Ultrasonic Flow Meters Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees hold 46.0% of all 274 records in scope, and the top ten hold 61.7% — this is a field with a defined core of active filers rather than a diffuse crowd.
- Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak. Filings ran 23 in 2018 and fell to 1 by 2024, an -89% drop from 2021's 9 filings — though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in given the usual publication lag.
- Claim density sits on core metrology, not the adjacents. G01F flow-measuring classes cover 76.6% of the 274 records, while positioning (G01S) and antenna (H01Q) classes sit under 12% each — signal-processing adjacents remain comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (9 records) with 2024 (1) — 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 274 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the ultrasonic flow meter patent record actually covers
Ultrasonic flow meters measure fluid velocity by timing acoustic signals travelling with and against flow, or by tracking Doppler shift off entrained particles. The patent record in scope here — 274 records spanning 2015 to the 2026 cut-off — clusters around transit-time path configuration, signal attenuation handling, pipe wall coupling and custody transfer approval, the practical problems that separate a lab-grade sensor from one that can be certified for billing-grade gas or liquid measurement.
Filings are dominated by core flow-measurement classifications, with velocity/acceleration sensing and material analysis appearing as frequent secondary classes. Diagnostic and body-fluid device classes (A61B, A61M) also show up at low but non-trivial share, reflecting crossover from medical flow sensing into the same acoustic transit-time principles.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 274 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A sharp peak in 2018, then a steady decline
Filings rose to a peak of 23 in 2018, then fell through the following years to 9 in 2021 and just 1 by 2024 — an -89% move over that span. Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts are still incomplete and should not be read as confirmation the decline continues.
Claim density sits heavily in core flow metrology
G01F (flow, level and volume measuring) appears on 76.6% of the 274 records, far ahead of G01P (33.2%) and G01N (20.4%). Positioning-related G01S appears on 11.3%, and antenna-specific H01Q on just 3.3% — classes tied to signal-path geometry and transducer array design that sit well below the saturation seen in core metrology claims.
Shares are the percentage of the 274 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Ultrasonic Flow Meters with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about ultrasonic flow meters and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art and the newest filing in scope
US12480793B2 — In situ ultrasonic flow meter validation
A method of in situ ultrasonic flow meter validation includes receiving data characterizing first signal diagnostics and data characterizing a first speed of a first acoustic signal through a gas mixture along a first path in a pipe. The first speed is detected by a first channel of an ultrasonic flow meter including a first pair of transducers separated by a first path length. The method determines a status associated with the ultrasonic flow meter based on the signal diagnostics data and/or a difference between path speeds.Filed by Baker Hughes Holdings LLC, published 2025-11-25 — illustrates the field's current focus on self-diagnosing meter health rather than new transduction principles.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6330831B1 | Stream-cleaned differential reflection coefficient sensor | 169 |
| 2 | US20110271769A1 | Flow measuring apparatus | 136 |
| 3 | US4646575A | Ultrasonic flowmeter | 87 |
| 4 | US6748811B1 | Ultrasonic flowmeter | 77 |
| 5 | US20090156953A1 | Methods and devices for sensing respiration and providing ventilation therapy | 74 |
| 6 | US5117698A | Pulse train detection in transit time flowmeter | 70 |
| 7 | US20040123666A1 | Ultrasonic damping material | 64 |
| 8 | US4462261A | Mass and velocity flowmeter | 64 |
| 9 | US6209388B1 | Ultrasonic 2-phase flow apparatus and method | 58 |
| 10 | US8141434B2 | Flow measuring apparatus | 48 |
Citation counts inside this corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations; treat them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern tells a decision-maker
Three read-outs from the trend, the citation table and the class composition that matter more than the raw counts.
A defined core, not a crowded field
With the five leading assignees holding 46.0% of all 274 records and the top ten holding 61.7%, this is a field where a handful of established metrology and process-instrumentation firms have staked out the majority of the claim space. New entrants are more likely to find room at the edges than in the center.
Filing activity has cooled sharply since 2018
The peak year of 23 filings in 2018 gave way to a steady decline, reaching 9 in 2021 and just 1 in 2024 — an -89% move over that three-year span. This reads as a maturing core technology rather than an abandoned one; the leading assignees' recent-year activity has also slowed.
Foundational art is decades-old, not recent
The most-cited records in this corpus date back well before the 2015-2026 window in scope, with US6330831B1 and US4646575A anchoring the citation graph. Citation weight favours older filings simply by virtue of time in the corpus — it signals influence on downstream design, not that the underlying claims are still the ones to watch.
