Technology landscape · Adjustable vehicle aerodynamics · 2014–2024
Adjustable vehicle aerodynamics has held a plateau since 2017; rear spoilers are the place that grows.
4,965 patent families on spoilers, underbody streamlining and adjustable grille shutters, filed as 9,954 applications at 42 offices. The field is filed largely by vehicle manufacturers.
- Data
- EPO PATSTAT Global, Spring 2026 (patstat_2026a)
- Unit
- DOCDB family
- Scope
- Six CPC places in B62D 35, B62D 37 and B60K 11
- Queries
- 0a–10, all published
CN 970 → 1,437 · US 930 → 817 · DE 853 → 734 families, 2014–2018 → 2019–2024
- 5.1%
compound annual growth over the fully published years 2014 to 2022; since 2018 every year lies between 443 and 554 families.
Growth - 45.5%
more rear-spoiler families in 2019–2024 than in 2014–2018, against 32.9% for the scope.
Technology - 60.6%
of the families carry a Y02T tag for climate change mitigation in transport.
Domains - 387
families make Porsche the largest filer, 7.8% of the scope. Nine of the ten largest filers are vehicle manufacturers.
Applicants - 1,437
families first filed in 2019–2024 include a Chinese filing, up from 970. China is the only large office that grew.
Where
01 · Growth
The field grew until 2017 and has held a plateau since
2014–2017
Annual filings grew from 303 families to 526, a compound annual growth rate of 20.2% over three years.
2018–2022
Every year from 2018 onward lies between 443 and 554 families. Over the fully published span 2014–2022 the compound annual growth rate is 5.1%. The field is established, not emerging.
Read with care
2023 and 2024 are provisional: applications publish roughly 18 months after filing, so both years will rise. No growth statement in this report ends in either year.
Patent families by earliest filing year
Data table: filing trend 2014–2024
| Earliest filing year | Patent families | Applications | Granted applications | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 303 | 774 | 499 | 64.5% |
| 2015 | 357 | 1,044 | 706 | 67.6% |
| 2016 | 453 | 1,011 | 610 | 60.3% |
| 2017 | 526 | 1,203 | 717 | 59.6% |
| 2018 | 493 | 1,040 | 651 | 62.6% |
| 2019 | 504 | 1,014 | 612 | 60.4% |
| 2020 | 450 | 845 | 465 | 55.0% |
| 2021 | 443 | 847 | 403 | 47.6% |
| 2022 | 450 | 761 | 228 | 30.0% |
| 2023* | 554 | 857 | 163 | 19.0% |
| 2024* | 432 | 558 | 94 | 16.8% |
| Total | 4,965 | 9,954 | 5,148 | 51.7% |
Grant rates fall steeply from 2021 onward because those cohorts are still under examination, not because fewer applications succeed.
Query 3Hatched: provisional years
The 4,965 families consist of 9,954 applications at 42 offices, 2.0 per family. Each family is counted once, in the year of its earliest filing, so the yearly figures add up to 4,965.
02 · Technology
Only rear spoilers clearly outgrow the field
The largest place is B62D 37/02, aerodynamic stabilisation of the body (1,757 families), with adjustable radiator shutters close behind (1,665). Neither is the place that grows. The scope rises 32.9% between the two windows (2,132 to 2,833 families); rear spoilers rise 45.5% (561 to 816). Stabilisation (+33.0%) and side spoilers (+32.3%) track the field; shutters (+29.0%), front spoilers (+31.6%) and underbody streamlining (+24.0%) grow more slowly. Rear spoilers are roughly twice the front-spoiler count and almost four times the side-spoiler count.
Families per CPC place, 2014–2018 and 2019–2024
Data table: families per CPC place
| CPC place | Title | Families | 2014–2018 | 2019–2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B62D 37/02 | Stabilising vehicle bodies by aerodynamic means | 1,757 | 754 | 1,003 | +33.0% |
| B60K 11/085 | Air inlets for cooling with adjustable shutters or blinds | 1,665 | 727 | 938 | +29.0% |
| B62D 35/007 | Rear spoilers | 1,377 | 561 | 816 | +45.5% |
| B62D 35/02 | Streamlining the undersurfaces | 999 | 446 | 553 | +24.0% |
| B62D 35/005 | Front spoilers | 748 | 323 | 425 | +31.6% |
| B62D 35/008 | Side spoilers | 374 | 161 | 213 | +32.3% |
| Sum of places | 6,920 | 2,972 | 3,948 | ||
| Distinct families | 4,965 | 2,132 | 2,833 | +32.9% |
Query 4Non-exclusive; titles from the current CPC edition
One family can carry several places, so the six values sum to 6,920 against 4,965 distinct families. The periods cover five and six years, and the later one contains the two provisional years, so period figures are not proportional to annual rates.
