SOFC Membrane Electrode Assembly Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
A data-backed view of solid oxide fuel cell membrane electrode assembly patents: filing trends, leading assignees, technology composition and white space, drawn from 151 records filed 2015-2026.
Filing growth = 2021 (5 records) → 2024 (0); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 151 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent families disclosing solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) membrane electrode assemblies — the layered anode, electrolyte and cathode structure that determines a cell’s power density, thermal tolerance and manufacturing cost. The scope is drawn from title, abstract and claim language matching SOFC-MEA constructions, filtered to IPC class H01M8, and spans 151 published records filed between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity; 2024 is the last year that can be read as a complete comparison point.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 151-record set: how filing volume has moved year on year, and which IPC subclasses the underlying disclosures actually touch.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked at 16 in 2017 and have trended lower since; the 2021-to-2024 comparison shows a 100% decline, though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in as publications catch up with filing dates.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
Every record sits in H01M (batteries, cells & fuel cells) by construction of the search. Beyond that base class, the largest secondary concentrations are in H01B (cables, conductors & insulators, 7.9% of records), B05D (coating processes, 7.3%) and C25B (electrolytic production of compounds, 7.3%), with C01G, C04B, B01D and C23C each present in a smaller slice — evidence that MEA innovation leans on coating and electrolyte chemistry more than on any single downstream application.
Shares are the percentage of the 151 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Fabrication process for a pore-array anode SOFC-MEA structure
A tape-casting fabrication process builds a planar SOFC anode substrate with a pore-array structure on its outermost layer, then abrades the anode surface to remove the nickel-depleted layer before completing the unit cell. The pore-array structure is claimed to improve fuel gas conduction and lower impedance across the anode.Filed by Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, published 2016-09-15 as US20160268620A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20060008696A1 | Nanotubular solid oxide fuel cell | 42 |
| 2 | CN101183716A | 固体氧化物燃料电池三合一电极的制备方法 | 30 |
| 3 | CN101339997A | 一种中温固体氧化物燃料电池膜电极组件及其制备 | 22 |
| 4 | US6635375B1 | Planar solid oxide fuel cell with staged indirect-internal air and fuel preheating and reformation | 22 |
| 5 | EP2083466A1 | Process for the fabrication of a sputter deposited fully dense electrolyte layer embedded in a high performan… | 14 |
| 6 | KR1020020069338A | Membrane Electrode Assembly and method for producing the same | 14 |
| 7 | CN101271981A | 一种低温固体氧化物燃料电池三合一组件MEA及其制备 | 13 |
| 8 | US20110223519A1 | Solid oxide fuel cell and method of preparing the same | 12 |
| 9 | KR1020120037839A | Membrane electrode assembly, solid oxide fuel cell comprising the assembly and preparation method thereof | 11 |
| 10 | EP2045858A1 | A novel synergistic process and recipe for fabrication of a high integrity membrane electrode assembly of sol… | 11 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records dominate this table; treat them as markers of influence on the field rather than of current technical relevance.
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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Read together, the concentration figures and the technology split point to a field where the claim space around core MEA construction is already dense, while several adjacent process classes remain comparatively open.
The top of the field is crowded
A single leader holds 44 records, and the top 5 assignees combined hold 62.9% of all 151 records in scope. Anyone entering core MEA claim territory is filing against an established leader and a compact group of repeat filers, not a fragmented field.
Volume has not returned to its 2017 peak
Filing peaked at 16 records in 2017. The 2021-to-2024 window, the last comparison that can be read as complete, shows a 100% decline. Recent years remain understated because publication lags filing by about 18 months.
Secondary classes cluster around coatings and electrolyte chemistry
Beyond the base H01M class, the next-largest secondary concentrations sit in H01B (conductors & insulators), B05D (coating processes) and C25B (electrolytic production of compounds), each in the 7-8% range. Smaller shares in C01G, C04B, B01D and C23C suggest process and materials refinements rather than a rush into a single new application.
Cross-filing is limited and mostly academic-industrial
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, the strongest linking two Japanese universities and a separate pairing between a US university and two industrial partners. Joint filing is the exception here, not the norm.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to solid oxide fuel cell membrane electrode assembly patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going claim by claim.
Map the white space by IPC subclass
Cross the technology composition against the assignee ranking to see which secondary classes the leading filers have not touched, and where a first claim would face the thinnest prior art.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaTrace citation chains from the most-cited records
The most-cited patents in this set anchor much of the surrounding prior art. Following their forward and backward citations surfaces the design-around alternatives already in use.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaWatch the leader's recent filings
With filing concentrated at the top, tracking the leader's most recent publications is the fastest way to see where the core claim territory is still moving.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaFrequently asked questions
A single assignee leads with 44 of the 151 records in this landscape, well ahead of the fifth-ranked company at 8. The ranking covers 42 companies in total, so the field is not a two-player race; it is a leader followed by a mid-tier group and then a long tail of single-filing entrants. The top 5 assignees combined account for 62.9% of all 151 records, so most competitive activity concentrates in a small group at the top.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 16 records and has not returned to that level since. The most recent complete comparison, 2021 to 2024, shows a 100% decline in filings. However, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the true trend for the most recent years cannot yet be read from this data.
Beyond the core fuel-cell classification (H01M), the largest overlaps are with H01B (cables, conductors and insulators, 7.9% of the 151 records), B05D (coating processes, 7.3%) and C25B (electrolytic production of compounds, 7.3%). Smaller overlaps appear in ceramics (C04B), metal compounds (C01G), separation processes (B01D) and surface coating (C23C). This spread indicates that innovation in the field is as much about deposition and materials processing as about the electrochemical cell design itself.
Among the receiving offices covered in this dataset, Europe (EPO) leads with 37 filings, followed by the United States with 29, Japan with 19, and South Korea and Taiwan each with 15. China follows with 11. This spread reflects both where the leading assignees are based and where they have chosen to seek protection, rather than where the underlying research originates.
The core MEA construction claims are contested, given that the top 10 assignees already hold 82.1% of all 151 records. But the lighter secondary classes — separation processes, surface coating, and specific ceramic or metal-compound formulations — carry noticeably fewer records than the core fuel-cell classification, suggesting more room to file a defensible claim in those adjacent process areas than in the central electrode-assembly architecture itself.
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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.