Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Fuel Cell Stack Patent Landscape 2026
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 6 families and has not returned to that level since, despite a flat-to-declining midpoint of 4 in 2022 — this is a claim-occupied field, not an accelerating one.
- H01M carries 26 of 29 records meaning nearly the entire field is anchored in conventional fuel-cell/stack IPC classes, while co-electrolysis (C25B, 13 records) is the clearer path to industrial hydrogen use.
- Only 3 co-assignee pairs exist in the whole dataset and all three link the same three entities — SolidPower (Australia), Solydera Australia and SOFC Energy — pointing to a tight filing cluster rather than broad industry collaboration.
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (4) — 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 29 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
A small, stack-anchored field that peaked in 2020
This landscape covers 29 patent families filed against solid oxide electrolyzer and reversible SOEC-SOFC stack claims, spanning 2015 through the mid-2026 data cut-off. The corpus is small by patent-landscape standards, which makes concentration easier to see: H01M (fuel cells and batteries) and C25B (electrolytic production) between them account for the great majority of records, with sealing, ceramics and a scatter of marine, nanotechnology and grid-power classes filling in the edges.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked at 6 families in 2020, and has not matched that pace since — a pattern more consistent with a claim space that got staked out early than one still in a growth phase. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the final one or two years understate real filing activity, but the flat trajectory from 2020 to 2022 is a real signal, not an artefact of that lag.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Twenty-nine families published between 2015 and the mid-2026 cut-off trace a field that peaked early and has not regained that pace, spread across a core of fuel-cell and electrolysis IPC classes plus a scatter of supporting materials classes.
Filings peaked in 2020 and have flattened since
Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 6 in 2020, sat at 4 by the midpoint year 2022, and have not returned to peak since. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent year on this chart is understated and should not be read as a genuine drop-off.
H01M and C25B carry the field; everything else is supporting cast
H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) accounts for 26 of 29 records and C25B (electrolytic production) for 13, confirming this is fundamentally a stack-and-electrolysis field. Glass/ceramic sealing classes (C03C, C03B, C04B) and single-digit outliers in marine propulsion, nanotechnology and grid power sit at the margins — thin enough to be worth checking for open claim space rather than assumed to be settled.
Shares are the percentage of the 29 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Fuel Cell Stack with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about solid oxide electrolyzer fuel cell stack and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited records
US9945039B2 — Method for improving the efficiency and durability of electrical energy storage using solid oxide electrolysis cell
A method for improving the efficiency and durability of reversible solid oxide cells during electrical energy storage is disclosed. The method utilizes a specific set of operating conditions that produces a storage chemistry where approximately thermal-neutral operation can be achieved at low cell over-potentials. Also disclosed are reversible solid oxide cell energy storage system configurations, including one that utilizes storage in natural gas and water storage/distribution networks, thereby reducing storage cost.Granted to Northwestern University, 2018-04-17 — a method/operating-condition claim rather than a structural stack claim.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN112038664A | 混合锂电池组与可逆固体氧化物电池的动力系统及其应用 | 13 |
| 2 | US20210098796A1 | Fuel cell and electrolyzer hotbox module using conductive zirconia stacks | 11 |
| 3 | US20190348699A1 | Methods for co-electrolysis of water and co2 (SOEC) or for high-temperature electricity production (SOFC) opt… | 11 |
| 4 | US20230072908A1 | Rigidly Bonded Metal Supported Electro-Chemical Stack | 3 |
| 5 | CN220692078U | 一种可逆固体氧化物电池储能系统 | 2 |
| 6 | JP2023121173A | Solid oxide reversible fuel cell, reversible fuel cell system equipped with the same, and operating method th… | 2 |
| 7 | KR102341207B1 | Cell structure for solid oxide fuel cell/solid oxide electrolysis cell, reversible solid oxide cell including… | 2 |
| 8 | US20240043318A1 | Glass composition for fuel cell stack sealing | 1 |
| 9 | RU2670991C2 | Electrolysis method and electrolysis apparatus | 1 |
| 10 | US9945039B2 | Method for improving the efficiency and durability of electrical energy storage using solid oxide electrolysi… | 1 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings; treat this table as a map of influence on later claims, not a ranking of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern signals
Twenty-nine families is a small, specific corpus — read the signals as directional pointers for where to file and where to check freedom-to-operate, not as a market-size claim.
Growth is flat, not rising
Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 6 in 2020, then eased to 4 by 2022. There is no midpoint acceleration to point to — treat this as a mature, occupied claim space rather than a growth story, keeping in mind the most recent year is undercounted due to publication lag.
The field is stack-first, not chemistry-first
H01M (fuel cells and batteries) dominates the IPC spread almost completely, with C25B (electrolytic production) the only other class in double digits. Sealing and materials classes (C03C, C03B, C04B) are present but marginal, which is where thinner claim coverage tends to sit.
Co-electrolysis method claims carry the most influence
CN112038664A and two US filings on hotbox modules and co-electrolysis methods lead the citation count. High citation counts here favour older filings by construction — read them as markers of influence on the field's method claims, not as evidence those methods are still the most current approach.
