Smart Control Valve Patents: Top Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
A patent landscape review of 273 smart control valve records: who holds the concentrated top filings, how filing activity has shifted since 2021, and where the IPC technology composition leaves white space open.
Filing growth = 2021 (18 records) → 2024 (11); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 273 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What the smart control valve patent landscape covers
This landscape draws on 273 published records combining valve or flow-control device claims with sensing, memory, communication or automated actuation elements, filed or published between 2015 and the August 2026 data cut-off. The search targets both explicit smart control valve terminology and claims that pair valve or fluid-control language with control or smart limitations under IPC class F16K, so the corpus captures compressor valves, plumbing fixtures, industrial flow control and body-fluid devices under one technical umbrella.
Filing sits on a familiar structure for this kind of field: a small group of assignees hold a disproportionate share of records, filing activity has cooled from a 2023 peak, and the underlying technology composition shows a dense mechanical core with a thinner, still-forming control-software layer around it.
Filing trends and technology composition
The dataset covers 273 published records tied to smart control valve claims, filed or published between 2015 and the August 2026 data cut-off. The figures below use two different denominators: the filing trend counts records by publication year, and the technology composition counts records by IPC subclass, so composition shares add to more than 100% because a single record can carry several classes.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Filings ran from 21 in 2017 to a peak of 24 in 2023, then eased to 8 by 2026 — a figure still filling in given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication. Treat 2024 as the most recent complete year: filings fell from 18 in 2021 to 11 in 2024, a 39% drop over that three-year span, ahead of any read on 2025 or 2026.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
Valve-body claims under F16K dominate at 93.0% of all 273 records, confirming this corpus is anchored in physical valve construction rather than pure software control. The next-largest classes — non-electric variable control (G05D, 15.4%), water supply and distribution (E03B, 13.2%) and regulating systems (G05B, 11.0%) — show where digital control and plumbing-specific applications overlay that mechanical core.
Shares are the percentage of the 273 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Valves & Flow Control: Smart Control Valve Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about valves & flow control: smart control valve patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
US20060127236A1 — Smart control valve for compressors
Disclosed herein is a smart control valve for compressors that is capable of easily accomplishing compression and communication in a compression chamber of a cylinder, without performing the repetitive on/off operation of the compressor, to change the capacity of the compressor. The smart control valve comprises a valve body mounted on a cylinder including refrigerant inlet and outlet ports, a valve inlet port formed at the valve body and communicating with the refrigerant inlet port of the cylinder, a valve outlet port formed at the valve body and communicating with the refrigerant outlet port of the cylinder, an actuating groove disposed under the valve inlet port and the valve outlet port.Filed by Intellectual Discovery Co., Ltd., published 2006-06-15.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7114510B2 | Valve with smart handle | 143 |
| 2 | US9749792B2 | Water use monitoring apparatus | 85 |
| 3 | US20160077530A1 | Smart valve for controlling a plumbing fixture | 82 |
| 4 | US20040045608A1 | Valve with smart handle | 68 |
| 5 | WO2002040914A2 | Valve with handle including sensors and memory | 60 |
| 6 | US20180148912A1 | Smart water supply valve system and method for controlling same | 50 |
| 7 | US20140110613A1 | Wireless Fluid Shut-Off Valve | 48 |
| 8 | US20160356026A1 | RF-signal-emitting valve for flow monitoring and leak detection | 46 |
| 9 | US20130269798A1 | Programmable intelligent control method of and system for irrigation system | 41 |
| 10 | US7810515B2 | Smart water timer | 36 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Four figures from this dataset matter most for anyone deciding where to file next or who to watch.
A leader plus a long tail
The leading assignee holds 14 records on its own, and the top five combined reach 21.2% of the 273 records in scope. The top ten extend that to 34.4%, leaving roughly two-thirds of the field split among single- and few-filing entrants — a structure that rewards watching the leader closely while scanning the tail for emerging challengers.
Momentum has cooled from its peak
Filings peaked at 24 in 2023 but the clean year-over-year comparison shows a decline from 18 in 2021 to 11 in 2024. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are still filling in and should not be read as confirming a further slowdown.