Signal-path and antenna claims remain comparatively open
Core flow-measuring classification G01F covers more than three-quarters of records, while adjacent classes tied to antenna and transducer-array design (H01Q, 3.3%) and radar/positioning methods (G01S, 11.3%) are claimed far less densely — a gap worth checking before assuming the space is fully occupied.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to ultrasonic flow meters, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space, and where activity has gone quiet
The ranked assignee list spans 63 companies across the full 274-record dataset. Recent-year filing counts show the previously most active names have slowed to zero new publications in the latest year captured — consistent with the broader post-2018 decline rather than any single company's retreat.
One assignee sits well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 71 of the 274 records, a wide margin over the fifth-place holder's 12 — indicating a company with a long-running, systematic filing programme around ultrasonic transit-time and clamp-on designs rather than opportunistic filing.
A moderate drop-off past the top five
Fifth place holds 12 records and tenth place holds 8 — the gap between top-five and top-ten assignees is real but not steep, suggesting several mid-tier instrumentation firms maintain active, if smaller, portfolios rather than a single leader-and-nobody-else structure.
Even the largest portfolios have gone quiet recently
Several of the most heavily represented assignees — spanning meter manufacturers and diversified instrumentation groups — show zero filings in the latest year tracked. Given the 18-month publication lag, this likely understates true recent activity, but it is consistent with the broader post-2018 decline in filing volume.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| GWF MessSysteme AG | 0 | — |
| Breathe Technologies Inc | 0 | — |
| Kamstrup | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc | 0 | — |
| XSENS | 0 | — |
| General Electric Co | 0 | — |
| MKS Instruments Inc | 0 | — |
| Panasonic Holdings Corp | 0 | — |
Where to take this from here
The dataset points to a mature, concentrated core and a handful of thinner adjacent branches. The next step depends on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate or identifying open filing room.
Check freedom-to-operate against the concentrated core
With 61.7% of records held by ten assignees, any transit-time path configuration or attenuation-compensation design should be checked against that group's claims before development proceeds.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaProbe the under-claimed adjacents
Antenna-array and radar-positioning classes sit under 12% of records — worth a deeper prior-art pull before assuming crowded claim space applies there too.
Run a white space search in EurekaRevisit foundational citations before designing around them
The most-cited records predate the current filing window by years; confirm which of their claims have actually lapsed before treating them as settled prior art.
Trace citation chains in EurekaCommon questions about ultrasonic flow meter patents
The ranked assignee list covers 63 companies across 274 records in scope, with one assignee holding 71 records — well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder's 12. That leader's position, combined with the top five collectively holding 46.0% of all records, points to a small group of established flow-metrology and process-instrumentation manufacturers rather than a wide field of equal competitors. Anyone assessing competitive risk in this space should start with that concentrated group before looking at the long tail.
Filings peaked at 23 in 2018 and fell steadily to 9 by 2021 and just 1 by 2024, an -89% drop across that three-year span. This pattern is consistent with a technology whose core transit-time and clamp-on principles have become well established, pushing new filing activity toward incremental refinements like self-diagnostics rather than fundamental redesigns. It is worth noting that 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so the most recent apparent slowdown should not be read as the final word.
Core flow-measuring classification G01F appears on 76.6% of the 274 records, indicating dense claim coverage there. By contrast, classes tied to antenna and transducer-array design (H01Q, 3.3% of records) and radar/positioning-based sensing (G01S, 11.3%) show meaningfully less density, suggesting these adjacent signal-processing and array-geometry approaches carry comparatively more room for new claims. A prior-art search focused specifically on those subclasses is a reasonable next step before assuming the whole field is saturated.
US12480793B2, assigned to Baker Hughes Holdings LLC and published 2025-11-25, covers a method of in situ validation for ultrasonic flow meters — using signal diagnostics and speed comparisons across acoustic paths to determine whether the meter itself is malfunctioning, rather than measuring flow directly. It reflects the field's current emphasis on self-diagnosing meter health rather than new transduction hardware. Developers building diagnostic or self-calibration features into transit-time meters should review its specific claim language on path-speed comparison methods before finalizing a similar approach.
Filing activity in this dataset is spread across several major offices: the United States leads with 78 filings, followed by the European Patent Office with 50, WIPO/PCT with 28, and smaller but active volumes in Canada, Australia and India. This spread indicates that meaningful ultrasonic flow meter innovation is being protected across multiple major markets rather than concentrated in a single jurisdiction, which matters for anyone assessing freedom-to-operate outside the US.
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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.