PDC Drill Bit Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Five companies hold 67.9% of all 1,404 records in scope, and the next five push that combined share to 83.8% — this is a field with a narrow set of gatekeepers, not a fragmented one.
- Filings grew 7% from 2021 to 2024 (29 to 31), a modest but real uptick after the 2020 peak of 58, not a field cooling off.
- E21B earth-and-rock drilling covers 88.8% of records, while adjacent classes like coating deposition (2.7%) and analogue computation (1.4%) barely register — a strong hint of where claim space is still open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (29 records) with 2024 (31) — 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 1,404 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent filings for polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bits — fixed-cutter bits built around a diamond table bonded to a tungsten carbide substrate, and the design choices that govern how that cutter behaves downhole: back rake angle, depth-of-cut control, thermal stability of the diamond layer, catalyst leaching during manufacture, and cutting element layout across the bit face. The scope spans 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off and captures 1,404 published records across major receiving offices.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one or two years in any trend understate real filing activity — treat 2025 and 2026 figures as still filling in rather than as a genuine slowdown.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,404 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which technology classes the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Annual filings ran from 33 in 2017 to a peak of 58 in 2020, then settled into a range that still shows growth: 2021's 29 filings rose to 31 by 2024, a +7% gain over that three-year span. The 2025 and 2026 figures are undercounts because of publication lag, not evidence of decline.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
E21B (earth and rock drilling) anchors 88.8% of the 1,404 records, as expected for a bit-focused corpus. The next largest classes are far smaller: digital data processing (G06F, 7.6%), grinding tools and abrasives (B24D, 5.6%), powder metallurgy (B22F, 4.1%), general metal working (B23P, 3.7%) and alloys (C22C, 3.7%). Coating and surface deposition (C23C, 2.7%) and analogue computation (G06G, 1.4%) are the thinnest classes tracked, which is notable given how central diamond-table coating chemistry and real-time drilling control are to bit performance.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,404 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Bits with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about polycrystalline diamond compact bits and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
US20220121790A1 — Mitigation of high frequency coupled vibrations in PDC bits using in-cone depth of cut controllers
Design parameters for a PDC drill bit's in-cone depth of cut controllers (DOCCs) are correlated to coupled vibration events in the axial, lateral, and torsional directions during downhole drilling. Parameters are quantified through drilling efficiency, average in-cone DOCC contact area, weight-on-bit and torque-on-bit taken off by the DOCCs. Design guidelines generated from these correlations are used to validate future bit designs against vibration mitigation targets.Filed by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., published 2022-04-21.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20070278017A1 | Rolling cutter | 263 |
| 2 | US5944129A | Surface finish for non-planar inserts | 250 |
| 3 | US5954147A | Earth boring bits with nanocrystalline diamond enhanced elements | 246 |
| 4 | US6196340B1 | Surface geometry for non-planar drill inserts | 245 |
| 5 | US6003623A | Cutters and bits for terrestrial boring | 242 |
| 6 | US6408958B1 | Superabrasive cutting assemblies including cutters of varying orientations and drill bits so equipped | 237 |
| 7 | US5010789A | Method of making imbalanced compensated drill bit | 237 |
| 8 | US20060032677A1 | Novel bits and cutting structures | 232 |
| 9 | US5558170A | Method and apparatus for improving drill bit stability | 229 |
| 10 | US5678644A | Bi-center and bit method for enhancing stability | 227 |
Citation counts reward age within a searched corpus — older foundational filings accumulate citations that newer, technically comparable filings have not had time to earn. Read this table as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing decisions
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting claims or scoping freedom-to-operate work in this space.
Claim space at the core is tightly held
Core bit-body and cutter-layout claims sit with a small set of established oilfield services companies. New entrants filing in this exact space are filing against dense, well-lawyered prior art rather than open ground.
Activity is holding, not fading
After the 2020 peak of 58 filings, volume settled lower but is trending up again through the last complete year on record. Reading 2025-2026 as a decline would be a publication-lag artefact, not a real trend.