03 · Domains
60.6% of the families are tagged as climate mitigation in transport
3,010 of the 4,965 families also carry a Y02T code. Y02 is a tagging scheme applied across the classification, so this is the classifying office stating that the documents contribute to lower transport emissions. The second neighbour, B60K (1,873 families), holds radiator and cooling-air arrangements, the anchor of the shutter half of the field. Engine cooling (F01P, 330) and heating and ventilating (B60H, 164) point the same way: much of adjustable aerodynamics is thermal management.
Co-occurring CPC subclasses
Data table: co-occurring CPC subclasses
| CPC subclass | Families | Share of scope | 2014–2018 | 2019–2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B62D Motor vehicles; trailers | 3,507 | 70.6% | 1,492 | 2,015 |
| Y02T Climate change mitigation, transport | 3,010 | 60.6% | 1,613 | 1,397 |
| B60K Propulsion unit mounting; cooling air | 1,873 | 37.7% | 820 | 1,053 |
| B60R Vehicle fittings not otherwise provided for | 915 | 18.4% | 347 | 568 |
| B60Y Cross-cutting vehicle technology (indexing) | 654 | 13.2% | 273 | 381 |
| F01P Cooling of machines or engines | 330 | 6.6% | 170 | 160 |
| B60Q Signalling and lighting devices | 178 | 3.6% | 62 | 116 |
| B60H Heating, cooling, ventilating | 164 | 3.3% | 70 | 94 |
| B60J Windows, windscreens, roofs, doors | 142 | 2.9% | 62 | 80 |
| B60L Propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles | 136 | 2.7% | 40 | 96 |
| B60T Vehicle brake control systems | 120 | 2.4% | 52 | 68 |
Query 5Non-exclusive; sums exceed 4,965
The Y02T share falls from 75.7% of families first filed in 2014–2018 to 49.3% of those from 2019–2024 (1,613 to 1,397 families) while the scope grows. B62D holds 70.0% against 71.1% and B60K 38.5% against 37.2%, within 1.3 percentage points. A tag that halves while its neighbours hold steady is a tagging lag: Y codes are applied after the fact. The 49.3% is a floor, and no change in climate focus can be read from it. Y tags exist in CPC only, applied mainly by the EPO, the USPTO and KIPO; offices working in IPC alone are under-represented.
WIPO technology fields
Data table: WIPO technology fields
| Technology field | Sector | Families | 2014–2018 | 2019–2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport | Mechanical engineering | 4,920 | 2,113 | 2,807 |
| Engines, pumps, turbines | Mechanical engineering | 489 | 252 | 237 |
| Mechanical elements | Mechanical engineering | 308 | 160 | 148 |
| Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy | Electrical engineering | 194 | 80 | 114 |
| Thermal processes and apparatus | Mechanical engineering | 120 | 62 | 58 |
| Other special machines | Mechanical engineering | 100 | 53 | 47 |
| Control | Instruments | 85 | 61 | 24 |
| Measurement | Instruments | 75 | 41 | 34 |
| Civil engineering | Other fields | 62 | 27 | 35 |
Query 5Non-exclusive; a family can map to several fields
04 · Applicants
Porsche leads with 387 families; nine of the top ten are vehicle makers
Porsche holds 66% more families than the second filer and 7.8% of the scope, consistent with active aerodynamics as a signature of its product line. The only supplier in the top ten is Valeo Systèmes Thermiques at rank 2, on the thermal-management side. Suppliers appear again at ranks 13 (Compagnie Plastic Omnium), 15 (Hyundai Mobis) and 18 (Magna International). Across the top twenty the split is sixteen manufacturers to four suppliers.
