Fastest
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 →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/winglet-and-wingtip-device-design-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Aerospace & Wind AerodynamicsWinglet and wingtip device patents: mapping who owns the claim space and where it's still open
- Concentrated at the top. Five assignees hold 1,044 of 2,143 records in scope (48.7%), with the leader alone at 516 — this is not a fragmented field.
- Filing has plateaued, not fallen. Filings held roughly flat from 2021 to 2024 (77 to 76, -1%), after peaking in 2018 at 186; the 2025-2026 dip reflects publication lag, not a real slowdown.
- Aerospace core, but wind turbines are a real second front. B64C aeroplane claims dominate at 79.2% of records, while F03D wind-motor claims sit at 8.7% — wingtip load and vortex control ideas are migrating across industries.
2,143
Published Records
49%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-1%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (77 records) with 2024 (76) — 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 2,143 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Winglet and wingtip device design sits at the intersection of induced-drag reduction and structural load management: a wingtip shaped to weaken the trailing vortex also changes the root bending moment the wing spar has to carry, so almost every claim in this dataset trades off aerodynamic and structural variables together. The search spans 2,143 records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, built around terms like cant angle, span load distribution and load alleviation alongside the wingtip hardware terms themselves.
The corpus is dominated by fixed-wing aircraft assignees but reaches into wind turbine blades, unmanned aircraft and marine vessels, all of which face the same trailing-vortex problem on a different scale. Reading the field by patent family, rather than by raw publication count, matters here because several of the largest filers pursue the same design across multiple jurisdictions and continuations.
Records by filing year, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
10,000 free credits to start
The data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,143 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
A long build, then a plateau
Filings rose from 178 in 2017 to a peak of 186 in 2018, then settled into a steadier range; the 2021-2024 window is essentially flat at -1% (77 to 76). Counts for 2025 and 2026 look lower only because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months — treat the most recent two years as incomplete, not as a downturn.
Where the claims sit
B64C (aeroplanes & helicopters) carries 79.2% of all records, confirming this is fundamentally an aircraft-wing dataset. B64D aircraft equipment (10.1%) and F03D wind motors (8.7%) are the two largest adjacent classes, with B64U drones (6.6%) and B64F ground installations (5.9%) trailing. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to more than 100% of the 2,143 records and should be read individually, not added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,143 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about winglet and wingtip device design and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey patents
The most-cited prior art in this field
Representative recent filing
Scythe Wingtip Device (US20240375770A1, Textron Innovations, filed 2024)
TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
Wingtip devices configured to extend from the outboard ends of aircraft wings are designed to effectively reduce induced drag, but they necessarily produce form and skin-friction drag, and they may produce interference and compressibility drag. The present disclosure describes a scythe-shaped wingtip device suitable for reducing induced drag while minimizing other types of drag. A cutout in the wingtip device reduces the wetted area of the wingtip to minimize non-induced drag while the wingtip device still reduces induced drag like a conventional wingtip device. The cutout is configured in a trailing edge of the wingtip device.Illustrates the current design pattern in the field: shaping the wingtip's trailing edge geometry to separate the induced-drag benefit from the added wetted-area penalty, rather than simply adding more surface.
Highest-citation records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5348253A | Blended winglet | 273 |
| 2 | US4722499A | Auxiliary wing tips for an aircraft | 247 |
| 3 | US5407153A | System for increasing airplane fuel mileage and airplane wing modification kit | 225 |
| 4 | US5634613A | Tip vortex generation technology for creating a lift enhancing and drag reducing upwash effect | 208 |
| 5 | US6923404B1 | Apparatus and methods for variable sweep body conformal wing with application to projectiles, missiles, and u… | 204 |
| 6 | US4365773A | Joined wing aircraft | 202 |
| 7 | US6474604B1 | Mobius-like joining structure for fluid dynamic foils | 199 |
| 8 | US5988563A | Articulating winglets | 185 |
| 9 | US4979698A | Rotor system for winged aircraft | 185 |
| 10 | US20080061192A1 | Method and apparatus for mitigating trailing vortex wakes of lifting or thrust generating bodies | 174 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations; read them as a signal of foundational influence, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Run it yourself
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Where to run it
For builders
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 →Insights
What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-throughs from the trend, class and concentration data above.
Concentration
48.7%
of 2,143 records held by top 5 assignees
This is a small-cast field
Five assignees account for 1,044 of the 2,143 records in scope, and the leader alone holds 516. A new entrant is not filing into open ground; it is filing adjacent to a small number of very well-covered portfolios.
Top 5 = 48.7% of 2,143 records
Momentum
-1%
filing change, 2021 to 2024
Flat, not falling
The only period long enough to trust for a growth read is 2021-2024, and it shows filings essentially unchanged (77 to 76). Treat 2025-2026 figures as undercounted pending publication, not as evidence of a cooling field.