Diamond-table coating chemistry is thinly claimed
Given how much bit longevity depends on catalyst leaching and diamond-table thermal stability, the small share of records classified under coating and surface deposition suggests this mechanism is often described inside broader bit claims rather than protected on its own terms.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to polycrystalline diamond compact bits, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the momentum sits
The ranked list covers 100 companies across the 1,404 records in scope. A handful of oilfield services majors hold most of the volume; recent-year momentum shows even the leaders filing at a much lower rate than their historical totals suggest.
One company sets the pace by a wide margin
The leading assignee's filing count is more than seven times the fifth-ranked company's 62, a gap that marks this as a leader-plus-field structure rather than several evenly matched rivals.
The drop-off past the top 10 is steep
By the tenth position, annual counts are already a fraction of the leader's. Beyond the top 10 combined 83.8% of records, the remaining ranked companies each hold comparatively thin positions.
Even leaders are filing lightly in the latest year
Several of the largest historical filers show only 0 or 1 record in the latest tracked year, with year-over-year drops as steep as -75%. This is consistent with publication lag rather than the leaders exiting the space.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) | 1 | -75% |
| National Oilwell Varco, L.P. | 1 | -50% |
| Ulterra Drilling Technologies, L.P. | 1 | 0% |
| Smith International, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Baker Hughes Holdings LLC | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (US) | 0 | — |
| National Oilwell DHT, L.P. | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company (US) | 0 | — |
Taking this further
The figures here describe the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going record by record.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leaders
With 67.9% of records held by five companies, any new bit-body or cutter-layout filing should be checked against their specific claim scope before drafting.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaMap the white space branches
Coating deposition and analogue control classes sit under 3% of records each — worth a closer look before assuming they are simply less relevant to bit performance.
Run a white space search in EurekaWatch the momentum shift
Recent-year filing drops among historical leaders may reflect publication lag or a real pause. Track the next reporting period to see which it is.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about PDC bit patents
Filing activity in this corpus is concentrated among a small number of established oilfield services companies, with the top five assignees together accounting for 67.9% of all 1,404 records in scope. The leading assignee alone holds a count far above the fifth-ranked company, which sits at 62 records. This concentration means a new filer's freedom-to-operate analysis should focus heavily on that small group rather than spreading evenly across the ranked field of 100 companies.
Filings grew 7% from 2021 (29) to 2024 (31), the most recent year that can be treated as complete. There was an earlier peak of 58 filings in 2020, so current volume sits below that high point but is trending upward again through 2024. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower only because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, not because activity has actually dropped.
Earth and rock drilling (IPC class E21B) covers 88.8% of the 1,404 records, which is expected given the corpus is bit-focused. Beyond that core class, digital data processing (7.6%) and grinding tools and abrasives (5.6%) are the next most represented, while coating and surface deposition and analogue computation each sit under 3%. A record can carry multiple classes, so these shares add up to more than 100%.
The technology composition data shows thin coverage in classes tied to diamond-table coating chemistry, catalyst leaching process control and analogue or real-time depth-of-cut sensing circuitry, each under 3% of the 1,404 records despite their relevance to bit longevity and drilling efficiency. This does not guarantee an area is unclaimed, since some mechanisms may be described inside broader bit-body claims rather than classified separately, but it is a reasonable starting point for a novelty search before drafting in these areas.
This Halliburton filing, published 2022-04-21, claims methods for correlating in-cone depth of cut controller (DOCC) design parameters — including drilling efficiency, contact area, weight-on-bit and torque-on-bit taken off by the DOCCs — with instances of coupled axial, lateral and torsional vibration during drilling. It also covers generating design guidelines from those correlations and validating future bit designs against them. Anyone designing DOCC layouts to manage coupled vibration should review its specific claim language before finalising a design that resembles this correlation-and-validation approach.
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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.