Wave Energy Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing is fragmented, not concentrated. the top 5 assignees together account for only 10.3% of all 15,511 records in scope, and the top 10 just 13.7% — a long tail dominates this field.
- Hydraulic machinery claims dwarf everything else. F03B (hydraulic machines & engines) alone covers 61.8% of records, while adjacent classes like grid integration (H02J, 4.0%) and other electric machines (H02N, 2.3%) stay comparatively open.
- Filing has cooled from its 2022 peak. activity ran 726 in 2017 to a peak of 853 in 2022, then fell 18% from 682 in 2021 to 562 in 2024 — the last two years shown are still filling in due to publication lag.
Filing growth compares 2021 (682 records) with 2024 (562) — 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 15,511 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the wave energy patent record shows
Wave energy conversion sits at the intersection of hydraulic machinery, marine structures and grid-connected power electronics. The dataset covers 15,511 published records filed or published between 2015 and 2026, captured through claims and descriptions referencing wave energy converters, resource assessment and energy conversion. Rather than a single dominant design, the record shows many independent filers working variations on floating, hinged and hydraulic conversion mechanisms.
The technology composition leans heavily toward hydraulic machinery classifications, with marine vessel structures, electric generators and waterway engineering forming a secondary tier. Filing offices split across the United States, China, Europe and the PCT route, reflecting a field pursued internationally rather than concentrated in one jurisdiction.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 15,511-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Annual filings rose from 726 in 2017 to a peak of 853 in 2022, then declined to 562 by 2024, an 18% drop over that three-year span. Counts for 2025 and 2026 are understated because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months.
IPC subclass distribution
F03B (hydraulic machines & engines) covers 61.8% of the 15,511 records, far ahead of B63B marine vessels (8.9%), H02K electric generators (7.2%) and E02B waterway engineering (6.5%). Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares sum to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 15,511 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Wave Energy Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about wave energy patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative wave energy converter patent
US9702335B2 — Hydraulic wave energy converter
A hydraulic wave energy converter for converting wave energy into high-pressure water energy, comprising a rectangular upper floating body on the water surface, a cylindrical lower floating body beneath it, cable and hanging-rod mooring hardware including a sea floor anchor pile, and water hydraulic cylinders fixed to the upper floating body and connected to the lower floating body through piston heads, rods and rod seats.Filed by CHEN, JIASHAN, published 2017-07-11.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160045841A1 | New and improved system for processing various chemicals and materials | 860 |
| 2 | US5213569A | Tip for a tissue phacoemulsification device | 719 |
| 3 | US4140180A | Method for in situ heat processing of hydrocarbonaceous formations | 689 |
| 4 | WO1997009842A2 | Acoustic device | 590 |
| 5 | US4144935A | Apparatus and method for in situ heat processing of hydrocarbonaceous formations | 555 |
| 6 | US20130157729A1 | Energy harvesting computer device in association with a communication device configured with apparatus for bo… | 501 |
| 7 | US6332029B1 | Acoustic device | 464 |
| 8 | US6327994B1 | Scavenger energy converter system its new applications and its control systems | 421 |
| 9 | US4206608A | Natural energy conversion, storage and electricity generation system | 377 |
| 10 | US6293121B1 | Water-mist blower cooling system and its new applications | 367 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older records; they are not a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns stand out once the numbers are put side by side: how concentrated ownership actually is, where claim density sits, and how filing momentum has moved.
Ownership is fragmented, not cornered
With the top 5 assignees together holding only 10.3% of the 15,511 records in scope and the top 10 just 13.7%, no single company has cornered core wave energy conversion claims. A ranked list of 100 companies still leaves the majority of filings outside it, spread across single- and few-filing entrants.
Hydraulic machinery claims dominate
F03B (hydraulic machines & engines) appears in 61.8% of records, meaning most filers describe their converter mechanism in hydraulic-machinery terms even when the invention also touches marine structures or generators. New filings in this class face the densest prior art in the dataset.
