Electrolyzers patents analysis using TIP

The patent dataset analyzed is based on search criteria dealing with electrolyzer technology for hydrogen production, namely focusing on electrolytic water splitting systems, while incorporating comprehensive materials analysis to assess critical element dependencies. The dataset is defined through a dual-strategy approach combining keyword-based detection with IPC classification filtering from the EPO database PATSTAT (Spring 2025 ed.), targeting patent documents containing hydrogen production patterns alongside specific IPC codes including C25B 1/02 (electrolysis of water), C25B 1/04 (electrolysis of inorganic compounds), and C25B 1/042 (electrolysis of alkaline compounds). The first step involves comprehensive dataset creation from multiple sources, generating 18,811 unique patent families spanning 2000-2023, with enhanced bibliographic data extraction achieving 99.99% success rate across titles, abstracts, and claims.

The analysis focuses on applications filed worldwide across 69+ patent authorities (including national and supranational jurisdictions such as EPO, WIPO, USPTO, and CNIPA) to evaluate meaningful trends in electrolyzer innovation from early-stage development through recent commercialization acceleration. Patent filing patterns reveal distinct innovation waves, with particular acceleration during 2010-2014 and 2020-2023 periods, indicating technology maturation phases. A subsequent critical enhancement involves patent family dimension analysis, examining geographical diversity and family sizes across publication authorities using hierarchical priority selection (EP → WO → US → CN → Others), revealing strategic differentiation between comprehensive international protection (EP: avg 5.84 authorities per family) and domestic market focus (CN: avg 1.01 authorities per family).

The assessment encompasses triadic family analysis identifying 327 elite patents with simultaneous US-granted, EP, and JP presence, representing highest commercial value innovations. Subsequently, comprehensive materials analysis addresses strategic element dependencies, examining rare earth elements (REE), platinum group metals (PGM), base metals, and critical raw materials to assess supply chain risks and manufacturing scalability. Forward citation analysis of 69,134 citation relationships maps knowledge transfer patterns and technological influence networks. The methodology culminates in applicant ranking analysis across 12,711 unique entities, revealing competitive landscape dynamics with Chinese Academy of Sciences leading innovation output (308 families) while maintaining distributed innovation patterns (top 10 applicants control only 7.6% of families).

All analytic steps described above were performed by means of "Technology Intelligence Platform" (TIP) the tool recently made available by the European Patent Office (https://www.epo.org/en/searching-for-patents/data/technology-intelligence-platform).