Technology Topic
Drone and UAV Patent Classification
Unmanned aerial vehicles received their own IPC subclass in 2023: B64U. Its filing curve is one of the steepest in the current classification, from a few hundred applications a year in the late 2010s to over ten thousand in 2023.
Before B64U, drone patents were classified as aeroplanes in B64C. The autonomy stack, flight control, path planning, swarm coordination, sits in G05D.
The classification codes that matter
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
UAVs as such: airframes, rotors, payloads, launch and landing equipment. Dedicated subclass since 2023.
2018 → 2023: 475 → 12,831 filings (+2,601 %)
AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
Aeroplanes and helicopters: the pre-2023 home of drone patents, still used for aerodynamic detail.
2018 → 2023: 17,439 → 9,217 filings (-47 %)
SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
Autonomous control systems: flight control, navigation and path planning for unmanned vehicles.
2018 → 2023: 27,789 → 22,402 filings (-19 %)
Who files here: top applicants
- 1 BOEING COMPANY (US) 10,399
- 2 AIRBUS OPERATIONS (GB) 8,271
- 3 FANUC (JP) 7,214
- 4 SIEMENS (DE) 4,725
- 5 SGCC(STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA) 4,571
IPC filings 2013–2023, aggregated across the codes above. Source: EPO PATSTAT.
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