Activity has pulled back from its 2022 peak
Filings peaked at 853 in 2022 before falling 18% from 682 in 2021 to 562 in 2024, the last year in the trend considered complete. That is a real pullback rather than a data artefact, though 2025-2026 figures will still rise as publications catch up.
Joint filing is rare and narrowly clustered
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings linking a lead company to individual named inventors rather than to other corporate assignees. Cross-company joint filing is not a meaningful pattern in this field yet.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to wave energy patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where they are pulling back
Recent-year momentum diverges sharply across the ranked leaders: some assignees are still filing, others have gone quiet.
A lead filer with recent pullback
The top-ranked assignee holds 565 records, well ahead of fifth place at 161 and tenth place at 96, but its own recent-year filings dropped 62% year-on-year to 19 — a slowdown from a company that otherwise anchors the field.
A university filer accelerating
One research university assignee grew recent filings 80% year-on-year to 9 records, a small absolute number but a notable direction against an otherwise cooling field.
Several named assignees have stopped filing
Multiple assignees that appear in the ranking, including corporate and named-entity filers, show zero filings in the latest year, with one recording a full -100% year-on-year drop. This suggests consolidation or strategic exit rather than steady output.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 19 | -62% |
| Dalian University of Technology | 9 | +80% |
| CETO IP | 1 | — |
| OCEAN POWER TECHNOLOGIES INC | 0 | — |
| Marine Power Systems | 0 | -100% |
| AW Energy | 0 | — |
| MURTECH INC | 0 | — |
| IFP Energies Nouvelles | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio positioning, or scouting acquisition targets.
Check freedom-to-operate against the hydraulic core
With 61.8% of records sitting in F03B, any new hydraulic converter design needs a claim chart against that subclass before filing, not just a keyword search.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaTrack the assignees going quiet
Zero-filing and -100% YoY signals among ranked assignees can flag licensing or acquisition opportunities before they become public.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaScope white space in adjacent classes
Grid integration (H02J) and other electric machines (H02N) carry far lower record shares than F03B, suggesting room for differentiated claims.
Explore white space in EurekaFrequently asked questions
The dataset's leading assignee holds 565 records, noticeably ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 161 and tenth place at 96. Even so, the top 5 assignees combined account for only 10.3% of the 15,511 records in scope, and the top 10 just 13.7%, so ownership is spread across a long tail of smaller filers rather than concentrated in a handful of companies. A ranking of 100 assignees still leaves most records outside it entirely.
Filing rose from 726 records in 2017 to a peak of 853 in 2022, then declined 18% from 682 in 2021 to 562 in 2024, the most recent year that can be treated as complete. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than an actual drop in filing activity. Based on complete years, the honest read is a pullback from a 2022 peak rather than a field in early growth.
Hydraulic machinery classification F03B covers 61.8% of the 15,511 records, making it by far the densest claim space in the dataset. Marine vessel structures (B63B, 8.9%), electric generators (H02K, 7.2%) and waterway engineering (E02B, 6.5%) form a secondary tier. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, but the gap between F03B and everything else is the clearest signal in the composition data.
Compared to the 61.8% share held by hydraulic machinery claims, subclasses like H02J power supply and grid systems (4.0%) and H02N other electric machines (2.3%) carry far fewer records. Areas such as grid-side power conditioning for wave arrays, non-hydraulic conversion mechanisms and resource-assessment sensing integration sit adjacent to the dense core but are comparatively under-claimed. That does not guarantee those areas are commercially easy, only that fewer filings currently occupy them.
Joint filing is rare in this dataset: only 10 co-assignee pairs were identified across 15,511 records. The strongest pairings link a single lead company to named individual inventors rather than to other corporate assignees, and cross-company collaboration does not appear as a meaningful pattern. Anyone assessing partnership or licensing activity in this field should not expect to find it reflected heavily in co-assignment data.
Research Wave Energy Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole wave energy patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.