Smart Water Meters Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 92.0% concentration. The top 5 of 30 ranked assignees account for 701 of 762 records in scope — a field with a dominant filer and a long tail of single-digit players.
- Filing peaked in 2021. 194 records that year against 143 in 2024, a -26% pull-back over that three-year span, even before the usual publication lag is factored in.
- Wireless framing dominates. H04W and H04L together sit under 65.6% and 40.4% of records respectively — most claims are written as communication-network inventions, not metrology ones.
Filing growth compares 2021 (194 records) with 2024 (143) — 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 762 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What's actually being claimed here
Smart water meter patents for loss control cluster around three functions: sensing (leak and drift detection at the meter), transport (getting granular consumption data off the meter reliably on limited battery), and interpretation (turning that data into an actionable leak or loss signal). The search scope in this dataset weights toward the transport layer — wireless communication networks (H04W) and digital information transmission (H04L) are the two largest IPC subclasses by a wide margin, ahead of anything filed as pure flow or volume metrology under G01F. That split matters for freedom-to-operate: a filer building a new leak-detection algorithm is less likely to run into a metrology patent thicket than into a communication-protocol one.
The record count (762) and the assignee ranking are both drawn from the same 2015–2026 window, with the most recent year necessarily incomplete because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months. Family-level counting is used throughout so that repeat filings and multi-jurisdiction continuations from the same invention are not double-counted in the concentration figures.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 762-record dataset: activity over time, and where the claims sit across IPC subclasses.
Filings rose sharply then eased back from a 2021 peak
Annual records moved from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 194 in 2021, then declined to 143 by 2024 (-26% over that span) before the 2025–2026 figures, still incomplete due to publication lag, show 16 recorded so far in 2026.
Wireless transport classes dominate the IPC mix
H04W (65.6% of the 762 records) and H04L (40.4%) lead by a wide margin, with H04B (5.6%) a distant third. Control, AI-based computing, general measuring and flow-metering classes (G05B, G06N, G01D, G01F, F24F) each sit at 1.7% or below, marking them as thin, specific niches rather than crowded categories. Since a single record can carry several IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% of the record total and should not be added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 762 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Smart Water Meters for Loss Control with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about smart water meters for loss control and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this dataset
ZA201700222B — Smart water meter (Tshwane University of Technology)
Filed by Tshwane University of Technology, this record describes a smart water meter system built around a solenoid valve rated to at least 2MPa, a CPU-driven control system tracking available funds and water volume dispensed, and explicit battery-life management: the system sleeps when idle and wakes only to operate the valve or display readings.The claim scope centres on power-management logic tied to a prepayment/dispensing valve architecture, rather than on the communication layer that dominates the wider dataset.
View full filing| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170108236A1 | Environment control system | 373 |
| 2 | US20160163177A1 | Water Use/Water Energy Use Monitor and/or Leak Detection System | 169 |
| 3 | US20250071040A1 | Internet of things system | 89 |
| 4 | US20180291911A1 | Whole home water appliance system | 85 |
| 5 | US20190281371A1 | Water Meter and Leak Detection System having Communication with a Smart Central Hub Listening and Speaking Ap… | 83 |
| 6 | US20190353156A1 | Home flood prevention appliance system | 80 |
| 7 | US20170017214A1 | System and method for estimating the number of people in a smart building | 78 |
| 8 | US20150308856A1 | Automatic fixture monitoring using mobile location and sensor data with smart meter data | 65 |
| 9 | US20150130630A1 | Method and apparatus for finding and accessing a vehicle fueling station and for reporting data from remote s… | 53 |
| 10 | US10410501B2 | Water meter and leak detection system | 33 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate references — read them as a signal of influence within this dataset, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three signals stand out once the raw counts are set against each other: where claim density sits, how fast the field is moving, and where activity is thin enough to be worth a closer look.
One filer, then a steep drop
The leading assignee alone accounts for 648 of the 762 records in scope, with the remaining top-5 share filling out to 701 (92.0%). Beyond fifth place, volumes fall to single digits per assignee (7th place at 7, 10th at 4), meaning most of the 30 ranked companies are minor or opportunistic filers rather than sustained programmes.
Past-peak, not dead
Filing volume dropped from 194 records in 2021 to 143 in 2024, a real pull-back rather than a rounding effect. Because 2025–2026 filings are still publishing, this should be read as the field consolidating around fewer, more deliberate filings rather than losing relevance.