Twenty largest applicants after name consolidation, patent families 2014–2024
- 01Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (DE) Vehicle manufacturer387
- 02Valeo Systèmes Thermiques (FR) Supplier233
- 03Mercedes-Benz Group (Daimler) (DE) Vehicle manufacturer210
- 04Stellantis (PSA Automobiles) (FR) Vehicle manufacturer206
- 05Hyundai Motor Company (KR) Vehicle manufacturer187
- 06GM Global Technology Operations (US) Vehicle manufacturer167
- 07Kia Corporation (KR) Vehicle manufacturer146
- 08Ford Global Technologies (US) Vehicle manufacturer126
- 09Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (DE) Vehicle manufacturer120
- 10Toyota Motor Corporation (JP) Vehicle manufacturer117
- 11Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (JP) Vehicle manufacturer97
- 12AUDI AG (DE) Vehicle manufacturer85
- 13Compagnie Plastic Omnium (FR) Supplier83
- 14Renault SAS (FR) Vehicle manufacturer77
- 15Hyundai Mobis (KR) Supplier73
- 16Volkswagen AG (DE) Vehicle manufacturer67
- 17Geely Holding Group (CN) Vehicle manufacturer60
- 18Magna International (CA) Supplier51
- 19Dongfeng Motor Group (CN) Vehicle manufacturer48
- 20Great Wall Motor (CN) Vehicle manufacturer44
Query 6Role is an editorial attribution by mtc.berlin; all twenty are PATSTAT sector Company
Ranks 21 to 34: Mazda Motor Corporation (43), HBPO GmbH (43), Chery Automobile (40), Jaguar Land Rover (38), Röchling Automotive (37), Subaru Corporation (36), Ferrari S.p.A. (34), Yanfeng Plastic Omnium (33), Hanon Systems (30), Chongqing Chang'an Automobile (28), Jilin University (27), FCA US LLC (26), Denso Corporation (25), Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (25).
Counts are non-exclusive (a co-filed family counts for every applicant on it) and a lower bound: name consolidation absorbs the variants reviewed for each entity, and residual spellings below the review threshold stay separate.
05 · Dynamics
Porsche holds its rate while GM stepped back
Porsche files 35.0 families a year in 2014–2018 and 35.3 in 2019–2024, holding its lead without accelerating. A second group moved in: Hyundai Mobis from 1.6 to 10.8 a year, Renault from 3.2 to 10.2, Kia from 8.4 to 17.3, Honda from 5.4 to 11.7. A third group stepped back, led by GM Global Technology Operations from 26.2 to 6.0, with Compagnie Plastic Omnium (12.0 to 3.8), Toyota (15.0 to 7.0) and Valeo (27.0 to 16.3).
Average families filed per year, fifteen largest applicants
Data table: applicant filings by period
| Applicant | 2014–2018 families | per year | 2019–2024 families | per year | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG | 175 | 35.0 | 212 | 35.3 | 387 |
| Valeo Systèmes Thermiques | 135 | 27.0 | 98 | 16.3 | 233 |
| Mercedes-Benz Group (Daimler) | 107 | 21.4 | 103 | 17.2 | 210 |
| Stellantis (PSA Automobiles) | 71 | 14.2 | 135 | 22.5 | 206 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | 83 | 16.6 | 104 | 17.3 | 187 |
| GM Global Technology Operations | 131 | 26.2 | 36 | 6.0 | 167 |
| Kia Corporation | 42 | 8.4 | 104 | 17.3 | 146 |
| Ford Global Technologies | 78 | 15.6 | 48 | 8.0 | 126 |
| Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | 45 | 9.0 | 75 | 12.5 | 120 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | 75 | 15.0 | 42 | 7.0 | 117 |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 27 | 5.4 | 70 | 11.7 | 97 |
| AUDI AG | 47 | 9.4 | 38 | 6.3 | 85 |
| Compagnie Plastic Omnium | 60 | 12.0 | 23 | 3.8 | 83 |
| Renault SAS | 16 | 3.2 | 61 | 10.2 | 77 |
| Hyundai Mobis | 8 | 1.6 | 65 | 10.8 | 73 |
Query 6Per-year columns divide by 5 and 6
The later window contains the two provisional filing years, so every second-period rate is a floor and the declines are overstated. A family is assigned to a period by its earliest filing year.
