Thrust Reverser Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 56.1% concentration. The five leading assignees account for 2,951 of 5,262 records in scope — over half the entire field sits with a handful of engine and nacelle makers.
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. Activity ran at 353 records in 2019 and has since eased, with the 2021-to-2024 span down 23% (249 to 191) — the most recent complete years to compare.
- F02K dominates, but the tail is thin. 68.9% of records touch jet and reaction propulsion classes, while acoustics-linked filings (G10K) sit at just 3.4% — a narrow, specific pocket worth checking before filing.
Filing growth compares 2021 (249 records) with 2024 (191) — 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 5,262 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
Thrust reverser patenting spans the mechanical systems that redirect engine exhaust or fan flow to slow an aircraft after landing: translating sleeves, cascade vanes, blocker doors, and the actuator locks and deployment interlocks that keep those mechanisms safe in flight. The 5,262 records in scope run from 2015 through the current data cut-off, covering both core reverser hardware and the surrounding nacelle and propulsion structures it integrates with.
Filing is concentrated among aerostructure and engine manufacturers rather than spread across a broad supplier base, reflecting the high certification burden and small number of programs that ever reach production. The most-cited records in the set date to the 1990s, a reminder that citation counts favour foundational filings over current activity and should be read as a signal of influence, not present relevance.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 5,262 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose to a peak of 353 records in 2019 before easing; 2021's 249 records fell to 191 by 2024, a 23% decline over that span. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a continued decline.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
F02K (jet and reaction propulsion) covers 68.9% of the 5,262 records, with B64D (aircraft equipment, 19.8%) and F02C (gas-turbine plants, 15.0%) the next-largest classes. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% and should not be added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 5,262 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Thrust Reverser Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about thrust reverser systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited and representative filings
US12104556B1 — Blocker door retention assembly for an aircraft propulsion system thrust reverser
A thrust reverser built from a fixed structure, a translating sleeve, and a blocker door assembly. Each blocker door pivots on a hinge between stowed and deployed positions, held by a dedicated blocker door retention assembly that manages the door through that transition.Filed by Rohr, Inc., published 2024-10-01 — illustrates the current claim style around blocker door retention rather than the broader reverser mechanism itself.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5778659A | Variable area fan exhaust nozzle having mechanically separate sleeve and thrust reverser actuation systems | 680 |
| 2 | US5806302A | Variable fan exhaust area nozzle for aircraft gas turbine engine with thrust reverser | 326 |
| 3 | US3779010A | Combined thrust reversing and throat varying mechanism for a gas turbine engine | 253 |
| 4 | US3829020A | Translating sleeve variable area nozzle and thrust reverser | 197 |
| 5 | US4922713A | Turbojet engine thrust reverser with variable exhaust cross-section | 187 |
| 6 | US20210108597A1 | Propulsion system architecture | 178 |
| 7 | US5320307A | Aircraft engine thrust mount | 161 |
| 8 | US5960626A | Electric control system for a turbojet engine thrust reverser including an electromechanical drive device and… | 154 |
| 9 | US7484356B1 | Cascade reverser without blocker doors | 152 |
| 10 | US5826823A | Actuator and safety lock system for pivoting door thrust reverser for aircraft jet engine | 150 |
Citation counts inside this corpus skew toward older, foundational filings — useful for tracing lineage, not for judging current activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting or clearing new claims in this space.
Half the field sits with five assignees
Top 5 combined filings reach 2,951 of the 5,262 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 71.7%. New entrants are filing into space already dense with prior art from the same handful of engine and nacelle programs.
Volume has eased from its 2019 peak
Filing peaked at 353 records in 2019 and has since declined to 191 by 2024, the most recent year that can be treated as complete. That does not mean the technology is closing out — program cycles in aerostructures run long, and the drop tracks fewer new platform launches rather than reduced interest.
Acoustic integration is a thin slice
Only 181 of 5,262 records carry a G10K acoustics classification, against 3,623 in F02K. Reverser designs that manage noise as a primary claim element are comparatively rare next to core mechanical actuation and structural claims.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to thrust reverser systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders account for 71.7% of records in the top 10 alone, but recent-year filing counts show most of that activity has slowed sharply — leaving room to watch which specific sub-mechanisms still see fresh claims.
One filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 1,255 records against a fifth-place figure of 225 — a gap wide enough that its claim portfolio effectively sets the boundary for translating sleeve and blocker door mechanics that others must design around.
Even the most active recent filer has pulled back sharply
The assignee with the most filings in the latest year still shows an 89% year-over-year drop, and several long-standing leaders show zero filings in the latest year. Read this against the 18-month publication lag before concluding anyone has exited the space.
Co-filing is limited and program-specific
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairing tied to a single corporate group and others linking an OEM to its nacelle or engine subsidiary. Cross-company joint filing is the exception, not the norm, in this field.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Raytheon Technologies Corp. | 6 | -89% |
| Rohr, Inc. | 2 | 0% |
| General Electric Co. | 1 | -80% |
| The Boeing Co. | 0 | -100% |
| United Technologies Corp. | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
| Rolls-Royce plc | 0 | — |
| Woodward, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether you are clearing a design or scouting for open claim space.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on blocker door retention
US12104556B1 and its family sit at the current edge of blocker door claim drafting. Any new blocker door mechanism should be checked against this specific claim structure before committing to a hinge or retention design.
Explore in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches against your roadmap
Acoustic integration and non-metallic blocker door construction show comparatively low filing density. If either sits on your technical roadmap, a focused prior-art pull is worth doing before drafting.
Explore in EurekaTrack recent-year momentum, not just historic leaders
Several long-standing leaders show no filings in the latest year, while the field's overall volume has eased since 2019. Watching who resumes filing as programs mature is more useful than assuming the incumbents have stopped.
Explore in EurekaCommon questions on thrust reverser patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 1,255 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 225. The top 5 assignees combined account for 2,951 of the 5,262 records in scope, or 56.1% of the field, and the top 10 extend that to 71.7%. This level of concentration reflects how few companies design and certify reverser systems for production aircraft, rather than a lack of broader industry interest.
Filing peaked at 353 records in 2019 and has eased since, with 2021's 249 records falling to 191 by 2024 — a 23% decline over that span, using the most recent years that can be treated as complete. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still low but should not be read as continued decline, because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months. The honest read is a field that has cooled from a 2019 high, not one that has gone quiet.
The bulk of records classify under F02K, jet and reaction propulsion, covering 68.9% of the 5,262 records in scope. Aircraft equipment (B64D, 19.8%) and gas-turbine plants (F02C, 15.0%) are the next-largest classes, with smaller pockets in acoustics (G10K, 3.4%) and plastics shaping (B29C, 3.9%). Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should not be summed as if they partition the dataset.
US12104556B1, assigned to Rohr, Inc. and published in October 2024, claims a blocker door retention assembly within a thrust reverser built around a fixed structure and a translating sleeve. The specific claim scope is the retention assembly that holds each blocker door through its pivot between stowed and deployed positions, not the reverser mechanism as a whole. Anyone developing a new blocker door hinge or retention mechanism should check their design against this claim structure directly rather than assuming the broader reverser concept is unencumbered.
The clearest under-claimed pockets by record density are acoustic-tuned cascade vane geometry, deployment interlock sensing logic, and non-metallic blocker door construction, based on the comparatively low share of records touching acoustics (G10K, 3.4%) against the dominant mechanical classes. That does not guarantee an open field — it means fewer records currently claim in that specific combination, which is different from confirming no prior art exists. A targeted prior-art search on the specific claim language is still the necessary next step before drafting.
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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.