UHPC Precast & Prefab Patent Landscape 2026
UHPC precast and prefabricated construction is an expanding field on a multi-year basis, though annual filing volume has eased from its 2021 peak; China accounts for the overwhelming share of jurisdictional activity, and a Shanghai-based design firm leads a ranking dominated by Chinese universities and state-owned construction groups. The competitive structure is moderately concentrated, with the top five filers holding roughly one quarter of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, and multiple universities have entered the ranking only recently, signalling broadening academic engagement.
A Chinese-university-led field with a clear commercial front-runner
Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd. leads the ranking with 36 patent families — nearly twice the output of the second-ranked Hunan University (21 patent families) — making it the single dominant commercial applicant in a landscape otherwise shaped by academic institutions.
The top five filers account for roughly 26% of the combined total of the hundred largest filers, reflecting moderate concentration: a clear leader exists, but the remainder of the top tier is spread across universities with broadly comparable portfolios, and no second commercial challenger approaches the leader’s scale.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd. | 36 | |
| 2 | Hunan University | 21 | |
| 3 | Tongji University | 19 | |
| 4 | Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology | 15 | |
| 5 | Shanghai Construction Group No. 2 Construction Co., Ltd. | 9 | |
| 6 | Beijing University of Technology | 9 | |
| 7 | Southeast University | 9 | |
| 8 | Holcim Technology Ltd. | 9 | |
| 9 | Shanghai Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 8 | |
| 10 | Huaqiao University | 8 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Henan University of Technology | 6 | |
| 12 | Roman Cement LLC | 5 | |
| 13 | UNIV OF SHANGHAI FOR SCI & TECH | 5 | |
| 14 | Fuzhou University | 5 | |
| 15 | Harbin Institute of Technology | 4 | |
| 16 | South China University of Technology | 4 | |
| 17 | Wuhan University of Technology | 4 | |
| 18 | Qingdao University of Technology | 4 | |
| 19 | Central South University | 4 | |
| 20 | Zhejiang Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd. | 4 |
The leadership position of Shanghai Tongjee, paired with its technology focus on building structures, structural components, and specialised buildings, suggests a practitioner-oriented strategy aimed at protecting system-level UHPC prefab solutions rather than upstream material science — a posture distinct from the university applicants, who cover similar structural classes but with greater breadth.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are understated due to patent publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown in activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth anchored in structural building classes, with material science and bridge applications as secondary branches
The annual filing trend reveals rapid scale-up from 2020 onward, while the technology composition chart shows that building-structure and structural-component classes dominate, with cement-chemistry and bridge-specific classes present but comparatively sparse.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew sharply from 2019 to a peak in 2021, then settled at a sustained elevated level through 2022–2024; the apparent decline in 2025–2026 is attributable to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a real contraction. The field is still expanding on a multi-year basis, with recent three-year activity running well above the prior three-year window.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
E04B (building structures and elements) is the dominant branch by a wide margin, followed by E04C (structural building components) and E04G (scaffolding and formwork), confirming that protective activity centres on the assembled system rather than the material itself. C04B (ceramics, cement and refractories) and B28B (shaping clay and cement products) represent meaningful but secondary coverage, and E01D (bridges) is present but sparse despite UHPC’s well-established bridge applications.
↗ 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.
Prefabricated Modular Building System with Large F…
Publication Abstract A modular building system incorporating large-format compound arched roof segments is disclosed. The system includes precast roof elements and cast in-situ foundation stones, structurally connected using post-tensioned cables and sealed with interlocking shiplap joints. No temporary propping is required during assembly. The invention… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New concrete composition | 40 |
| 2 | 一种抗裂免蒸养超高强高韧性混凝土及其制备方法 | 32 |
| 3 | 一种预制UHPC壳局部增强装配式混凝土框架结构 | 30 |
| 4 | 一种基于UHPC的预制混凝土框架结构体系及其施工方法 | 27 |
| 5 | Lightweight aggregate ultra-high performance concr… | 22 |
| 6 | 一种防爆防冲击的装配式梁柱节点设计方法 | 21 |
| 7 | 一种超高性能混凝土及预制PC的制备方法 | 20 |
| 8 | White cementitious compositions | 20 |
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.