06 · Where
China is the only large office that grew between the two windows
China is the largest filing destination with 2,407 families, ahead of the United States (1,747) and Germany (1,587). Families with a Chinese filing rise from 970 to 1,437 between the windows, while the United States (930 to 817), Germany (853 to 734) and Japan (275 to 194) each carry fewer. Whether that shift lasts cannot be settled here: the later window ends in two provisional years. 843 families (17.0%) have a WO member.
Families with a filing at each office, by period of first filing
Data table: filing offices
| Office | Families | Share of scope | Families with a granted member | Grant rate | 2014–2018 | 2019–2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN China | 2,407 | 48.5% | 1,125 | 46.7% | 970 | 1,437 |
| US United States | 1,747 | 35.2% | 1,321 | 75.6% | 930 | 817 |
| DE Germany | 1,587 | 32.0% | 605 | 38.1% | 853 | 734 |
| WO PCT | 843 | 17.0% | – | – | 452 | 391 |
| EP European Patent Office | 741 | 14.9% | 463 | 62.5% | 380 | 361 |
| FR France | 613 | 12.3% | 409 | 66.7% | 298 | 315 |
| KR Korea | 482 | 9.7% | 250 | 51.9% | 213 | 269 |
| JP Japan | 469 | 9.4% | 328 | 69.9% | 275 | 194 |
| GB United Kingdom | 150 | 3.0% | 76 | 50.7% | 88 | 62 |
| CA Canada | 120 | 2.4% | 56 | 46.7% | 63 | 57 |
Query 2Ten of 42 offices; the largest not shown is Mexico with 71 families
A family counts at every office where it has a member; the ten offices sum to 9,159 against 4,965 families. No grant rate is given for WO, because a PCT application is never granted. Grant rates for filings from 2021 onward are depressed by pendency, so the office rates mix decided and undecided cohorts and are an indication, not a success rate.
07 · Origin
German applicants are the largest recorded origin
Among families with a recorded applicant country, Germany leads with 1,132, followed by the United States (661) and France (656). Germany and France account for 1,788 country-family pairs against 1,487 for the United States, Japan and Korea combined. Korea shows the largest absolute increase between the windows, from 163 to 244, just ahead of Germany (526 to 606), consistent with the Hyundai, Kia and Mobis cluster in the applicant ranking.
Patent families by applicant country (PATSTAT-coded)
Data table: applicant countries
| Country | Families | 2014–2018 | 2019–2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE Germany | 1,132 | 526 | 606 |
| US United States | 661 | 391 | 270 |
| FR France | 656 | 317 | 339 |
| JP Japan | 419 | 211 | 208 |
| KR Korea | 407 | 163 | 244 |
| GB United Kingdom | 111 | 62 | 49 |
| CN China | 87 | 22 | 65 |
| CA Canada | 80 | 34 | 46 |
| IT Italy | 66 | 22 | 44 |
| SE Sweden | 55 | 28 | 27 |
| NL Netherlands | 26 | 9 | 17 |
| CH Switzerland | 24 | 19 | 5 |
| ES Spain | 13 | 9 | 4 |
| BE Belgium | 12 | 9 | 3 |
| FI Finland | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| AT Austria | 10 | 5 | 5 |
Query 6person_ctry_code of applicants, blanks excluded
Read the China figure with care. person_ctry_code is empty for a large share of applicant records, Chinese ones above all. China appears with 87 families while 2,407 families have a member filed at the Chinese office; the gap is far too large to be explained by origin against market alone. The sixteen countries sum to 3,770 country-family pairs, so at least 1,195 of the 4,965 families have no applicant country in this list. Every figure here is a lower bound; the ranking is more reliable than any absolute share.
08 · Inventors
No inventor is named on more than 67 families
The most frequent inventor string is BEIERL, DOMINIK with 67 families, against 387 for the largest applicant portfolio: inventive work is spread across teams. The top twelve name strings are all French or German, and eight of the twelve carry a French country code, mirroring the weight of Valeo, Stellantis and Renault among applicants.
