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The Boeing Company is a US-based aerospace and defense company and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, and space systems, with a patent portfolio spanning aircraft structures and aerodynamics, composite materials and manufacturing, propulsion integration and nacelles, avionics and flight control systems, cockpit and cabin systems, wing and winglet design, additive manufacturing and assembly automation, satellites and launch systems, uncrewed and autonomous vehicles, and defense and weapons systems. Its filings cover airframe and structural design, composite layup and bonding processes, flight management and navigation, fuel and hydraulic systems, aircraft health monitoring, and space and defense platform technologies. The company operates through its Commercial Airplanes, Defense, Space & Security, and Global Services segments, and the portfolio reflects more than a century of aerospace engineering research across multiple decades and jurisdictions.
Boeing’s patent portfolio comprises 71,211 patents distributed across 27,897 simple families and 26,209 extended families. The portfolio spans 57 jurisdictions and includes patents associated with commercial and military aircraft, composite structures, avionics, propulsion integration, space systems, and related manufacturing technologies.
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Boeing’s portfolio consists of 43,841 active assets and 27,334 inactive assets, an active ratio of approximately 62%. Active holdings include 35,955 granted patents and 7,886 patent applications. The high ratio of granted patents to pending applications reflects a mature portfolio built on decades of aerospace research. Inactive assets comprise expired patents, patents expired due to term or maintenance fees, withdrawn applications, and abandoned applications.
Boeing’s patents span 57 jurisdictions, with the United States accounting for the largest share of filings and grants.
Total Patents: 71,211
The portfolio is distributed across North America, Europe, and Asia, with the United States accounting for the largest concentration, followed by the European Patent Office, China, and Japan. The broad international coverage, including notable holdings in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Spain, reflects the global nature of the aerospace market, its major supplier and customer bases, and Boeing’s competition with Europe-based Airbus.
Boeing’s patent portfolio is led by the industrial domain, which in this classification captures aircraft structures, manufacturing processes, and mechanical systems, followed by a large automotive share of roughly 21% that reflects the RPX taxonomy grouping vehicle and transportation technologies, which for Boeing covers airframe, propulsion integration, and platform systems. The substantial computer systems, software, and networking shares together reflect Boeing’s extensive avionics, flight control, and connected-aircraft technology.
The citation data maps directly onto the global aerospace and defense sector. Beyond Boeing itself, the largest citation volumes involve its principal competitors and suppliers, including RTX, Airbus, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, and Safran, alongside the United States government, reflecting the deep interconnection between commercial aerospace, defense primes, and government-funded research. Several of these entities, including Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and RTX (Raytheon), are covered elsewhere in this report series.
Litigation Activities
Boeing’s litigation dataset includes 51 patents that have been involved in litigation matters, 20 reexaminations, 5 petitions, and 246 Chinese Patent Reexamination Board proceedings. The dataset also includes 5 active cases, 55 inactive cases, and 116 related parties, with no appeals recorded. The relatively modest US litigation footprint is consistent with the concentrated, government-linked nature of the aerospace and defense sector.
Boeing’s patent portfolio consists of 68,541 originally assigned patents and 2,670 acquired patents, meaning approximately 96% of the portfolio was developed internally. Acquired patents originate largely from operating companies, reflecting Boeing’s history of aerospace and defense acquisitions rather than technology purchases.
2025 – Spirit AeroSystems (~US$8.4 billion)
Boeing completed its acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings on 8 December 2025 for total consideration of approximately US$8.4 billion, comprising Boeing stock exchanged for Spirit shares, settlement of loans and advances, and repayment of Spirit debt. The deal reintegrated Boeing’s largest structures supplier, originally divested in 2005, bringing fuselage and structural manufacturing for the 737 and 787 back in-house to improve quality and production stability. Provisional goodwill of roughly US$10.3 billion was assigned to the Commercial Airplanes segment, and early integration produced double-digit reductions in final assembly rework hours.
2025 – Next-Generation Air Dominance (F-47) fighter award
In March 2025 Boeing won the US Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance contract to build the sixth-generation F-47 fighter, a landmark award taken in an upset over Lockheed Martin, which had dominated recent fighter programs. The win reset the outlook for Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security segment, which returned to profitability after booking multi-billion-dollar losses on fixed-price programs in prior years.
Boeing’s portfolio and corporate scale reflect a long history of major aerospace acquisitions, including the 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas, the acquisition of Rockwell’s aerospace and defense business, Hughes Space and Communications, Jeppesen, Aviall, and KLX Aerospace, as well as the 2018 formation of the Boeing Aurora Flight Sciences autonomous systems business.
The Boeing Company is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BA) and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500. It operates through Commercial Airplanes, Defense, Space & Security, and Global Services segments, and is in the midst of an operational turnaround under CEO Kelly Ortberg focused on production stability, quality, and cash generation.
The Boeing Company
929 Long Bridge Drive
Arlington, VA 22202, United States
Boeing’s global headquarters are located in Arlington, Virginia, with major operations in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, South Carolina, and St. Louis, Missouri.
Boeing’s patent portfolio includes 71,211 patents across 57 jurisdictions. The portfolio contains patent assets in aircraft structures and aerodynamics, composite materials and manufacturing, propulsion integration, avionics and flight control, cabin and cockpit systems, satellites and space systems, uncrewed and autonomous vehicles, and defense platforms.
The portfolio includes 27,897 simple families, 26,209 extended families, 6 litigated patents, and 2 challenged patents, with 43,841 active assets of which 7,886 are pending applications.
Boeing’s patent portfolio contains 71,211 patents across 57 jurisdictions. The portfolio includes 27,897 simple families and 26,209 extended families.
The industrial domain leads at roughly 29%, covering aircraft structures and manufacturing, followed by automotive at 21% (an RPX grouping that captures vehicle and platform technologies), and computer systems, software, and networking together reflecting Boeing’s avionics and connected-aircraft technology.
Boeing’s portfolio includes 43,841 active patent assets, consisting of 35,955 active grants and 7,886 active applications.
The United States contains the largest number of Boeing patent assets, followed by the European Patent Office, China, Japan, Canada, and World Intellectual Property Organization filings.
The litigation dataset includes 51 patents in litigation, 20 reexaminations, 5 petitions, and 246 Chinese PRB proceedings, alongside 116 related parties.
The portfolio contains 68,541 originally assigned patents and 2,670 acquired patents, meaning approximately 96% was developed internally.
The citation data includes significant references involving RTX, Airbus, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, and Safran, alongside the United States government.
Boeing completed its approximately US$8.4 billion acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems in December 2025, reintegrating its largest structures supplier, and in 2025 won the US Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance contract to build the sixth-generation F-47 fighter.
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