Steam Generation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Steam generation and distribution patents: mapping filing trends, leading assignees and white space
Filing has cooled from its 2020 peak of 33. the leader-to-2024 count fell -67% (30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024), the last year with reasonably complete data. Filings rose to a peak of 33 in 2020, then declined; the leader's count alone fell -67% from 30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year treatable as complete given publication lag.
- 1SABIC GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES BV56
- 2RONDO ENERGY INC44
- 3GLASSPOINT SOLAR INC18
- 4WARD5
- 5STEVENSON SCOTT5
See the full steam generation and distribution 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 steam generation and distribution patents
Who holds the most patents in steam generation and distribution?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 56 records, well ahead of the rest of the 21 companies in this ranking, where fifth and tenth place both sit at only 5 records. That gap indicates a concentrated core portfolio at the top and a comparatively flat, thinner tail below it rather than a gradual drop-off. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should start by reviewing the leader’s claims before looking at the smaller filers.
Is patent filing in steam generation and distribution growing or shrinking?
Filings peaked in 2020 at 33 records and have declined since; the leading assignee’s own filings fell -67% from 30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year with reasonably complete publication data. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts shown in raw data will understate actual filing activity and should not yet be read as a continued decline. The honest read is a real pullback from the 2020 peak through 2024, with the most recent two years still unresolved.
What patent classes cover steam quality measurement and boiler feedwater treatment?
In this dataset, the most common IPC subclasses are H02J (power supply and grid systems, 35.4% of the 130 records), F01K (steam and thermal power plants, 28.5%) and F28D (heat-exchange apparatus, 27.7%), followed by B01D (separation processes) and H01M (batteries and fuel cells). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to well over 100% and should not be read as mutually exclusive categories. The prominence of H02J and H01M alongside the core steam classes shows that much of this art is filed jointly with power-integration or energy-storage claims.
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 Steam Generation and Distribution 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.