2021 = 77 → 2024 = 76
Technology mix
79.2%
of records classed under B64C
Aircraft-first, but not aircraft-only
B64C aeroplane claims dominate, but F03D wind-motor claims reach 8.7% of records and B64U drone claims 6.6% — wingtip vortex-control ideas are being re-filed across adjacent vehicle classes rather than staying siloed in aerospace.
F03D wind motors = 8.7% of 2,143 records
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to winglet and wingtip device design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where filers co-assign
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus Operations Ltd | Airbus Operations GmbH | 79 |
| Airbus Operations GmbH | German Aerospace Center (DLR) | 28 |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | Airbus Operations SAS | 10 |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | German Aerospace Center (DLR) | 10 |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | University of Bristol | 6 |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | Airbus Group SAS | 5 |
| Bombardier Inc | Short Brothers plc | 5 |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | Airbus Defence and Space GmbH | 3 |
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the data, the strongest linking two Airbus operating entities on 79 shared records — a pattern of internal cross-jurisdiction filing rather than external joint development.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who holds the claim space, and who is still moving
The ranked leaders account for the bulk of activity, but recent-year momentum tells a different story from cumulative share.
Cumulative leader
516
records
The largest single portfolio
One assignee holds 516 of the 2,143 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 109 and tenth place at 34 — the drop-off after the leader is steep.
Leader = 516 records
Recent entrant, high momentum then pullback
6
filings in the latest year
JetZero's recent activity
JetZero Inc filed 6 records in the latest year tracked, down 60% year-on-year, but its presence at all signals new-entrant activity in a field otherwise dominated by legacy aerospace names.
JetZero: 6 latest year, -60% YoY
Steady niche filer
1
filing in the latest year
Tamarack Aerospace holds its niche
Tamarack Aerospace Group filed 1 record in the latest year, flat year-on-year (0%), consistent with a smaller specialist maintaining rather than expanding its position around active winglet load-alleviation technology.
Tamarack: 1 latest year, 0% YoY
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| JETZERO INC | 6 | -60% |
| TAMARACK AEROSPACE GROUP INC | 1 | 0% |
| Airbus Operations Ltd | 0 | -100% |
| The Boeing Co | 0 | -100% |
| Airbus Operations GmbH | 0 | — |
| Aviation Partners Inc | 0 | — |
| Bombardier Inc | 0 | — |
| BLENDED WING AIRCRAFT INC | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's next
Where to take this analysis
The landscape data points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing or new R&D direction.
Check design-around options against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 516 of 2,143 records, any new wingtip geometry should be checked specifically against that portfolio's claim scope before broader searching.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaEvaluate the under-claimed branches
F03D wind-motor and B64U drone applications of wingtip vortex control carry far fewer records than the aerospace core, and may offer more open claim space for a first filing.
Run a white-space search in EurekaTrack momentum, not just cumulative share
Recent-year filing activity from newer entrants like JetZero shows where competitive attention is shifting even though cumulative totals still favour legacy filers.
Set up momentum alerts in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on winglet and wingtip patents
The dataset shows a clear leader with 516 of the 2,143 records in scope, well ahead of the next four assignees combined with the top five totalling 1,044 records (48.7% of the field). Fifth place sits at 109 records and tenth place at just 34, so coverage drops off sharply after the top few names. This concentration means a freedom-to-operate check should start with the largest portfolios rather than a broad, unweighted search.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 186 records and has since settled rather than continued climbing; the most reliable recent comparison, 2021 to 2024, shows filings essentially flat at -1% (77 to 76). Figures for 2025 and 2026 appear lower but should not be read as a real decline, because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months and those years are still filling in. The honest read is a mature, steady field rather than a growing or shrinking one.
No. While 79.2% of the 2,143 records fall under B64C (aeroplanes & helicopters), wind turbine applications under F03D account for 8.7% of records and drone-specific claims under B64U reach 6.6%. Wingtip vortex and load-alleviation concepts developed for aircraft wings are being adapted to wind turbine blades and unmanned aircraft, so a wind-energy or drone company can infringe or be blocked by aerospace-originated claims and vice versa.
This Textron Innovations filing from 2024 claims a scythe-shaped wingtip device with a cutout in the trailing edge, designed to reduce induced drag while minimizing the added wetted-area drag that most wingtip additions introduce. It represents a current design pattern in the field: shaping trailing-edge geometry to decouple the induced-drag benefit from surface-area penalties. Anyone designing a wingtip with a similarly shaped trailing-edge cutout for the same drag trade-off should review this filing's claim scope closely.
Based on IPC composition, the branches furthest from the dense B64C core carry comparatively few records: B32B laminate and composite construction sits at 1.5% of the 2,143 records, and B63B marine applications at 2.6%. These lower-density branches don't guarantee an easy grant, but they indicate thinner prior art coverage compared to the heavily filed aeroplane-specific cant-angle and load-alleviation claims. A prior-art search focused specifically on those adjacent classes is a reasonable starting point for new filings.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Winglet and Wingtip Device Design covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Research Winglet and Wingtip Device Design in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole winglet and wingtip device design 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.