Turbofan Aero/Cycle Optimization Patent Snapshot 2026
This is a concentrated, mature niche dominated by General Electric Co and a small cohort of aerospace primes, with the top five filers accounting for nearly two-thirds of activity among the hundred largest filers. The field has plateaued on an annual basis since its 2017 peak, though the multi-year window shows continued positive growth, and adjacent branches in computational methods and airframe integration remain sparsely covered.
General Electric leads a tightly held field with a clear tier gap behind it
General Electric Co holds the leading position in turbofan aero/cycle optimization, ranked first by a meaningful margin over its nearest competitors RTX Corp and United Tech Corp, which are tied for second place.
The top five filers together account for 64% of combined activity among the ranked applicants visible in this query, indicating a high degree of concentration. A pronounced tier gap separates the top three — General Electric Co, RTX Corp, and United Tech Corp — from the remaining applicants, whose individual contributions are substantially smaller.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Electric Co | 16 | |
| 2 | RTX Corp | 10 | |
| 3 | United Technologies Corporation | 10 | |
| 4 | Dresser Rand Co | 4 | |
| 5 | Ramgen Power Systems Inc | 3 | |
| 6 | Ansaldo Energia IP UK Ltd | 3 | |
| 7 | LAWLOR SHAWN P | 3 | |
| 8 | Rolls-Royce Corporation | 2 | |
| 9 | AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 10 | NANJING UNIV OF AERONAUTICS & ASTRONAUTICS | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | ROBERTS WILLIAM BYRON | 2 | |
| 12 | PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP | 2 | |
| 13 | Siemens Energy Inc | 2 | |
| 14 | General Electric Technology GmbH | 1 | |
| 15 | University of South Carolina | 1 | |
| 16 | ROBERT WILLIAM BYRON II | 1 | |
| 17 | MLR Institute of Technology | 1 | |
| 18 | No. 703 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation | 1 | |
| 19 | Avco Corporation | 1 |
The leaders’ positions reflect decades of platform-level investment in gas-turbine cycle architecture and turbomachinery; new entrants face both technical depth barriers and a well-staked claim evidence snapshot in the core F02C and F01D branches.
Patent publications from the most recent 18–24 months are systematically under-counted due to publication lag; recent-period figures should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual filings have eased from a 2017 peak; gas-turbine plant methods dominate the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition charts together reveal where activity has concentrated historically and which IPC classes attract the most cross-applicant effort.
Annual filing trend
Filing activity peaked in 2017 and has been uneven since, with years of minimal or zero activity interspersed with modest pulses in 2019 and 2024. The overall multi-year window still registers positive growth of 20%, but the annual cadence reflects a field that has plateaued rather than one in active acceleration. Data for 2024–2026 should be treated as provisional given publication lag.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F02C (Gas-turbine plants) and F01D (Turbines and non-positive engines) together account for the large majority of patent records, confirming that cycle thermodynamics and rotating-component design are the field’s core axes. F04D (Non-positive-displacement pumps) and F02K (Jet and reaction propulsion) form a secondary tier. Computational branches — G06F and G06N — are present but represent a small share, signaling limited crossover into digital and AI-assisted design methods so far.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Multidimensional coupled design method for transit…
The present invention aims to provide a multidimensional coupled design method for transition section-high-pressure compressor through-flow aerodynamic layout of a gas turbine engine. In the present invention, a transition section and a high-pressure compressor are integrated as a system for coupled design, and full integration with the upstream transition… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low noise blades for axial flow compressors | 174 |
| 2 | Fluid flow distributor apparatus for gas turbine e… | 90 |
| 3 | Gas turbine engine inlet with noise reduction feat… | 87 |
| 4 | Fluid flow distributor apparatus for gas turbine e… | 52 |
| 5 | Gas turbine engine inlet with noise reduction feat… | 44 |
| 6 | Gas turbine engine inlet with noise reduction feat… | 43 |
| 7 | Variable thickness core for gas turbine engine com… | 25 |
| 8 | Gas turbine engine inlet with noise reduction feat… | 18 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
General Electric Co
General Electric Co holds 16 patent records — the highest count in the corpus — with technical emphasis concentrated in F02C 7 (gas-turbine plant cycle components), F01D 25 (turbine structural and bearing systems), and F04D 29 (compressor and pump aerodynamics). The applicant momentum data flags General Electric as a new entrant in the most recent activity window, suggesting a resumed filing presence after a quieter period rather than a continuous trajectory.
patent records: 16RTX Corp
RTX Corp ranks second with 10 patent records, and its affiliated predecessor United Tech Corp also holds 10 patent records — together representing the combined RTX heritage in this space. United Tech Corp’s filings are weighted toward F02C 7 (cycle plant methods), F02K 3 (jet and reaction propulsion), and F01D 5 (rotating blade design), reflecting a systems-level integration approach across the full propulsion cycle. No recent-window momentum data is available for RTX Corp specifically beyond the ranking.
patent records: 10Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 27 patent families in scope for this topic. This is a specialized niche, and the corpus size reflects the narrow intersection of cycle thermodynamics, aeromechanics, and propulsion optimization as a distinct filing category.
General Electric Co leads with 16 patent records, followed by RTX Corp and United Tech Corp each with 10 patent records. These three together represent the visible tier in a highly concentrated field.
Annual filing activity peaked in 2017 and has been uneven since, with years of zero or near-zero activity interspersed with modest pulses. The multi-year window shows 20% growth, but annual volume has eased from the 2017 peak. Data for 2024–2026 are subject to publication lag and should be treated as provisional.
The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO) as the most significant secondary market. China and WIPO (PCT) are present at a smaller scale, with Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and Austria accounting for residual filings.
Co-filing activity is minimal. The only recorded co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between Shawn P. Lawlor and Ramgen Power Systems Inc, with 3 joint patent records. The field is otherwise characterized by single-applicant, proprietary development.
G06F (electric digital data processing, covering computational cycle modeling) and B64D (aircraft equipment, covering airframe-propulsion integration) are the two most patent-record-sparse branches with plausible technical adjacency to the core optimization topic. B22F (powder metallurgy), B22C (foundry moulding), and B32B (layered products) are also sparse but their connection to cycle optimization is more indirect.
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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.
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