Families per inventor name string, top twelve
Data table: most frequently named inventors
| # | Inventor name as recorded | Country | Families |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BEIERL, DOMINIK | DE | 67 |
| 2 | VACCA, FREDERIC | FR | 60 |
| 3 | MITIDIERI, ENZO | FR | 59 |
| 4 | ARAB, KARIM | FR | 52 |
| 5 | PAUL, JOACHIM | DE | 52 |
| 6 | GERBER, Sylvain | FR | 51 |
| 7 | BERTH, STEPHANE | FR | 47 |
| 8 | MAMMERI, Amrid | FR | 39 |
| 9 | AZZOUZ, KAMEL | FR | 39 |
| 10 | WOLF, THOMAS | DE | 38 |
| 11 | MARION, Laura | FR | 36 |
| 12 | Bauer, Riccardo | DE | 34 |
| 13 | BYUN JAE SUP | – | 34 |
| 14 | KIM JANG HO | – | 33 |
| 15 | HARTER, SEBASTIAN | DE | 33 |
| 16 | POSCH, TOBIAS | DE | 33 |
| 17 | WEBER, SEBASTIAN | DE | 33 |
| 18 | Auden, Joshua R. | US | 32 |
| 19 | Fahland, Jason D. | US | 30 |
| 20 | FAHLAND, JASON D. | – | 30 |
| 21 | VACCA, FRÉDÉRIC | FR | 28 |
Query 6invt_seq_nr > 0; name strings as recorded
PATSTAT harmonises applicant names but not inventor names, so this ranks name strings, not people. Rows 19 and 20 are the same spelling in two letter cases, and row 21 is row 2 with accents restored; the same person appears a third time further down the full list. Adding those rows would overstate the totals because the families overlap, so each figure is a lower bound for the person behind it. Inventor country is blank for a substantial share of records, particularly Korean ones.
09 · Partners
Co-filing is rare and mostly stays inside one group
553 of 4,965 families (11.1%) name more than one applicant. Hyundai Motor and Kia share 146 families, Kia's entire count in the ranking. The pattern repeats with Hyundai Mobis (14 with Hyundai Motor, 13 with Kia), the two Guangdong Dongjian entities (11) and Plastic Omnium with its Chinese joint venture (14). Few pairs cross company lines: Nissan and Renault (5), Subaru and Toyota (4), Aisin Seiki and Toyota (4), Hanon Systems with Hyundai Motor and with Kia (4 each). Academic partners appear three times, only in France and Germany: CNRS (4) and ENSMA (3) with Stellantis, TU München with Audi (3).
Joint patent families per applicant pair
Data table: co-applicant pairs
| Applicant A | Applicant B | Joint families | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai Motor Company | Kia Corporation | 146 | Same group |
| Hyundai Mobis | Hyundai Motor Company | 14 | Same group (supplier arm) |
| Compagnie Plastic Omnium | Yanfeng Plastic Omnium | 14 | Joint venture |
| Hyundai Mobis | Kia Corporation | 13 | Same group (supplier arm) |
| Guangdong Dongjian Automobile Intelligent System | Guangdong Dongjian Automobile Technology | 11 | Same group |
| Magna International | Manhire, Jeffrey B. | 8 | Named individual co-applicant |
| Magna International | Lindberg Braendon R. | 8 | Named individual co-applicant |
| Magna International | Matthews, Martin R. | 6 | Named individual co-applicant |
| Magna International | Povinelli, Anthony J. | 6 | Named individual co-applicant |
| Altmann Otto | Kunststoff Schwanden AG | 5 | Individual and company |
| Nissan Motor Co Ltd | Renault SAS | 5 | Cross-company alliance |
| Subaru Corporation | Toyota Motor Corporation | 4 | Cross-company |
| Aisin Seiki Co Ltd | Toyota Motor Corporation | 4 | Manufacturer and supplier |
| CNRS | Stellantis (PSA Automobiles) | 4 | Industry and public research |
| Hanon Systems | Hyundai Motor Company | 4 | Manufacturer and supplier |
| Hanon Systems | Kia Corporation | 4 | Manufacturer and supplier |
| FCA US LLC | Stellantis (PSA Automobiles) | 4 | Same group |
| Michelin (Cie Gén. des Éts.) | Bradley, Calvin Rhett | 4 | Named individual co-applicant |
| AUDI AG | Volkswagen AG | 3 | Same group |
| AUDI AG | Technische Universität München | 3 | Industry and university |
| ENSMA (Éc. Nat. Sup. de Mécanique et d'Aérotechnique) | Stellantis (PSA Automobiles) | 3 | Industry and university |
| Geely Holding Group | Zhejiang Zeekr Intelligent Technology | 3 | Same group |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America | 3 | Same group |
Query 7Relationship column is an editorial attribution by mtc.berlin
Pairs are counted at application level: both applicants must appear on the same application. Counting at family level would report an applicant as its own partner wherever offices record different spellings of one name. Name variants are consolidated before pairing, so no company appears opposite itself. Pairs with fewer than three joint families are not shown.