US and China are the two markets that matter for FTO
The United States leads with 10 records and China follows with 7; Australia and Russia trail at 3 each. Any commercialisation plan for a stack design should treat US and Chinese filings as the primary freedom-to-operate check, with Australia a secondary check given the SolidPower/Solydera cluster based there.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to solid oxide electrolyzer fuel cell stack, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| SOLIDPOWER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD | SOFC Energy S.p.A. | 3 |
| SOLIDPOWER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD | SOLYDERA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 3 |
| SOFC Energy S.p.A. | SOLYDERA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 3 |
Only three co-assignee pairs exist across the whole dataset, and all three connect the same three organisations — SolidPower (Australia), Solydera Australia and SOFC Energy — rather than spreading across the field. That is a tight cluster, not an industry-wide collaboration pattern.
Who is filing, and where the claim space is still open
Twenty-nine families is too small a set for a dominant leader to emerge; instead the data shows one tight filing cluster, a handful of research-institution filers, and several IPC subclasses with only single-digit coverage.
SolidPower / Solydera / SOFC Energy
Every co-assignee pair in the dataset connects the same three organisations — SolidPower (Australia), Solydera Australia and SOFC Energy — each pair appearing three times. That is a corporate-family filing pattern rather than a broad industry alliance, and it is the closest thing to a concentrated leader this dataset shows.
Northwestern University
Holds the most influential single method claim in the set — operating-condition control for reversible SOC energy storage — granted in April 2018. It is a method patent, not a stack-hardware patent, so its practical reach is narrower than its citation count might suggest.
No assignee is currently active
Every organisation tracked for recent-year momentum — including the SolidPower cluster, Northwestern-adjacent filers, and several Chinese and Japanese institutions — shows zero filings in the latest year. Given the ~18-month publication lag, this likely reflects reporting delay rather than an actual halt in R&D.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) | 0 | — |
| SOLIDPOWER (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD | 0 | — |
| SOFC Energy S.p.A. | 0 | — |
| SunFire GmbH | 0 | — |
| Washington State University | 0 | — |
| Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 0 | — |
| SOLYDERA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 0 | — |
| Convion Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this landscape
The dataset points to a field with occupied core claims and thin edges — the next steps depend on whether you are filing, licensing, or checking freedom-to-operate.
Check freedom-to-operate against the operating-condition claims
Method claims like US9945039B2 define functional operating windows rather than hardware, so they can block a design even when the stack architecture is entirely different. Run a claim-by-claim comparison before finalising a control strategy for reversible operation.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the SolidPower / Solydera / SOFC Energy cluster
This is the only concentrated filing pattern in the dataset, and it centres on Australia as a receiving office. Any competitive monitoring plan for stack hardware should watch this cluster's future filings closely.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaEvaluate the under-claimed IPC edges before committing R&D spend
Marine integration, grid-signal control and nanostructured electrode supports each show single-digit filing counts. That is an opportunity, but it also means there is little prior art to benchmark against, so novelty checks need to go beyond exact IPC matches.
Explore white space in EurekaFrequently asked questions
An SOEC stack uses solid oxide cells to split water (or co-electrolyse water and CO2) into hydrogen using electricity and heat, running the same basic electrochemistry as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in reverse. A reversible solid oxide cell (RSOC) stack is designed to run in both directions — generating power in fuel-cell mode and producing hydrogen in electrolysis mode — using the same hardware. The patent evidence in this space shows both modes claimed together in a meaningful share of filings, particularly around co-electrolysis and hybrid energy-storage system configurations.
Filing in this dataset is not dominated by a single company; the strongest signal is a cluster of related entities — SolidPower (Australia), Solydera Australia and SOFC Energy — that co-file with each other repeatedly. Beyond that cluster, activity includes research-institution assignees such as Northwestern University and several Chinese and Japanese organisations. The overall picture is a moderately concentrated top group followed by a long tail of single-family filers, typical of a technology still short of full commercial standardisation.
The United States leads as a receiving office with 10 records in this dataset, followed by China with 7, then Australia and Russia with 3 each, and Japan and Canada with smaller counts. That distribution suggests the US and China are the two markets where freedom-to-operate diligence matters most for anyone commercialising a stack design, with Australia notable given the SolidPower/Solydera filing cluster based there.
US9945039B2, granted to Northwestern University in April 2018, claims a method for operating reversible solid oxide cells at a defined thermal-neutral-like operating point to improve efficiency and durability during energy storage, including specific system configurations that store into natural-gas and water networks. It is a method/operating-condition claim, not a structural stack patent, so it does not block alternative hardware designs — it constrains control strategies that fall inside its specific operating window and storage-chemistry description. Teams should check their control logic against it rather than assume it covers stack materials or geometry.
It sits closer to crowded than open: C25B (electrolytic production, which covers co-electrolysis) accounts for 13 of the 29 records in this dataset, and one of the most-cited documents, US20190348699A1, claims co-electrolysis methods directly. That said, 13 records across roughly a decade is not saturation — it means the core method claims are staked out, so new filings need to differentiate on catalyst promotion, specific operating sequences, or system integration rather than the basic co-electrolysis concept.
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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.