PEMFC LCA & Pt Recovery Patent Snapshot 2026
The patent corpus for PEMFC life-cycle assessment and platinum recovery is extremely small and highly concentrated, with H2GO Power Ltd holding the largest single share among only a handful of documented filers. Activity peaked in 2019 and the field has since contracted sharply, signalling an early-stage or nascent niche rather than a maturing technology domain.
H2GO Power leads a heavily concentrated, nascent niche
H2GO Power Ltd holds the top position with 2 patent records, accounting for half of all documented filings in this space. The remaining three ranked applicants — G Kumaresan, K G Maheswaran, Dalian University of Technology, and J Prasanna Naveen Kumar — each hold 1 patent record.
The top five filers account for 100% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating complete concentration with no mid-tier challengers. The tier gap between the leader and all others is minimal in absolute terms but total in relative terms, as the field has not attracted sustained institutional investment from major fuel-cell OEMs or catalyst suppliers.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | H2GO Power Ltd | 2 | |
| 2 | G Kumaresan | 1 | |
| 3 | K G Maheswaran | 1 | |
| 4 | Dalian University of Technology | 1 | |
| 5 | J Prasanna Naveen Kumar | 1 |
China, suggests the field is currently driven by early-stage ventures and academic institutions rather than established industrial players — leaving substantial room for entry by larger organizations.
Filings from 2024 onward are subject to standard patent-publication lag and may be under-represented in this corpus; conclusions on the most recent period should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2019 activity spike followed by prolonged quiet; fuel-cell and metal-refining classes dominate
The filing trend chart reveals a single burst of activity in 2019 with no sustained follow-through, while the technology composition chart shows H01M fuel-cell classes as the primary anchor alongside process-chemistry branches.
Annual filing trend
Two filings appeared in 2019, followed by zero activity through 2023. Single records appear in 2024 and 2025, though these recent years are subject to publication lag and should not yet be read as a recovery signal. The overall picture is of an isolated early spike rather than an established growth curve.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) is the visible IPC class with 4 patent records, reflecting the PEMFC core. C25B (electrolytic production of compounds) contributes 2 records — aligned with H2GO Power’s electrolysis focus — while B01D (separation), C02F (water and wastewater treatment), and C22B (metal extraction and refining, relevant to platinum recovery) each hold 1 record, indicating that Pt recovery pathways remain lightly patented relative to the fuel-cell core.
↗ 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.
Power supply
A hydrogen based power supply system 100 is described. The power supply 100 has a first electrical outlet 110 and may comprise a set of hydrogen storage devices 200, including a first hydrogen storage device 200A, a set of heaters 300, including a first heater 300A, a first releasable fluid inlet coupling 410 and/or a first releasable fluid outlet coupling… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power supply | 1 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
H2GO Power Ltd
H2GO Power Ltd holds 2 patent records, the largest share in the corpus, with technology emphasis across C25B (electrolytic production of compounds) and H01M (fuel cells and batteries). Their filings are concentrated in the United Kingdom. Applicant momentum data is not available in the evidence base for this corpus, consistent with the very small filing volume.
patent records: 2Dalian University of Technology
Dalian University of Technology holds 1 patent record with technology focus squarely on C22B (metal extraction and refining), including sub-classes relevant to precious-metal recovery (C22B 11) and secondary-material processing (C22B 7). This is the only filing in the corpus that directly addresses the platinum-refining pathway, making it the most directly relevant to closed-loop Pt recovery from spent PEMFC components.
patent records: 1Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 4 patent families in scope. This is a very small base, indicating the topic sits at an early or nascent stage of patent activity rather than in a competitive filing race.
H2GO Power Ltd holds the top position with 2 patent records, representing the largest single share. The remaining ranked applicants — G Kumaresan, K G Maheswaran, Dalian University of Technology, and J Prasanna Naveen Kumar — each hold 1 patent record.
The United Kingdom leads with 2 patent records, followed by China and India with 1 each. Major fuel-cell markets including Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United States are not represented in the current corpus for this specific topic.
The field is classified as Decline, with annual filings easing back from a 2019 peak and the recent-window growth rate at -100%. The initial activity spike has not been followed by sustained growth, suggesting the field remains nascent and underdeveloped from a patent perspective.
H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) is the visible class with 4 patent records. C22B (metal extraction and refining) is the class most directly relevant to platinum recovery and holds 1 patent record, contributed solely by Dalian University of Technology. C25B (electrolytic production) and B01D (separation) are also present at low counts.
No co-applicant filings are detected in the evidence base for this topic. All filers appear to have filed independently, which is consistent with the early-stage and fragmented nature of the field.
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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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