this branch is small. Heavy-lift and float-over installation methods specific to floating foundation deployment represent an adjacent area where differentiated IP could command significant licensing value as project scales increase.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route across IPC sub-classes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | F03D 13 · Wind motors (wind turbines) | B63B 35 · Ships & marine vessels | B63B 21 · Ships & marine vessels | E02B 17 · Hydraulic & waterway engineering | F03D 9 · Wind motors (wind turbines) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maine | Strong · 65 | Strong · 62 | Moderate · 23 | Absent | Moderate · 14 |
| Principle Power Inc. | Moderate · 29 | Strong · 60 | Absent | Moderate · 24 | Moderate · 26 |
| Equinor Energy AS | Strong · 51 | Strong · 30 | Moderate · 19 | Absent | Absent |
| Freia Offshore AB | Strong · 35 | Strong · 34 | Strong · 28 | Absent | Absent |
| Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | Strong · 50 | Moderate · 25 | Emerging · 10 | Absent | Emerging · 9 |
| Heerema Marine Contractors (IQIP / Heerema group) | Strong · 36 | Moderate · 16 | Absent | Strong · 33 | Absent |
| Single Buoy Moorings Inc. | Strong · 24 | Strong · 24 | Strong · 24 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 1,161 patent families filed globally in the offshore wind foundations space, spanning both fixed (monopile, jacket, gravity-based) and floating (semi-submersible, spar, tension-leg) foundation technologies.
The University of Maine leads with 86 patent families, ahead of Principle Power Inc. (66 families) and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (64 families). The University of Maine’s lead position reflects deep, publicly funded research into floating foundation platforms, particularly semi-submersible designs.
Europe (EPO) is the leading jurisdiction, followed by the United States and China. WIPO PCT filings indicate that leading applicants frequently seek broad multi-jurisdiction protection. The United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia form an active secondary tier, consistent with their offshore wind deployment pipelines.
The field is assessed as Maturity. Annual filings peaked at 206 families in 2022 and have since eased, indicating that foundational platform concepts are well-covered and incremental innovation is now more common than broad platform-level claims. Note that 2024–2026 figures are under-counted due to publication lag.
TotalEnergies SE is identified as a new entrant in the recent filing window with 28 recent-period families, and Heerema shows a modest upward trend of approximately +9% versus the prior period. Most other top filers — including the University of Maine, Principle Power, Siemens Gamesa, and Equinor — show declining recent-period filing pace, consistent with maturing portfolios.
The most active co-filing network centers on TotalEnergies SE, which has co-filed with Ecole Centrale de Marseille, Techlam, CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), and Aix-Marseille University — each pairing sharing three co-filed families. This consortium structure suggests coordinated industrial-academic R&D, likely tied to the French floating wind program.
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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.
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