The claim space is anchored in the valve body
Nearly all records carry an F16K valve/tap classification, with control-software classes (G05D, G05B) and plumbing-specific classes (E03B, E03C) layered on top at lower shares. That pattern says the mechanical valve body is the settled part of the claim space; the control and sensing layer is where the field is still being defined.
The US is the primary filing venue
With 107 filings the US receiving office outpaces India (32), the EPO (28), WIPO/PCT (27), South Korea (17) and Canada (13) combined for second place. Litigation and licensing exposure in this field concentrates heavily on US-filed rights.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to valves & flow control: smart control valve patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| VENTEK LLC | Ynno Medical Co. | 13 |
| ARBEL ODED | GILAD SHIMON | 6 |
| VENTEK LLC | POPP GREGORY W | 3 |
| VENTEK LLC | PETERS MARK E | 3 |
| Ynno Medical Co. | POPP GREGORY W | 3 |
| Ynno Medical Co. | PETERS MARK E | 3 |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co. | FLANDERS PATRICK S | 2 |
| Dispensing Technologies | MASS WILHELMUS JOHANNES JOSEPH | 2 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the whole dataset, and the strongest pair still involves single-digit shared filings — joint filing is the exception, not the norm, in this field.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to three follow-up questions worth running before committing to a filing or design-around strategy.
Check freedom-to-operate against the concentrated leaders
With the top five holding 21.2% of the 273 records, any new filing near the core F16K valve-body claims should be checked against those assignees' specific claim scope, not just their filing counts.
Run a freedom-to-operate search in EurekaWatch the control-software layer for emerging entrants
G05D and G05B classes carry far fewer records than F16K, and the long tail of single-filing assignees is concentrated there — that is where new competitors are most likely to surface first.
Track new filers in EurekaRe-run the trend once 2025-2026 publications catch up
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the apparent drop after 2024 is incomplete. Revisit the filing trend in this dataset again once those years have finished publishing.
Set a monitoring alert in EurekaFrequently asked questions
In this dataset, a smart control valve is a valve claim (mostly under IPC class F16K) that is combined with sensing, memory, communication or automated actuation elements rather than being a purely mechanical shut-off or regulating device. The search string requires either explicit 'smart control valve' language or a valve/flow-control claim paired with control or smart terminology. That means the corpus spans compressor valves, plumbing fixtures, industrial flow control and body-fluid devices, all unified by the presence of an electronic or automated control layer on top of the valve body.
Filing is concentrated at the top of a 100-company ranking: the leading assignee holds 14 of the 273 records in scope, and the top five combined account for 21.2% of all records. The top ten extend that to 34.4%, which leaves roughly two-thirds of filings spread across a long tail of companies with only a handful of records each. That pattern is typical of a field with an established mechanical core (valve bodies) and a more fragmented, still-developing control layer.
Filings rose to a peak of 24 in 2023 from 21 in 2017, but the most recent complete comparison shows a decline: 18 filings in 2021 fell to 11 in 2024, a 39% drop over that three-year span. Years after 2024 in this dataset are undercounted because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 should not be read as the field cooling further — it is a publication-lag artefact, not necessarily a filing slowdown.
The United States leads as a receiving office with 107 filings, followed by India with 32, the European Patent Office with 28, WIPO/PCT filings with 27, South Korea with 17 and Canada with 13. That distribution points to the US as the primary commercial and litigation venue for this technology, with India and Europe as significant secondary filing destinations and PCT used as a common route into multiple jurisdictions at once.
The technology composition shows the core valve-body claims (F16K, 93.0% of 273 records) heavily occupied, while adjacent branches such as body-fluid control valves (A61M, 5.9%) and fluid-pressure actuator systems (F15B, 5.1%) carry far less filing density. Combining an actuator element with onboard digital processing (G06F, 7.0% of records) inside a single valve claim, rather than treating sensing and actuation as separately claimed features, is one under-claimed direction visible in this dataset. Any freedom-to-operate conclusion should still be checked against full claim text rather than IPC share alone.
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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.