10 · Citations
62.0% of the families have been cited; the count falls with filing year
3,076 of the 4,965 families have received at least one forward citation, 23,341 citations in total. The average per cited family falls from 14.24 for 2014 filings to 1.21 for 2024. That decline is structural: a patent can only be cited after it publishes, and citations accumulate for years. The most-cited list is therefore drawn almost entirely from 2014–2017 filings, and impact cannot be compared across filing years.
Average forward citations per cited family, by earliest filing year
Data table: forward citations by filing cohort
| Earliest filing year | Families with ≥1 citation | Total forward citations | Average per cited family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 275 | 3,916 | 14.24 |
| 2015 | 323 | 4,861 | 15.05 |
| 2016 | 378 | 4,155 | 10.99 |
| 2017 | 441 | 3,408 | 7.73 |
| 2018 | 382 | 2,413 | 6.32 |
| 2019 | 352 | 1,742 | 4.95 |
| 2020 | 287 | 1,159 | 4.04 |
| 2021 | 276 | 970 | 3.51 |
| 2022 | 185 | 453 | 2.45 |
| 2023* | 129 | 206 | 1.60 |
| 2024* | 48 | 58 | 1.21 |
| Total | 3,076 | 23,341 | 7.59 |
Query 8Averages over cited families only
The fifteen most cited families
| DOCDB family | First filing | Citations | Applicant(s) on record | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56923516 | 2015 | 166 | China New Energy Vehicle Company Limited; Thunder Power | Battery pack, battery charging station, and charging method |
| 61801564 | 2016 | 124 | GM Global Tech Operations LLC | Battery pack mounting architecture with shear plate for electrified vehicles |
| 54545427 | 2015 | 120 | Magna Exteriors Inc; Magna Int Inc; Manhire, Jeffrey B. | Connecting rod assembly for vehicle |
| 58192155 | 2017 | 88 | Montaplast of North America Inc | Active grille shutter and shutter subassembly for use in active grille systems |
| 52824566 | 2015 | 82 | Magna Exteriors Inc; Magna Int Inc; Matthews, Martin R. | Deployable aerodynamic side panel system |
| 54545429 | 2015 | 82 | Magna Exteriors Inc; Magna Int Inc; Manhire, Jeffrey B. | Active front deflector |
| 57961432 | 2016 | 80 | Mazda Motor Corporation | Front air-rectifying structure of automotive vehicle |
| 55524261 | 2015 | 80 | Thunder Power Hong Kong Ltd | An electric vehicle power management system |
| 58691957 | 2015 | 79 | NextEV USA Inc; NIO USA Inc | Electric vehicle charging device obstacle avoidance and warning system |
| 53477021 | 2015 | 77 | Magna Exteriors Inc; Magna Int Inc; Manhire, Jeffrey B. | Active front deflector |
| 51258348 | 2014 | 72 | Montaplast of North America Inc | Active grille shutter assembly |
| 59980460 | 2016 | 71 | GM Global Tech Operations LLC | Plasma actuator for vehicle aerodynamic drag reduction |
| 54065592 | 2015 | 70 | Wabash National LP | Side skirt system for a trailer |
| 60481192 | 2016 | 67 | Ford Global Tech LLC | Methods and systems for a vehicle cooling system |
| 52144836 | 2014 | 64 | Indian Motorcycle Int LLC; Polaris Ind Inc | Two-wheeled vehicle |
Query 8Distinct citing publications for any publication of the family
Read the applicant column, not the ranking. Four of the fifteen (the Thunder Power, GM battery, NIO and Polaris families) carry an aerodynamic class alongside a main subject in electric-vehicle architecture, and earn their citations largely there. The aerodynamic entries at the top are the Magna deployable-panel and active-front-deflector families, the two Montaplast active grille shutter families and the GM plasma actuator. Citation practice differs between offices, so the ranking partly reflects where a family was published.
