HEFA Fuel Production Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
What the HEFA fuel production patent record shows
Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) is the most commercially mature pathway to sustainable aviation fuel, and the patent record in this landscape reflects a technology already moving from pilot to plant. The 40 records in scope, drawn from a search targeting HEFA fuel production claims under C10G and C10L1, sit heavily on hydrocarbon oil refining and fuel composition rather than on the biological or catalytic front end of the process. That concentration says where claim space is occupied, not where the science is hardest.
Filing has been uneven year to year, with a visible peak in 2025, and the most recent year is understated because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. The assignee ranking is led by one company with a clear lead over the rest of the ranked field, followed by a long tail of entrants with a handful of filings each — a pattern common in a technology transitioning from a small group of process originators to broader industrial adoption.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below cover the same 40 records in scope: one tracks filings by year, the other breaks the same records down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry more than one class, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2015-2026
Filings were flat through the middle of the period before a sharp rise into 2025, the peak year so far at 13 records; the 2026 figure is partial and will understate final volume once publication catches up.
IPC subclass composition
C10G (hydrocarbon oils and refining) appears in 72.5% of the 40 records and C10L (fuels and firelighters) in 62.5%, with C07C (acyclic and carbocyclic compounds) at 35.0%; catalysis (B01J) and fermentation (C12P) each sit at 7.5%, marking the upstream feedstock-conversion side as comparatively thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 40 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Sustainable Aviation Fuels: HEFA Fuel Production Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about sustainable aviation fuels: hefa fuel production patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative recent filing
WO2026006320A3 — Coprocessing of bio-olefins
The application covers coprocessing of bio-olefins using blended renewable feedstocks that combine a HEFA precursor with a bio-olefin feedstock, aimed at producing paraffinic jet and diesel fuels and the resulting fuel products.Filed by LanzaJet, published 2026-02-05 — one of the most recent entries in the dataset, illustrating a move toward blended-feedstock claims rather than single-pathway HEFA processing.
View full record| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170183593A1 | Method for producing renewable middle-distillate composition, use of the composition and fuel containing the … | 18 |
| 2 | US11613715B1 | Systems and methods of converting renewable feedstocks into intermediate hydrocarbon blend stocks and transpo… | 6 |
| 3 | EP3187567A1 | Method for producing renewable middle-distillate composition, use of the composition and fuel containing the … | 5 |
| 4 | US20150329788A1 | Conversion of triacylglycerides-containing oils to jet fuel range hydrocarbons | 3 |
| 5 | US11788023B2 | Systems and methods of converting renewable feedstocks into intermediate hydrocarbon blend stocks and transpo… | 2 |
| 6 | US20230203390A1 | Systems and methods of converting renewable feedstocks into intermediate hydrocarbon blend stocks and transpo… | 2 |
| 7 | US20230416624A1 | Systems and methods of converting renewable feedstocks into intermediate hydrocarbon blend stocks and transpo… | 1 |
| 8 | US11993754B2 | Systems and methods of converting renewable feedstocks into intermediate hydrocarbon blend stocks and transpo… | 1 |
| 9 | US10144880B2 | Conversion of triacylglycerides-containing oils to jet fuel range hydrocarbons | 1 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus; treat them as a signal of influence on the field, not as a ranking of current importance.
Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (9 of 9 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the technology split are read together.
One filer sets the pace, the rest are still building position
The leading assignee in the ranked field holds 13 of the 40 records, with the fifth-place company at 4 and tenth place at 2. That gap suggests a first-mover advantage in core HEFA process claims that later entrants are working around rather than contesting head-on.
Refining and fuel-composition classes dominate
C10G and C10L between them touch most of the dataset, meaning the busiest prior art sits in hydroprocessing routes and finished-fuel composition claims. New filers entering these classes should expect a dense citation landscape.
Catalysis and fermentation routes are comparatively open
Only 3 of the 40 records touch catalytic process claims (B01J) and the same number touch fermentation or enzymatic synthesis (C12P). That is a much thinner layer of prior art than the refining classes carry, which is where a differentiated process claim is more likely to clear.
2025 is the high point on record, but 2026 is not yet comparable
Filing volume rose sharply into 2025 before the partial 2026 count, which reflects publication lag rather than an actual slowdown. Any read of the most recent 12-18 months should treat the tail as a floor, not a final figure.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to sustainable aviation fuels: hefa fuel production patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a few concrete next steps for teams deciding where to file or where to watch.
Map claims against the leader's portfolio
Before drafting in C10G or C10L, run a freedom-to-operate check against the leading assignee's granted claims, since that is where the densest prior art in this dataset sits.
Explore the leader's portfolio in EurekaWatch the blended-feedstock filings
Recent filings such as WO2026006320A3 combine HEFA precursors with other renewable feedstocks rather than claiming HEFA processing alone; track this pattern for early signs of where the field is moving next.
Track recent filings in EurekaProbe the catalysis and fermentation gap
B01J and C12P each cover only 7.5% of the 40 records, well below the refining classes. That gap is worth a closer novelty search before committing R&D budget to an upstream process route.
Run a white space search in EurekaCommon questions on HEFA fuel production patents
The assignee ranking for this dataset covers 21 companies, and one company leads clearly with 13 of the 40 records in scope. The fifth-ranked company holds 4 records and the tenth-ranked holds 2, showing a steep drop-off after the leader rather than a tightly bunched field. Readers should treat this as the ranked field returned by the dataset, not a complete registry of every organisation working on HEFA — smaller or unpublished filings may sit outside the search string.
Most records in this dataset sit in C10G (hydrocarbon oils and refining), which appears in 72.5% of the 40 records, and C10L (fuels and firelighters), at 62.5%. C07C, covering acyclic and carbocyclic compounds, appears in 35.0% of records. Catalysis (B01J) and fermentation or enzymatic synthesis (C12P) are each present in only 7.5% of records, marking them as comparatively under-claimed relative to the refining and fuel-composition classes.
Filing rose to a peak of 13 records in 2025, the highest single year in the 2015-2026 window covered by this dataset. However, the growth rate itself cannot be reliably calculated from this evidence because there are fewer than four complete years once the typical 18-month publication lag is accounted for. The 2026 figure in particular should be read as a partial count that will rise once outstanding applications publish.
WO2026006320A3, filed by LanzaJet and published 2026-02-05, claims coprocessing of bio-olefins using a blended renewable feedstock that combines a HEFA precursor with a separate bio-olefin feedstock. The stated aim is producing paraffinic jet and diesel fuels from that blend, rather than claiming a HEFA-only process. Anyone drafting around blended-feedstock jet fuel production should review this filing's specific claim language before proceeding, since it sits among the more recent entries in the dataset.
The clearest gap in this dataset sits in the catalytic (B01J) and fermentation/enzymatic (C12P) classes, each covering only 7.5% of the 40 records, compared with 72.5% for hydrocarbon oil refining claims. That imbalance suggests upstream feedstock-conversion routes are far less contested than downstream refining and fuel-composition claims. A first claim in that space would likely focus on a specific catalytic or enzymatic conversion step feeding into HEFA processing, rather than on the finished-fuel composition 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.