What the competitive structure means for R&D strategy
China shapes both the risk profile and the entry opportunities for new participants.
Growth stage, eased from 2021 peak
The field is classified as Growth: recent three-year filings sit well above the prior three-year window, confirming multi-year expansion. Annual volume has, however, eased from its 2021 peak, and the most recent years are further understated by publication lag. For R&D planners, this indicates a window where differentiated filings can still establish strong positions before the field matures into consolidation.
Lifecycle: GrowthModerate concentration with a single dominant commercial player
The top five filers hold 26% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately concentrated field. Shanghai Tongjee’s lead of 36 patent families over Hunan University’s 21 represents the sharpest tier gap in the ranking; below that, the top universities are closely bunched. A challenger seeking to displace the leader would need to close a roughly 70% portfolio gap while competing against a practitioner with established deployment experience.
Moderate concentrationUniversity–industry co-filing is the dominant partnership model
The most active co-filing pair is Shanghai Tongjee with Tongji University (9 joint families), reinforcing the leader’s academic ties. Beijing University of Technology co-files with three distinct industry partners — China Construction First Building Group’s Third Construction Co., China Construction First Building (Group) Corp., and Beijing Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute — across 4 joint families each, indicating a hub-and-spoke collaboration pattern. Shanghai Construction Group’s Second Construction Co. maintains parallel co-filing relationships with Henan University of Technology and University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (4 joint families each), suggesting active technology transfer from campus to site.
University–industry linksChina-dominant with thin international coverage
China accounts for the overwhelming share of jurisdictional filings, with the United States a distant second, followed by Canada, Australia, and WIPO PCT entries. European Patent Office and South Korean filings are minimal. This geographic concentration means that outside China, freedom-to-operate risk is relatively low — but it also signals that most innovation is being protected only in the home market, leaving international markets potentially open to new entrants willing to file abroad.
China-dominantGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd. | Tongji University | 9 |
| Beijing University of Technology | China Construction First Building Group Third Construction Co., Ltd. | 4 |
| Beijing University of Technology | China Construction First Building (Group) Corp., Ltd. | 4 |
| Shanghai Construction Group No. 2 Construction Co., Ltd. | Henan University of Technology | 4 |
| Shanghai Construction Group No. 2 Construction Co., Ltd. | University of Shanghai for Science and Technology | 4 |
| Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology | China Railway Construction Engineering Design Institute Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology | China Railway 20th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Beijing University of Technology | Beijing General Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Beijing University of Technology | China Railway First Group Second Engineering Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Hunan University | Hunan Baoyue New Building Materials Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Shanghai Tongjee leads with a structural-systems focus; universities are new entrants building breadth
The leader holds a substantial portfolio advantage grounded in building-structure applications, while the most active challenger universities have entered the ranking recently and are expanding across overlapping structural classes.
Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd.
With 36 patent families, Shanghai Tongjee leads the ranking and concentrates its portfolio entirely in building structures and elements (E04B1), structural building components (E04C3), and specialised buildings and structures (E04H9) — each recorded at 36 entries — indicating a tightly integrated system-level protection strategy. The firm co-files actively with Tongji University (9 joint families), anchoring its R&D in leading academic expertise. No momentum data is available for the leader in the recent-period comparison, so trajectory is evidence pending.
patent families: 36Hunan University
Hunan University ranks second with 21 patent families, focusing on building structures and elements (E04B1, 20 entries), specialised buildings (E04H9, 12 entries), and scaffolding and formwork (E04G21, 7 entries). Recent-period momentum shows a trend of –79% versus the prior period, indicating that filing activity has contracted sharply in the most recent window — though publication lag may understate the most recent filings. The university co-files with Hunan Baoyue New Building Materials (1 joint family), suggesting early-stage industry linkage.
patent families: 21| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Hunan University | 3 | ▼ -79% |
| Tongji University | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology | 11 | ▲ new entrant |
| Beijing University of Technology | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| Southeast University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Shanghai Construction Group No. 2 Construction Co., Ltd. | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huaqiao University | 5 | ▲ new entrant |
| Shanghai Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches in material science and bridge infrastructure
Relative to the dominant structural-assembly classes, several adjacent IPC branches show sparse coverage despite clear technical relevance to UHPC precast applications; these represent observations of relative sparsity rather than validated commercial gaps.
