Rotary Percussive Drilling Patents: Who Leads and Where Filings Are Headed
47.0% concentration. The top five assignees alone account for 1,302 of the 2,771 records in scope — nearly half the field sits with a small group of long-standing drilling equipment makers. Filings rose from 76 in 2017 to a peak of 116 in 2020, then declined to 50 by 2024 — a 38% drop over the 2021–2024 span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent years understate true activity.
- 1SANDVIK INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AB17.0%
- 2SANDVIK MINING & CONSTR OY11.6%
- 3EPIROC ROCK DRILLS AB7.9%
- 4SANDVIK TAMROCK6.4%
- 5ATLAS COPCO ROCK DRILLS AB4.1%
See the full rotary percussive drilling analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions about rotary percussive drilling patents
Who are the leading patent holders in rotary percussive drilling?
Filing activity concentrates heavily among a small group of drilling equipment and oilfield services companies, with the top five assignees combined holding 1,302 of the 2,771 records in scope — 47.0% of the field. The leader alone holds 470 records, well ahead of fifth place at 114. This means new filers are working around claim territory that a handful of firms have occupied for years, so a freedom-to-operate review against those specific assignees is more useful than a broad prior-art scan.
Is patent filing in rotary percussive drilling growing or shrinking?
Filings peaked at 116 in 2020 and declined to 50 by 2024, a 38% drop over that three-year span. This is the most reliable trend read available because 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete — publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so recent years always look lower than they eventually will. The honest read is a field that has cooled from a strong 2020 peak, not one that has stopped filing.
What technology areas dominate rotary percussive drilling patents?
E21B, the earth and rock drilling classification, covers 87.7% of the 2,771 records in scope, making it by far the dominant category. Percussive tools (B25D, 5.2%), alloys (C22C, 4.9%) and powder metallurgy (B22F, 3.6%) trail well behind. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages don't sum to 100% — they each measure share against the full record total independently.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rotary Percussive Drilling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.