Pumps & Pumping Systems Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. 994 records that year against 555 in 2024, a -40% swing from 2021's 931 — though 2025-26 figures are still filling in as publication catches up with filing.
- Leadership is real but not dominant. the top 5 assignees hold 13.1% of all 22,969 records and the top 10 hold 18.4%, leaving a long tail of single- and low-volume filers to sort through.
- Medical fluid handling outweighs industrial pumps in the claim data. A61M (devices for body fluids) covers 17.0% of records, ahead of earth-drilling pumps at 12.2% and positive-displacement pumps at 11.2%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (931 records) with 2024 (555) — 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 22,969 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the pumps and pumping systems patent record shows
The dataset spans 22,969 published records filed against a search built around fluid pumps, rotating fluid pumps and pumping apparatus, cross-referenced with operating parameters such as flow rate, pressure ratio, rotor speed, seal clearance, combustion chamber and blade geometry. That combination pulls in claims from three quite different worlds at once: medical fluid delivery, oilfield and drilling pumps, and mechanical positive- and non-positive-displacement pump design. Reading the field as one block would be a mistake — the IPC composition below shows these sub-domains barely overlap in claim language even though they share pump mechanics.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, with the most recent one to two years understated because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. Family-level counts, used throughout the assignee ranking, are the fairer measure of real filing activity because they strip out the inflation from continuations and multi-jurisdiction refiling that raw document counts carry.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 22,969-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the subclass shares sum to well over 100% of the record total — that is expected, not an error.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose to a peak of 994 in 2019, then eased. The clearest complete-year comparison is 2021's 931 against 2024's 555, a -40% move over three years; treat 2025 and 2026 (43 so far) as still-arriving data rather than a real decline.
IPC subclass composition
A61M (body-fluid devices) leads at 17.0% of records, with E21B (well drilling) and F04B (positive-displacement pumps) close behind at 12.2% and 11.2%. G01N, B01D, A61B, F04D and C12M each cover single-digit shares, marking narrower but still active claim territory.
Shares are the percentage of the 22,969 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Pumps & Pumping Systems Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about pumps & pumping systems patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited pumping patents in this dataset
US12345218B2 — Pumping apparatus
A pumping apparatus comprising: a pump having a plurality of chambers for sequentially supplying fuel to a combustion chamber; wherein each chamber is fluidly connected to another chamber such that venting of the chamber at least partially pressurises the other chamber.Filed by Thistle Rocketry Ltd, published 2025-07-01. The claim structure — sequential chamber venting used to pressurise an adjacent chamber for fuel supply to a combustion chamber — is a concrete example of the mechanical pump claims sitting alongside the medical and oilfield clusters in this dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US9044261B2 | Temperature controlled ultrasonic surgical instruments | 1,410 |
| 2 | US20050010158A1 | Drop-in blood treatment cartridge with filter | 1,204 |
| 3 | US20060264831A1 | Portable therapy delivery device with fluid delivery | 1,177 |
| 4 | US6736810B2 | Apparatus and method for creating, maintaining, and controlling a virtual electrode used for the ablation of … | 1,127 |
| 5 | US6849073B2 | Apparatus and method for creating, maintaining, and controlling a virtual electrode used for the ablation of … | 1,126 |
| 6 | US6409722B1 | Apparatus and method for creating, maintaining, and controlling a virtual electrode used for the ablation of … | 1,103 |
| 7 | US6537272B2 | Apparatus and method for creating, maintaining, and controlling a virtual electrode used for the ablation of … | 1,026 |
| 8 | US7875055B2 | Active suture for the delivery of therapeutic fluids | 1,025 |
| 9 | US20190339688A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for analytics and mainten… | 974 |
| 10 | US4443218A | Programmable implantable infusate pump | 876 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more years to accumulate references — read them as a signal of influence on later work, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern means for a filing decision
Three findings that shape where a new application is likely to face dense prior art, and where the record is thinner.
Leadership without lock-up
The top 5 assignees combined hold 13.1% of all records and the top 10 hold 18.4%. That leaves the large majority of filings spread across a long tail of single- and low-volume entrants — useful context before assuming any one company controls the space.
Volume down from its peak, not from a cliff
Filing peaked in 2019 at 994 records and had fallen to 555 by 2024, a -40% move across the last three complete years on record. The 2025-26 counts are still low because publication is catching up, not because activity has stopped.
