Airbus was founded in 1970 by Bernard Lathiere, Felix Kracht, Franz Josef Strauss, Henri Ziegler and Roger Beteille. The company is doing business in Aviation & Aerospace. The Company offers a range of Aerospace, Defence, Space, Innovation, Cyber Security, IT, and Engineering. As of November 2021, Airbus has a market cap of $100.07 Billion.
Airbus has a total of 58850 patents globally, out of which 36554 have been granted. Of these 58850 patents, more than 51% patents are active. USA is where Airbus has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and Germany and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for Airbus is USA and Europe. France seems to be the main focused R&D center.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Airbus which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Airbus’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Airbus’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does Airbus have?
Airbus has a total of 58850 patents globally. These patents belong to 18136 unique patent families. Out of 58850 patents, 30221 patents are active.
How many Airbus patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Airbus File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | Airbus Applications Filed | Airbus Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 3247 | 2024 |
| 2012 | 3189 | 2464 |
| 2013 | 2986 | 2720 |
| 2014 | 3064 | 2539 |
| 2015 | 3015 | 2348 |
| 2016 | 2912 | 2641 |
| 2017 | 2345 | 2515 |
| 2018 | 2511 | 2343 |
| 2019 | 2656 | 2429 |
| 2020 | 1374 | 1972 |
| 2021 | 338 | 1471 |
How Many Patents did Airbus File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Airbus Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 12294 |
| Europe | 9589 |
| Germany | 7703 |
| France | 6283 |
| China | 4395 |
| Canada | 2948 |
| Japan | 2014 |
| United Kingdom | 1672 |
| Spain | 1667 |
| Russia | 1550 |
| Brazil | 1388 |
| Austria | 1291 |
| India | 475 |
| Korea (South) | 401 |
| Australia | 272 |
| Poland | 143 |
| Israel | 134 |
| Italy | 107 |
| Singapore | 84 |
| Denmark | 51 |
| Norway | 36 |
| South Africa | 29 |
| Mexico | 26 |
| Ukraine | 20 |
| Portugal | 20 |
| Eurasian Patent Organization | 18 |
| Finland | 16 |
| Netherlands | 14 |
| Malaysia | 14 |
| Hungary | 13 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 12 |
| Turkey | 10 |
| Tunisia | 9 |
| New Zealand | 8 |
| Sweden | 7 |
| Switzerland | 4 |
| Taiwan | 4 |
| Luxembourg | 4 |
| Slovenia | 4 |
| Belgium | 3 |
| Chile | 3 |
| Morocco | 3 |
| Czech Republic | 3 |
| Gulf Cooperation Council | 3 |
| Indonesia | 3 |
| Kazakhstan | 1 |
| Cyprus | 1 |
| Viet Nam | 1 |
| Belarus | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Philippines | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Airbus Patents Located?
10 Best Airbus Patents
US8390402B2 is the most popular patent in the Airbus portfolio. It has received 227 citations so far from companies like At&T, Etegent Technologies and Csem Sa.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Airbus:
| Publication Number | Title | Citation Count |
| US8390402B2 | Waveguide Comprised Of Various Flexible Inner Dielectric Regions | 227 |
| US6613258B1 | Method For Making Parts In Composite Material With Thermoplastic Matrix | 200 |
| US6364250B1 | Shell Component For An Aircraft Fuselage And Method Of Manufacturing The Same | 180 |
| US7056402B2 | Technical Production Method, Tension Module And Sewing Material Holder For Creating Textile Preforms For The Production Of Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Components | 171 |
| US6296957B1 | Energy Supply Unit On Board An Aircraft | 169 |
| WO2006061865A1 | High Efficiency Antenna And Related Manufacturing Process | 165 |
| US6260793B1 | Convertible Aircraft With Tilting Rotors | 148 |
| US6294859B1 | Electrostrictive Or Piezoelectric Actuator Device With A Stroke Amplifying Transmission Mechanism | 135 |
| US6179086B1 | Noise Attenuating Sandwich Composite Panel | 127 |
| US6607161B1 | Convertible Aircraft With Tilting Rotors | 120 |
Which Companies are using Airbus Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents or patents from a particular technology area of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies that the technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top citing companies of the Airbus patent portfolio are Boeing, Honeywell and Rolls-Royce Holdings.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Boeing | 850 |
| Honeywell | 178 |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings | 118 |
| Thales Group | 117 |
| Bell Helicopter Textron Inc | 111 |
| General Electric | 110 |
| Utc Aerospace Systems | 109 |
| Sikorsky Aircraft | 79 |
| United Technologies Corporation | 63 |
| Textron Innovations Inc | 63 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Airbus Patents
Top Airbus Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US7926261B2 | 14 |
| US20140140882A1 | 14 |
| US9040821B2 | 13 |
| US8715405B2 | 13 |
| US6149749A | 13 |
| US9770876B2 | 11 |
| US8814085B2 | 11 |
| US8499822B2 | 11 |
| US8145966B2 | 11 |
| US6941204B2 | 11 |
| US9533765B2 | 10 |
| US9187188B2 | 10 |
| US6843953B2 | 10 |
| US6328258B1 | 10 |
| US7207525B2 | 10 |
| US9952593B2 | 9 |
| US9567099B2 | 9 |
| US9194285B2 | 9 |
| US8849636B2 | 9 |
What Percentage of Airbus US Patent Applications were Granted?
Airbus (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 3396 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 2909 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 87.83%.
Below are the key stats of Airbus patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Airbus?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Oblon Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt | 423 | 92.43% |
| Lerner David Littenberg | 330 | 80.95% |
| Crowell & Moring | 307 | 93.49% |
| Dickinson Wright | 199 | 97.49% |
| Jenkins Wilson Taylor & Hunt | 183 | 84.71% |
| Fasse Patent Attorneys | 171 | 98.25% |
| Greer Burns & Crain | 166 | 81.63% |
| Nixon & Vanderhye | 146 | 80.77% |
| Perman & Green | 146 | 89.73% |
| Ladas & Parry | 92 | 72.83% |
When great ideas, people, and difficulties collide, innovation occurs. These intersections happen at Airbus through collaborating with an innovation ecosystem – from within Airbus to outside the company – to turn unique ideas into aerospace breakthroughs faster than ever before.
The Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACIC) develops aerospace solutions that improve people’s lives. Airbus is speeding up the development of some of the most promising and disruptive technologies that will shape the future of aviation in China. Tomorrow’s innovations are tested in a real-world context at Airbus Flightlab. Today, the Airbus Flightlab ecosystem provides access to flight test platforms for all of Airbus’ business lines, including commercial aircraft and helicopters, as well as defence and space.
Airbus UpNext focuses on flying future technology at speeds that are far greater than what is currently possible. It is actively shaping the future of the aerospace sector in this way. Along with this, advances has been done in cutting-edge cybersecurity research in a range of fields, pushing the boundaries of cyber innovation. As a result, it is aggressively addressing today’s digital dangers – as well as preparing for tomorrow’s challenges – to maintain business continuity and assist secure people, property, and information.
What are Airbus’s key innovation segments? What can you expect next?
What Technologies are Covered by Airbus Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Airbus in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Airbus thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Airbus Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by Airbus?