Structural Engineering Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- No single company controls the field. the leader holds 205 records and the top 5 combined account for just 9.4% of all 6,005 records in scope.
- Filing activity peaked in 2021 at 370 records and has since eased to 224 by 2024, a -39% move over that three-year span — the clearest complete-year signal in the dataset.
- Building structures dominate the claim space, with E04B present in 15.0% of records, but adjacent areas like ground support and durability assessment carry much thinner coverage.
Filing growth compares 2021 (370 records) with 2024 (224) — 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 6,005 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape draws on 6,005 published records matched against structural design, load-bearing structures, ground deformation and durability assessment language, filed or published between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off. The scope spans core building structure claims through to adjacent domains — aerospace structural members, wind turbine components, and vehicle body structures — that share the same underlying engineering vocabulary of design load, structural response and ground support.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity; 2024 is the most recent year that can be read as a complete signal.
Filing trends and technology composition
The two views below sit side by side deliberately: one shows when filing happened, the other shows where it landed across IPC subclasses. Read together they show a field with a defined peak behind it and claim density concentrated in a handful of building-structure classes.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 260 in 2017 to a peak of 370 in 2021, then eased to 224 by 2024 (-39% over that span). 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in as publication catches up with filing.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
E04B (building structures & elements) leads at 15.0% of the 6,005 records in scope, followed by E04C (structural building components) at 10.4%. Aerospace (B64C, 5.3%), wind turbines (F03D, 3.4%) and motor vehicle structures (B62D, 3.2%) show the same structural-member vocabulary applied outside conventional construction.
Shares are the percentage of the 6,005 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Structural Engineering Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about structural engineering patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim and the most-cited records
Reinforced load bearing structure (US20100170183A1)
A reinforced concrete load bearing structure in the form of a concrete beam or slab includes a concrete structural member and a hollow element such as a PVC pipe or steel tube extending through the concrete structural member, with a plurality of steel reinforced rods and steel stirrups or rivets formed into a cage-like skeleton surrounding the hollow element and encased in the concrete.Filed by Abulaban, Tarik Ali; published 2010-07-08.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190339688A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for analytics and mainten… | 974 |
| 2 | US20200348662A1 | Platform for facilitating development of intelligence in an industrial internet of things system | 733 |
| 3 | US20210157312A1 | Intelligent vibration digital twin systems and methods for industrial environments | 716 |
| 4 | US5997415A | Golf club head | 553 |
| 5 | US20200103894A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for computerized maintena… | 514 |
| 6 | US6327994B1 | Scavenger energy converter system its new applications and its control systems | 421 |
| 7 | US20030230443A1 | Advanced composite hybrid-electric vehicle | 407 |
| 8 | US20100174576A1 | System and method for monitoring operation of vehicles | 404 |
| 9 | US20220108262A1 | Industrial digital twin systems and methods with echelons of executive, advisory and operations messaging and… | 387 |
| 10 | US6293121B1 | Water-mist blower cooling system and its new applications | 367 |
Citation counts reflect influence inside this searched corpus and skew toward older records; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once concentration, timing and classification are put side by side.
No dominant gatekeeper
The leading assignee holds 205 records and the top 10 combined reach only 13.0% of all records in scope. That is a fragmented field rather than one controlled by a small number of blocking portfolios, which lowers the risk of a single-party freedom-to-operate problem but raises the cost of a full clearance search.
Past a filing peak, not past relevance
Filings peaked in 2021 and fell -39% by 2024. Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the 2025-2026 dip in the chart is an artefact of that lag, not evidence the field is winding down.
Building structures still anchor the field
E04B and E04C together sit on the largest share of claim space, but their combined presence still leaves the bulk of records elsewhere — including cross-domain uses in aerospace, wind and automotive structures that reuse the same structural-member language.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to structural engineering patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how fast that is changing
The ranked list runs to 100 companies drawn from the full 6,005-record set — it is not a top-50 or top-10 cut, and most names on it hold only a handful of records each, forming a long tail behind the leader.
A wide but not overwhelming lead
The top-ranked assignee holds 205 of the 6,005 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 61 and tenth place at 34. That gap shows a genuine leader rather than a tie, but the leader's share of the whole field remains modest.
Most activity sits outside the ranked leaders
With the top 10 combined accounting for only 13.0% of all 6,005 records, the majority of filing activity in this landscape comes from companies and inventors outside the ranked leaders entirely — a sign of broad, distributed activity rather than a consolidated market.
Recent filing has slowed even among active names
Several of the more active recent assignees show sharp year-over-year declines in the latest tracked year, with some leaders showing no filings at all in that year. Given the ~18-month publication lag, this should be read as incomplete recent data rather than a confirmed slowdown.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 3 | -67% |
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016 LLC | 1 | -67% |
| The Boeing Co | 0 | — |
| CONCATEN INC | 0 | -100% |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Abbott Laboratories | 0 | — |
| Honor Device Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Sherutaa | 0 | — |
Where to take this from here
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is clearance, portfolio strategy or identifying open claim space.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on a specific structural mechanism
With no single assignee holding a blocking share, clearance work needs to look across a wider set of mid-tier filers rather than just the top few names.
Search this landscape in EurekaTrack momentum on the most active recent filers
Year-over-year swings among the more active assignees suggest portfolio strategy is shifting; monitoring filing cadence by assignee catches this before it shows up in aggregate stats.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaScope a first claim in an under-claimed sub-area
Ground support, durability assessment and hybrid steel-concrete connections carry thinner filing density than the E04B/E04C core, and are worth a targeted prior-art pull before drafting.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
The dataset's ranked list covers 100 companies, with the leading assignee holding 205 of the 6,005 records in scope and the top 5 combined accounting for 9.4% of all records. That is a moderate lead rather than a dominant one — fifth place already drops to 61 records, and the top 10 combined reach only 13.0% of the field. Most filing activity sits outside this ranked group entirely, in a long tail of smaller filers, so a competitive review should not stop at the named leaders.
Filings rose to a peak of 370 records in 2021, then fell to 224 by 2024, a -39% change over that three-year span. Because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, the apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 figures is largely a data-completeness artefact rather than a confirmed slowdown. The 2021-2024 window is the most reliable complete-year comparison available in this dataset.
Building structures and elements (IPC class E04B) appear in 15.0% of the 6,005 records in scope, the largest single share, followed by structural building components (E04C) at 10.4%. Beyond core construction, the same structural-member language shows up in aerospace (B64C, 5.3%), wind turbine (F03D, 3.4%) and motor vehicle (B62D, 3.2%) filings. Because a record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should be read individually, not summed.
Areas adjacent to the dense building-structure core show noticeably thinner filing density in this dataset, including ground deformation monitoring, durability assessment for composite structural members, and modular ground support systems. These sit next to well-claimed territory like E04B and E04C but have not attracted the same filing volume yet. That combination — proximity to an active core plus low current density — is generally where a first claim has the best chance of standing on open ground, though it still needs a dedicated prior-art search before drafting.
US20100170183A1, filed by Abulaban, Tarik Ali and published in 2010, claims a reinforced concrete load-bearing structure built around a concrete structural member with a hollow element (such as a PVC pipe or steel tube) running through it, encased by a cage-like skeleton of steel reinforcement rods and stirrups or rivets. It also covers an alternative form using a concrete slab or floor with parallel load-bearing supports of rectangular or trapezoidal cross-section. Anyone designing a similar hollow-core reinforced concrete member should review this claim scope directly rather than assume the general technique is open, since the specific combination of hollow element plus reinforcement cage is what is claimed.
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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.