5G O-RAN Open Interfaces Patent Landscape 2026
Samsung Electronics holds a commanding position in the 5G O-RAN and open interfaces patent space, with the top five filers collectively accounting for more than half of the hundred largest filers’ combined total. The field remains in a growth phase on a multi-year basis, though annual volume eased from its 2023 peak, and operators and new entrants are rapidly reshaping the competitive structure.
Samsung leads a highly concentrated field with a substantial tier gap
Samsung Electronics holds the top rank with 411 patent families, more than double the second-ranked filer AT&T Intellectual Property (170 patent families), establishing a clear lead that no single challenger yet approaches.
The top five filers — Samsung Electronics, AT&T Intellectual Property, InterDigital. Patent Holdings, Ericsson, and Qualcomm — together account for 53% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, signaling high concentration at the apex while the mid-tier remains contested.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 411 | |
| 2 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I L P | 170 | |
| 3 | InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc. | 132 | |
| 4 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) | 121 | |
| 5 | Qualcomm Incorporated | 78 | |
| 6 | Intel Corporation | 62 | |
| 7 | Boost Subscriberco LLC | 59 | |
| 8 | Jio Platforms Limited | 49 | |
| 9 | DISH Wireless LLC | 43 | |
| 10 | LG Electronics Inc. | 38 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 37 | |
| 12 | Apple Inc. | 33 | |
| 13 | Parallel Wireless Inc. | 31 | |
| 14 | AT&T MOBILITY II LLC | 28 | |
| 15 | Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC | 26 | |
| 16 | Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd. | 23 | |
| 17 | Cisco Technology Inc. | 23 | |
| 18 | Charter Communications Operating LLC | 22 | |
| 19 | NVIDIA Corporation | 20 | |
| 20 | Nokia Technologies Oy | 19 |
Samsung’s dominance across wireless network architecture subclasses, combined with its strong momentum trajectory, means any new entrant or challenger must either occupy differentiated sub-domains or accept competing directly against a deeply entrenched portfolio.
Filing counts for 2024–2026 are understated due to standard patent publication lag of 18–24 months; apparent softness in those years should not be interpreted as a real slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year expansion with wireless network architecture dominating the technology mix
Annual filing volume grew steadily from 2017 through 2023, with the recent three-year window sitting well above the prior three-year window at +45%. The technology composition is heavily anchored in wireless communication networks, with adjacent digital transmission and AI subclasses representing thinner but strategically relevant coverage.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed from 55 in 2017 to a peak of 327 in 2023, reflecting rapid technology and standardization activity. The apparent drop in 2024 and 2025 reflects publication lag rather than a real decline; those years remain materially under-counted.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04W (wireless communication networks) dominates with 1,571 records, followed by H04L (digital information transmission) at 789 records. Branches such as G06N (AI models) at 48 records and G01S (radar and positioning) at 31 records are present but sparse relative to the core, pointing to areas where coverage is thin.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
User interface for 5G radio access network (RAN) t…
Techniques are disclosed for a user interface for displaying a topology representation of infrastructure of a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN), such as an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) 5G infrastructure. For example, a computing system displays, via a user interface, first icons, each icon of the first icons representing first components providing Level-1… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radio Download Control Channel | 380 |
| 2 | Systems, methods and devices for control-user plan… | 188 |
| 3 | Improvements in dual connectivity for different ac… | 102 |
| 4 | Apparatus, system and method to implement reserved… | 84 |
| 5 | Configuration of fixed tracking areas and fixed ce… | 76 |
| 6 | Efficient and reliable data transfer in 5g systems | 74 |
| 7 | Uu interface enhancement for NR v2x | 65 |
| 8 | Method and apparatus for supporting network slicin… | 61 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of high concentration, operator-led new entry, and a still-expanding filing base creates an asymmetric competitive environment. Engineers and strategists need to weigh where incumbents are dense versus where adjacent technical territory is genuinely open.
Growth phase with easing annual volume from the 2023 peak
The lifecycle evidence places this field firmly in Growth: the recent three-year filing window is 45% above the prior three-year window. Annual volume peaked in 2023 at 327 families and has eased since, partly due to publication lag artificially compressing recent counts. The field is expanding on a multi-year basis but is no longer in an acceleration phase, suggesting that foundational interface and architecture claims are increasingly filed while differentiation is shifting to system-level and AI-integrated sub-domains.
