It typically claims the aggregation, hierarchical dispatch, or real-time optimization logic that lets a group of distributed energy resources — batteries, solar, demand-response loads — be operated as a single controllable unit. The claims sit in grid-control IPC codes like H02J but frequently also carry business-process (G06Q) or AI-model (G06N) codes because the dispatch decision itself is often expressed as a software or machine-learning method. The hardware — the battery, the inverter, the meter — is usually claimed elsewhere; this category is about the control and coordination layer sitting above it.

The assignee base in this dataset is led by Chinese grid-company entities and universities, with several provincial grid research institutes and technical universities appearing repeatedly, often as co-assignees on the same filing. There is a long tail of single-filing entrants rather than a small handful of firms holding most of the volume. Recent-year momentum data shows even the more active historical filers reporting zero filings in the latest year, though that likely reflects publication lag rather than an actual pullback.

Of the 28 families in this dataset, 25 route through the Chinese receiving office against 2 in the US and 1 in India. This concentration likely reflects both China’s rapid buildout of distributed energy resources needing aggregation and dispatch software, and its grid operators’ practice of filing algorithmic control patents jointly with university research partners. For a company evaluating freedom to operate, this means the bulk of the relevant prior art will only surface through a Chinese-language full-text search.