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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/photoacoustic-gas-sensing-modules-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Sensors & ActuatorsPhotoacoustic Gas Sensing Module Patents: Filing Trends and White Space
- Concentration at the top. The five largest filers account for 62.6% of all 91 records in scope, and the top ten for 85.7% — a field with a short list of entities to watch.
- Filing has cooled since 2019. Activity peaked at 19 filings in 2019 and has not returned to that level since, with 2022 sitting at 7 — a flat-to-declining trend rather than a growing one.
- Almost everything sits under one class. All 91 records carry a G01N material-analysis classification; secondary classes like MEMS structures (B81B) and vibration measurement (G01H) appear in only a handful of records each.
91
Published Records
63%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+67%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (3 records) with 2024 (5) — 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 91 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Photoacoustic gas sensing modules detect gas concentration by measuring the acoustic wave produced when a modulated light source heats a gas sample inside a resonant cell. The engineering problems that show up in the patent record are consistent: acoustic cell design, emitter modulation, vibration and ambient-noise rejection, and long-term calibration drift. This dataset covers 91 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from a search targeting photoacoustic gas sensors, photoacoustic CO2 detection and MEMS hotplate photoacoustic sources, filtered to documents that address detection limit, resonance, noise rejection, modulation or calibration directly in title or claims.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one or two years in any trend line will look thinner than they eventually turn out to be. Family-level counting has been used where the ranking draws on patent families rather than raw document counts, which reduces distortion from multi-jurisdiction refiling of the same invention.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 91 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which technical subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A 2019 peak that has not repeated
Filings rose from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 19 in 2019, then eased back; by the 2022 midpoint the count was 7, and the trajectory since reads flat to declining rather than resurgent. Treat the final year or two as undercounted given publication lag.
One dominant class, several thin ones
Every record in scope (91, 100.0%) carries a G01N material-analysis-and-testing classification, which is expected given the search criteria. Beyond that, pressure measurement (G01L, 7.7%), MEMS microstructures (B81B, 4.4%) and radiation/light measurement (G01J, 4.4%) each cover only a small slice, and vibration measurement (G01H, 2.2%) fewer still — the secondary technical texture of this field is thin relative to the core sensing claims.
Shares are the percentage of the 91 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 Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about photoacoustic gas sensing modules and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
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Most-cited prior art in this space
Representative Filing
US8312758B2 — Apparatus and method for using the speed of sound in photoacoustic gas sensor measurements
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
A photoacoustic gas sensor includes a photoacoustic cell configured to receive a gas mixture having a first gas component and a second gas component. The photoacoustic gas sensor also includes a light source configured to provide light to the photoacoustic cell. The photoacoustic gas sensor further includes a photoacoustic cell controller configured to measure a concentration of the second gas component using a speed of sound through the gas mixture, where the speed of sound is determined based on an absorption associated with the first gas component. In addition, the photoacoustic gas sensor could include a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the gas mixture, where the...Filed by Honeywell International Inc., granted 2012-11-20.
Highest-citation records
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20110296900A1 | Integrated IR Source and Acoustic Detector for Photoacoustic Gas Sensor | 55 |
| 2 | US20080252891A1 | Photoacoustic gas sensor | 39 |
| 3 | US20170292935A1 | Evanescent-wave quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensor with resonator elements | 27 |
| 4 | US20100147051A1 | Apparatus and method for using the speed of sound in photoacoustic gas sensor measurements | 23 |
| 5 | US8695402B2 | Integrated IR source and acoustic detector for photoacoustic gas sensor | 19 |
| 6 | US20110290002A1 | Photoacoustic gas sensor and its use | 19 |
| 7 | US20120103065A1 | Photoacoustic sensor | 16 |
| 8 | US20210055207A1 | Detector cell for a photoacoustic gas sensor and photoacoustic gas sensor | 15 |
| 9 | US20120266655A1 | Photoacoustic gas sensor with a helmholtz cell | 13 |
| 10 | EP2392916A2 | Integrated ir source and acoustic detector for photoacoustic gas sensor | 13 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citers — read them as a signal of influence on later work, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
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 Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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 patterns worth acting on before drafting claims in this space.
Concentration
62.6% of 91 records
held by top 5 filers
A short list controls most of the core claim space
The five largest filers together hold 62.6% of all 91 records in scope, and the top ten hold 85.7%. A new entrant filing on core photoacoustic cell or emitter-modulation claims is very likely to be filing adjacent to one of a small number of established portfolios, not into open ground.