E01D · Bridges
Bridge applications represent one of UHPC’s most established performance advantages — high compressive strength, durability, and reduced cross-section — yet E01D accounts for only 26 patent-record entries against 337 in E04B. This relative sparsity may reflect the dominance of building-frame applicants in the corpus rather than a true absence of bridge innovation, but it does suggest that bridge-specific UHPC prefab systems (deck panels, girder segments, connection details) are under-protected relative to their deployment in practice. An entrant with bridge infrastructure expertise could file in this branch with limited direct competition from current top-ranked applicants.
Search this in Eureka →C04B · Ceramics, cement & refractories (material formulation)
C04B covers the cement chemistry and binder systems underpinning UHPC mix design, yet it appears in only 84 patent-record entries — roughly one quarter of the E04B count — and is concentrated in a handful of filers (notably Lafarge and Holcim Technology Ltd.). This branch sits adjacent to the dominant structural classes and is the point where novel binder systems, supplementary cementitious materials, or low-carbon UHPC formulations would be protected. The sparse academic presence in C04B relative to the structural classes indicates that upstream material innovation for precast applications is under-served by the current applicant base.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | E04B 1 · Building structures & elements | E04G 21 · Scaffolding & formwork | E04C 3 · Structural building components | E04H 9 · Specialised buildings & structures | C04B 28 · Ceramics, cement & refractories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd. | Strong · 36 | Moderate · 18 | Strong · 36 | Strong · 36 | Absent |
| Tongji University | Strong · 17 | Strong · 9 | Strong · 10 | Strong · 11 | Absent |
| Hunan University | Strong · 20 | Moderate · 7 | Moderate · 6 | Strong · 12 | Absent |
| Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology | Strong · 12 | Moderate · 5 | Moderate · 5 | Moderate · 6 | Absent |
| Beijing University of Technology | Strong · 7 | Strong · 6 | Moderate · 2 | Moderate · 3 | Absent |
| Southeast University | Strong · 7 | Strong · 5 | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent |
| Shanghai Construction Group No. 2 Construction Co., Ltd. | Strong · 9 | Moderate · 4 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 410 patent families in scope. China is the dominant filing jurisdiction, accounting for 384 of the jurisdictional entries, with the United States a distant second at 19.
Shanghai Tongjee Architectural Engineering Design Co., Ltd. leads with 36 patent families, focused on building structures and elements, structural building components, and specialised buildings. It co-files actively with Tongji University.
The field is classified as Growth. Recent three-year filings sit well above the prior three-year window, confirming multi-year expansion. Annual volume has eased from its 2021 peak, and the most recent filing years are further understated by publication lag.
E04B (building structures and elements) is the dominant branch, followed by E04C (structural building components) and E04G (scaffolding and formwork). C04B (ceramics, cement and refractories) and B28B (shaping clay and cement products) are meaningful but secondary, and E01D (bridges) is sparse relative to UHPC’s bridge deployment in practice.
University–industry co-filing is the dominant partnership model. The most active pair is Shanghai Tongjee and Tongji University with 9 joint families. Beijing University of Technology co-files with three distinct construction industry partners, and Shanghai Construction Group’s Second Construction Co. maintains parallel partnerships with two universities.
E01D (bridges) and C04B (material formulation) are the two most notable under-served branches relative to their technical relevance. Bridge-specific UHPC prefab systems and upstream binder/mix-design innovations are sparsely covered compared with the dominant structural-assembly classes, particularly outside the small number of filers — such as Holcim Technology Ltd. and Lafarge — that concentrate in material science.
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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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