Medical fluid handling is the largest single class
A61M devices for body fluids cover 17.0% of records, ahead of earth-drilling pumps (E21B, 12.2%) and positive-displacement pumps (F04B, 11.2%). Filing density here signals occupied claim space, not that the underlying mechanics are exhausted.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to pumps & pumping systems patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Baxter International Inc | Baxter Healthcare SA | 380 |
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | Schlumberger Canada Limited | 53 |
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | Schlumberger Ltd | 53 |
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | Schlumberger Technology LLC | 38 |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | Saudi Aramco Services Co | 26 |
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | Geoquest Systems Inc | 15 |
| Agilent Technologies Inc | WITT KLAUS | 9 |
| Halliburton Energy Services Inc | PELLETIER MICHAEL T | 7 |
Co-assignee activity is limited to 10 recorded pairs, with one pairing between related Baxter entities at 380 joint records standing well above the rest — most other activity in this field is filed independently rather than jointly.
Who is filing, and where the momentum sits
The ranked leaders span three distinct industries — medical fluid delivery, oilfield services, and general fluid-handling equipment — rather than one competitive set. Recent-year momentum for the named assignees is mostly negative, but note this reflects the same 18-month publication lag affecting the whole dataset.
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 1,007 records, more than triple the fifth-place count of 332 and well above tenth place at 178 — a steep early drop-off before the ranking flattens into a long tail.
The gap narrows fast after the leader
Fifth place sits at 332 records and tenth place at 178 — roughly half again the volume between them, a much gentler slope than the drop from first to fifth place.
Recent-year counts are thin across the board
Every named assignee in the momentum data shows single-digit filings in the latest year and steep YoY declines — consistent with publication lag rather than a genuine pullback, since 2025-26 records are still arriving.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Gambro Lundia AB | 7 | -36% |
| DEKA Products LP | 6 | -74% |
| Halliburton Energy Services Inc | 1 | -80% |
| Agilent Technologies Inc | 1 | 0% |
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016 LLC | 1 | -67% |
| Schlumberger Technology Corp | 1 | -92% |
| Baxter International Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Baxter Healthcare SA | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking, or spotting an open claim.
Check freedom-to-operate against the dense clusters
A61M, E21B and F04B carry the highest record shares — any new filing touching body-fluid pumping, well-drilling pumps or positive-displacement mechanisms should be checked against this prior art first.
Explore claim clusters in EurekaTrack the named leaders' recent filings directly
Momentum figures here are thinned by publication lag; a direct pull of each leader's most recent filings gives a truer read than the year-over-year percentages alone.
Monitor assignees in EurekaDraft around the under-claimed branches
Sub-areas like bioreactor-integrated pumping or combustion-chamber-coupled multi-chamber staging show thinner claim density than the core clusters and are worth a closer look before assuming they are occupied.
Search white space in EurekaCommon questions on pumps and pumping systems patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 1,007 records, well ahead of fifth place at 332 and tenth place at 178. That said, the top 5 assignees combined hold only 13.1% of all 22,969 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 18.4%, so no single company controls the field. The remainder is spread across a long tail of the ranked leaders with far lower filing counts, which is typical for a search spanning medical, oilfield and mechanical pump applications at once.
Filing peaked at 994 records in 2019 and had fallen to 555 by 2024, a -40% change across the last three complete years on record (2021 to 2024). The 2025 and 2026 figures look much lower still, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual collapse in activity. The safest complete-year comparison to quote is the 2021-to-2024 span rather than anything involving the final two years.
A61M, the IPC class covering devices for body fluids, is the largest single category at 17.0% of the 22,969 records in scope, ahead of E21B earth and well drilling pumps at 12.2% and F04B positive-displacement pumps at 11.2%. Smaller but still active classes include G01N material testing, B01D separation processes, and F04D non-positive-displacement pumps. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to well over 100% and should not be read as parts of a single whole.
US12345218B2, filed by Thistle Rocketry Ltd and published 2025-07-01, claims a pumping apparatus with multiple chambers that sequentially supply fuel to a combustion chamber, where venting one chamber partially pressurises the next. The mechanism is a self-pressurising, multi-chamber staging design rather than a conventional single-chamber pump. Anyone designing a sequential-chamber fuel delivery system for a combustion application should read the full claim set closely, since the venting-to-pressurise linkage between chambers is the core inventive step described in the abstract.
The IPC composition data shows several branches with meaningfully thinner coverage than the A61M, E21B and F04B clusters — bioreactor-integrated pumping (C12M) sits at 2.4% of records, and combined sensing of flow rate and pressure ratio within filtration-focused pumps is not called out as a dense cluster at all. These lower-density areas are not proof of an open field on their own, but they are a reasonable starting point for a novelty search before committing to a filing strategy in the crowded core classes.
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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.