Thermoelectric Heat Recovery Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
Filing growth compares 2021 (69 records) with 2024 (99) — 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 1,223 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the thermoelectric heat recovery patent record shows
Thermoelectric heat recovery covers systems that convert waste heat — from engine exhaust, industrial process lines, flares and other hot-side sources — directly into electricity using a temperature gradient across a thermoelectric generator. The scope here runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, capturing 1,223 published records that mention thermoelectric heat recovery in the title/abstract or combine thermoelectric, heat and recovery terms with waste-heat and industrial-efficiency language. The record set spans automotive exhaust recovery, industrial process-heat capture, and materials-level thermoelectric device claims, rather than a single narrow application.
Filing activity is not dominated by a handful of players: the leading assignee holds 20 families out of 1,223, and even the ten most active assignees combined reach only 11.7% of all records. That pattern points to a technology still being worked from many directions — automotive OEMs, industrial energy players, semiconductor and materials firms, and university groups all show up in the ranking — rather than one that has consolidated around a small set of dominant patent holders.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The figures below are drawn directly from the 1,223 records in scope: annual filing counts by publication year, and the IPC subclasses each record was assigned to. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, the class shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Filing trend: growth through the last complete year
Publication counts rose from 69 records in 2017 to a peak of 162 in 2025, though the 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication. The reliable growth signal is the 2021-to-2024 span, where filings rose from 69 to 99 records — a 43% increase — making 2024 the last year that should be read as a complete picture of filing activity.
Technology composition: four subclasses each above 17% of records
Electric machines (H02N) leads at 27.4% of the 1,223 records, followed closely by other electric solid-state devices (H10N) at 22.2%, exhaust silencers and treatment (F01N) at 17.7%, and semiconductor devices (H01L) at 17.3%. Heat-exchange apparatus (F28D), hot-gas and external-combustion engines (F02G), steam and thermal power plants (F01K), and refrigeration and heat pumps (F25B) each sit between 8% and 11.5%, marking the field's secondary but still substantial application branches.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,223 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Thermoelectric Heat Recovery (US20260182247A1, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, filed 2026-06-25)
A thermoelectric heat recovery system is described. The thermoelectric heat recovery system includes a thermoelectric generator having a hot side and a cold side. The hot side of the thermoelectric generator is exposed to waste heat emitted by a flare from a well head. The thermoelectric heat recovery system also includes a heat sink coupled to the cold side of the thermoelectric generator. Electricity is generated by a temperature gradient across the thermoelectric generator.Notable for targeting flare-gas waste heat at a well head specifically, rather than the more commonly claimed automotive exhaust or general industrial process-heat sources.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20030066638A1 | Devices using a medium having a high heat transfer rate | 428 |
| 2 | JP1989040336A | Drying/deodorizing device of printer | 249 |
| 3 | US20060157102A1 | Waste heat recovery system and thermoelectric conversion system | 208 |
| 4 | US7220365B2 | Devices using a medium having a high heat transfer rate | 176 |
| 5 | US20040045594A1 | Turbine engine with thermoelectric waste heat recovery system | 119 |
| 6 | US20110067742A1 | Thermoelectric-based power generation systems and methods | 109 |
| 7 | WO2018233024A1 | 热电解耦调峰系统 | 92 |
| 8 | WO2003016811A2 | Device using a medium having a high heat transfer rate | 89 |
| 9 | US20120073276A1 | Thermoelectric generators incorporating phase-change materials for waste heat recovery from engine exhaust | 83 |
| 10 | US20210376413A1 | Apparatuses and methods for carbon dioxide capturing and electrical energy producing system | 73 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field's prior art, not as a measure of current relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three figures matter most for anyone deciding where to file or who to watch: how concentrated the ranking is at the top, how fast real filing activity is growing, and where filings are being routed.
No single assignee controls the field
The ten most active assignees combined account for 143 of 1,223 records, or 11.7% of all filings in scope, with the leader alone holding 20 families. That leaves the large majority of records spread across a long tail of assignees filing in low volumes.
Filing activity accelerated into 2024
Records rose from 69 in 2021 to 99 in 2024, a 43% increase over that three-year span. 2024 is the last year in this dataset that can be treated as a complete picture; 2025 and 2026 will continue to fill in as publications catch up with filings.
Electric machines and solid-state devices dominate the claim mix
H02N (electric machines) and H10N (other electric solid-state devices) are the two largest IPC subclasses, at 27.4% and 22.2% of the 1,223 records respectively, ahead of exhaust treatment and semiconductor device classes. That mix shows filers are claiming both the generator hardware and the underlying solid-state materials, not just system integration.
China is the dominant receiving office by a wide margin
China received 630 filings, well ahead of India (126), the United States (107), WIPO/PCT (73), South Korea (71) and Japan (68). That distribution signals where examination volume and prior art density will be heaviest for any new filing strategy.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to waste-heat recovery: thermoelectric heat recovery patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The numbers above describe the field as filed. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into the specific claims and assignees behind these figures.
Check freedom-to-operate against the densest classes
H02N and H10N together cover roughly half the record base by class overlap. Before drafting claims in electric-machine or solid-state thermoelectric device space, map the specific claim language already held by the ranked leaders in those classes.
Explore the technology in EurekaTrack the long tail for emerging entrants
With the top 10 assignees holding only 11.7% of records, most filing activity sits outside the ranked leaders. Monitoring new entrants in that tail is often how an early competitive shift first shows up.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaRevisit 2025-2026 filings once they mature
The most recent two years are still filling in behind an 18-month publication lag. Re-run this analysis after that window closes to see whether the 2021-2024 growth rate held.
Run a fresh landscape in EurekaFrequently asked questions
This dataset covers 1,223 published patent records between 2015 and the 2026-07-31 data cut-off. Filing activity rose from 69 records in 2017 to a peak of 162 in 2025, though the most recent one to two years are understated because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months. The most reliable growth read is the 2021-to-2024 span, where filings grew 43%, from 69 to 99 records.
The ranking covers 100 assignees, with the leader holding 20 patent families out of 1,223 total records. Even so, the top 10 assignees combined account for only 11.7% of all records, meaning no single company or small group controls the field. Automotive, industrial energy, semiconductor and university players all appear among the ranked leaders, reflecting the technology's spread across exhaust recovery, process heat and materials development.
The largest IPC subclass is H02N (electric machines and related devices), covering 27.4% of the 1,223 records, followed by H10N (other electric solid-state devices) at 22.2%, F01N (exhaust silencers and treatment) at 17.7%, and H01L (semiconductor devices) at 17.3%. Secondary branches include heat-exchange apparatus, external-combustion engines, steam and thermal power plants, and refrigeration and heat pumps, each between 8% and 11.5% of records. Because records often carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100%.
China is by far the largest receiving office, with 630 filings in this dataset, more than four times the next largest office. India follows with 126, the United States with 107, WIPO/PCT filings with 73, South Korea with 71, and Japan with 68. This distribution matters for prior art searches and examination strategy, since claim density and prosecution norms differ substantially by office.
Yes, based on the last fully mature data: filings rose 43% from 69 records in 2021 to 99 in 2024. The apparent peak of 162 records in 2025 and the lower count for 2026 should not be read as a slowdown, because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months and those years are still filling in. A clearer read on 2025-2026 activity will only be possible once that publication window closes.
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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.