Communication claims outnumber metrology ones
Nearly two-thirds of records touch wireless network classification (H04W), versus 1.2% for flow/volume measuring (G01F) specifically. Inventions differentiated on the sensing or metrology side, rather than the radio/protocol side, are filing into comparatively open ground.
Europe leads receiving offices
The EPO receives more filings in this dataset (259) than the USPTO (207), with Australia, India, Singapore and Canada trailing well behind. A programme aiming for broad coverage should treat European prosecution as the pacing office here, not a secondary filing.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to smart water meters for loss control, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and who has gone quiet
The assignee ranking is short and top-heavy: a single dominant filer, a handful of mid-tier names, and a long tail of one- or two-record entrants. Recent-year momentum data shows even some of the mid-tier names have gone to zero filings in the latest year, suggesting programmes that were opportunistic rather than sustained.
A single filer dominates volume
One assignee holds 648 of the 762 records in this dataset, dwarfing every other name in the ranking. Even so, its own latest-year momentum shows a sharp drop (-77% YoY), consistent with the field-wide pull-back from the 2021 peak rather than a company-specific retreat.
A thin second tier
Fifth place in the ranking holds just 7 records, and tenth place only 4 — there is no meaningful cluster of mid-size filers between the leader and the tail. Several named mid-tier assignees show zero filings in the latest year, indicating short-lived filing bursts rather than ongoing R&D programmes.
Co-filing is rare
Only two co-assignee pairings appear in the dataset, each linked by 7 shared records. That scarcity suggests most patenting here happens inside single corporate entities rather than through joint ventures or university-industry partnerships, the Tshwane University filing being a notable exception.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 14 | -77% |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | 0 | -100% |
| Acer Being Communication Inc. | 0 | — |
| Acer Inc. | 0 | — |
| Lucis Technology Holdings Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE CO | 0 | — |
| LOGICAL CONCEPTS | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next questions depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, whitespace filing, or competitive tracking.
Check claim overlap before drafting
With H04W and H04L covering the majority of records, a new filing on the communication layer needs a tighter prior-art check than one on sensing or metrology, where density is much lower.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the leader's momentum, not just its size
The dominant assignee's -77% YoY drop is worth monitoring quarter to quarter — a sustained pull-back would reopen claim space that has been effectively closed since 2021.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaScope the under-claimed branches
Sub-2%-share classes like meter-drift calibration and ultrasonic AMI sensing are candidates for a focused novelty search before committing drafting resources.
Explore whitespace with EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee dominates this dataset with 648 of the 762 records in scope, far ahead of any other filer. The next four assignees combined bring the top-5 total to 701 records, or 92.0% of all records in scope, after which volumes drop to single digits per company. That means competitive tracking in this space should focus heavily on the leader's recent filing behaviour rather than trying to watch all 30 ranked assignees equally.
Filing volume peaked in 2021 at 194 records and had fallen to 143 by 2024, a -26% change over that three-year span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 (16 recorded so far in the latest year) look much lower still, but publication lags actual filing by roughly 18 months, so those years are not yet complete and should not be read as a continued decline. The safest read is that the field passed its filing peak around 2021 and has settled to a lower, steadier rate since.
Despite the water-metering framing, most records in this dataset are classified under wireless communication networks (H04W, 65.6% of 762 records) and digital information transmission (H04L, 40.4%), reflecting how much of the claimed invention is about getting meter data off-device reliably. Pure flow or volume measuring (G01F) and general measuring/recording (G01D) each sit at 1.2-1.6% of records, meaning most patent activity is on the connectivity layer, not the metrology itself. Since a single filing can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to well over 100% of the record base.
The clearest gaps are the IPC classes sitting at or below 2% of the 762-record base individually: control and regulating systems (G05B), AI-based computing (G06N), general measuring (G01D), flow/volume measuring (G01F), and air-conditioning-linked monitoring (F24F). These low shares indicate specific technical routes — like meter-drift self-calibration or AI-driven consumption anomaly detection — that have not attracted dense claim coverage yet, unlike the crowded wireless-transport classes.
ZA201700222B, filed by Tshwane University of Technology, claims a smart water meter built around a solenoid valve rated to at least 2MPa, a CPU-based control system tracking dispensed water and available funds, and specific battery-life management logic that puts the system to sleep when idle. Its scope is tied closely to a prepayment-style dispensing architecture rather than to the wireless-communication layer that most of the wider dataset claims. A new entrant working purely on data transport, leak-signature analytics, or non-prepayment metering is unlikely to be blocked by this specific claim set, but anyone building a similar valve-plus-battery-sleep dispensing design should review it closely.
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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.