Assignee ranking, 27 companies
Momentum
Peak 19 in 2019
filings per year
Activity has not grown back to its 2019 level
Filing volume rose to 19 in 2019 and by the 2022 midpoint had fallen to 7. None of the tracked leading assignees show filings in the latest year, which is consistent with either a maturing claim landscape or a genuine slowdown in new photoacoustic sensor R&D reaching publication.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Classification
100.0% G01N
of 91 records
Secondary classes are thin, not absent
Every record sits in G01N by construction of the search, but the small secondary classes — MEMS structures at 4.4%, vibration measurement at 2.2%, optics at 1.1% — mark where the field intersects with adjacent hardware disciplines without yet being deeply claimed there.
IPC composition, 8 subclasses shown
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to photoacoustic gas sensing modules, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking spans 27 companies total — the entire ranked set the data returns, not a curated top tier. A handful of names dominate volume; most of the ranked list files once or twice.
Leader
26 records
held by the top-ranked filer
One assignee sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 26 records against a fifth-place count of 6 and a tenth-place count of 3 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail structure rather than an evenly split field.
Assignee ranking, 91 records
Long tail
27 ranked companies
in the full ranking
Most ranked filers appear only a handful of times
Beyond the top ten (78 records, 85.7% of the 91 in scope), the remaining ranked companies contribute single-digit counts each. That spread suggests smaller entrants are filing narrow, defensive claims rather than building broad portfolios.
Positions 11-27
Collaboration
9 co-assignee pairs
identified
Co-filing is limited and mostly research-linked
Only 9 co-assignee pairings appear across the dataset, the strongest recurring three times between a research institute and an industry partner. Joint filing is not a major feature of this field's competitive structure.
Co-assignee pairs, dataset-wide
Recent-year filing momentum
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Infineon Technologies AG | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
| Sensirion AG | 0 | — |
| Mine Safety Appliances Co. | 0 | — |
| Mirsense | 0 | — |
| Dalian University of Technology | 0 | -100% |
| Empire Technology Development LLC | 0 | — |
| Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Forderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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 dataset points to a concentrated field with a cooling filing rate — the next steps depend on whether you are drafting, licensing, or scouting for acquisition targets.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 26 of 91 records, any new filing on acoustic cell design or emitter modulation should be checked against that portfolio specifically before drafting claims.
Run an FTO search in EurekaTrack whether filing activity resumes
The 2019 peak has not been matched since; watching whether volume recovers post-2022 will indicate whether this is a maturing niche or a field about to see renewed investment.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaExplore the under-claimed secondary classes
MEMS integration, vibration decoupling and calibration-drift compensation sit in small IPC slices relative to the core G01N claims, and may offer clearer white space for a first filing.
Explore white space in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
It is fairly concentrated. The five largest filers hold 62.6% of the 91 records in scope, and the top ten hold 85.7%. The ranking includes 27 companies in total, so beyond the leading group there is a long tail of entities with only a handful of filings each. A new entrant should expect to be filing adjacent to a small number of established portfolios rather than into an open field.
The trend has cooled rather than accelerated. Filings rose from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 19 in 2019, then fell back to 7 by the 2022 midpoint, and none of the tracked leading assignees show filings in the most recent year. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the last year or two in any count will understate true activity, but the multi-year decline predates that lag effect.
Every record in this dataset carries a G01N material-analysis-and-testing classification, since that is the core sensing function. Secondary technical areas are much smaller: pressure measurement (G01L) appears in 7.7% of records, MEMS microstructures (B81B) and radiation/light measurement (G01J) each in 4.4%, and vibration measurement (G01H) in 2.2%. These secondary slices mark where photoacoustic sensing intersects with MEMS fabrication, optics and acoustics without being heavily claimed there yet.
The most-cited record in this dataset is US20110296900A1, covering an integrated IR source and acoustic detector for a photoacoustic gas sensor, cited 55 times, followed by US20080252891A1 with 39 citations. High citation counts inside a searched corpus tend to favour older filings that have simply had more time to accumulate citers, so treat them as evidence of technical influence on later filings rather than a signal of which patents matter most commercially today.
The clearest opportunities sit in the technical areas that show up as small secondary IPC slices rather than as part of the dominant G01N class: MEMS hotplate emitter integration, acoustic-cell vibration decoupling, quartz-enhanced resonator tuning, and calibration-drift compensation. These appear in only a handful of records each, in a field where the top filers' core claims already occupy the central photoacoustic cell and speed-of-sound measurement space.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photoacoustic Gas Sensing Modules covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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.