11 · How we counted
How the numbers were counted
Research question: who files patents on adjustable and active air deflection systems for motor vehicles (deployable spoilers, front and side air-guiding elements, underbody streamlining and adjustable radiator shutters), how has filing developed over 2014–2024, and in which markets is protection sought?
- One family, one yearA DOCDB family is in scope if any application carries one of the six places, and is assigned to the earliest filing year of any of its applications; the yearly counts add up to 4,965. Office footprint, PCT rate and co-filing are measured over all members.
- Six CPC placesB62D 37/02, B62D 35/005, 35/007, 35/008, 35/02 and B60K 11/085. Three exist only in CPC; IPC cannot distinguish front, rear and side spoilers or adjustable shutters.
- Precision decided the scopeIn the six places, two of eleven sampled families were off-topic by title (18%, inside the one-in-five limit). In the excluded branch of B62D 35/00 (35/001, 35/002, 35/004), at least four of eleven were off-topic.
- Non-exclusive breakdownsPlaces sum to 6,920 and the ten offices to 9,159 against 4,965 families. No breakdown is drawn as parts of a whole.
Checks and limits
- Data basisComputed on 15 August 2026 against EPO PATSTAT Global, Spring 2026 (patstat-mtc.patstat_2026a), IPC edition 20260101, CPC edition 202608. Subtree expansion over parent, the predecessor chain and a prefix pass over retired symbols (NOT is_active); the latter two added no symbols. A rerun on a later edition will not reproduce these figures exactly.
- How the places were foundThe catchword index points to B62D 35/00 (plus aircraft spoilers B64C 3/58 and fluid dynamics F15D 1/10, both outside the subject). A title_full search over dpt_cpc for spoiler, air deflector, streamlining, aerodynamic, air guiding, wind deflector and their plurals returned 71 candidate symbols. Definition texts for B62D 35/00, B62D 37/00 and B60K 11/08 fixed the boundary between shaping for lower drag and stabilising by aerodynamic force.
- Excluded branchThe sample in B62D 35/00 and its commercial-vehicle branch returned a bus with a panoramic windscreen, a pickup-truck toolbox and a lighting control method, with two more too generic to judge: fixed bodywork on trucks and caravans.
- Adjustable and fixed not separatedCPC places spoilers and underbody streamlining by position, not by whether the element moves. Only B62D 37/02 and B60K 11/085 are inherently about devices that act or adjust.
- Title-only families957 families with spoiler, air deflector, air dam, grille shutter, active aero or wind deflector in the title and a vehicle class; 246 of them (5.0% of the scope) are outside the scope, below the ten-percent threshold for widening it.
- IPC-only offices under-represented4,086 families carry the IPC counterparts (B62D 35/00, B62D 35/02, B62D 37/02) without a comparable CPC place, 2,829 Chinese and 501 Japanese filings; 286 families the other way. Recovering them would bring in the broad place that failed the precision check. Chinese and Japanese activity is larger than shown.
- ExclusionsDesign applications (appln_kind D) and pseudo-families (docdb_family_id = 0) are excluded. Utility models stay in scope: 167 families (3.4%) have a utility-model member.
- Applicant countryBlank for a large share of records, Chinese ones above all; at least 1,195 families have no applicant country in the ranking.
- Applicant and inventor differThe applicant owns the filing; the inventor made the invention. A German engineering team filing through a French parent is French by applicant and German by inventor, so the origin and inventor chapters answer different questions.
- NamesInventor names are not harmonised; applicant counts are a lower bound after consolidation.
- Y-code lagY02T falls from 75.7% to 49.3% between the windows while B62D and B60K hold within 1.3 points; the later figure is a floor.
- Provisional years and grants2023 and 2024 will grow; no growth statement ends in either year. Filings from 2021 onward are still under examination.
The scope CTE chain reused by Queries 3–8
Query 2queries.sql · discovery, precision sample, negative test and IPC check included
Release protocol
- Agentsearch + draftBuilt the search profile and queried PATSTAT read-only through the patstat-mcp server. Every number comes from SQL.
- Checks13 rulesEvery claim must trace back to a query; chart and table must agree.
- Reviewsubject expertChecks scope, counts and wording before publication.
- Approvalsecond personA second person not involved in the report approves publication.
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