Growth · post-2023 peakTop-heavy with a distinct tier gap after rank five
The top five filers hold 53% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, and Samsung alone accounts for 411 patent families — roughly 2.4 times the second-ranked filer. The mid-tier, from Intel (62 families) through Nokia Technologies (19 families), is fragmented, offering more room for targeted portfolio building. New entrants such as DISH Wireless and JIO Platforms have filed aggressively and appear as significant presences, indicating operator-side IP strategy is accelerating.
Highly concentratedCo-filing concentrated within the AT&T corporate family
The most active co-filing relationship identified is between AT&T Intellectual Property and AT&T Mobility II, with 24 jointly filed families, reflecting intra-group coordination on O-RAN deployment architecture. AT&T Intellectual Property also co-filed 4 families with AT&T Technical Services and 1 with Interwise. DISH Wireless co-filed 1 family with DISH Network Technologies India. Cross-company collaboration outside single corporate families is not prominent in the evidence, suggesting most players are building independent portfolios rather than consortium-based ones.
Intra-group dominantUS-led filing with meaningful EPO and PCT coverage
The United States is the leading jurisdiction with 590 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 403 and WIPO (PCT) at 263, indicating that leading filers are pursuing broad multi-region protection. India appears at 148 records — notable given JIO Platforms’ emergence as a significant filer — while China at 86 and Japan at 93 are present but secondary. South Korea at 5 records appears low relative to Samsung’s dominance, which may reflect family consolidation or home-jurisdiction filing strategies.
US-centric, global reachGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | AT&T移动第二有限责任公司 | 24 |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | AT&T TECHNICAL SERVICES CO INC | 4 |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | INTERWISE CO LTD | 1 |
| DISH Wireless LLC | DISH NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PTE LTD | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Samsung accelerates while operators emerge as structural challengers
The leader board is split between device and infrastructure incumbents with deep wireless architecture portfolios and operators building IP around open, disaggregated RAN deployment. Momentum diverges sharply across the top filers.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics holds 411 patent families and is accelerating, with recent filings up 66% versus the prior period. Its technology focus is concentrated in H04W 88 (network architecture) and H04W 92 (inter-network interfaces), with H04W 72 (resource management) as a third pillar — a broad, foundational coverage pattern that reinforces its structural advantage across O-RAN specification layers.
patent families: 411DISH Wireless
DISH Wireless enters the ranking as a new entrant with 43 patent families but a recent-period count of 87 — indicating concentrated, rapid filing activity. Its emphasis on H04L 41 (network management and operations) and H04W 24 (quality and monitoring) reflects an operator building IP specifically around open RAN orchestration and management-plane interfaces, a strategically distinct angle from the device-side incumbents.
patent families: 43| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 216 | ▲ +66% |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | 51 | ▼ -47% |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) | 50 | ▬ -2% |
| DISH Wireless LLC | 87 | ▲ new entrant |
| InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc. | 71 | ▲ new entrant |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 16 | ▼ -56% |
| Intel Corporation | 36 | ▲ +89% |
| Jio Platforms Limited | 48 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth watching in O-RAN
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant H04W core carry low patent-record counts relative to their technical relevance to O-RAN disaggregation and intelligent RAN management. These represent observations of relative sparsity; entry value depends on specific technical and commercial context.
G06N · AI and machine learning models
With 48 patent records, AI model integration sits at 2% share of the technology composition despite being central to RAN intelligent controller (RIC) use cases in O-RAN architecture. The technical connection — xApp and rApp logic running on the RIC relies on inference models — is direct, yet the patent coverage is thin. Teams developing AI-native RAN optimization or closed-loop automation have observable room to establish claims, though the low count may partly reflect classification conventions routing some AI-in-RAN work under H04W.
Search this in Eureka →G01S · Radar, sonar and positioning
G01S carries 31 patent records at 1% share, pointing to sparse coverage at the intersection of O-RAN open interfaces and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) — a capability being actively standardized for 5G-Advanced and 6G. The technical entry path involves positioning reference signals and sensing data planes exposed through open fronthaul or E2 interfaces. Coverage here is low enough that a focused filing strategy could establish an early position, though commercial deployment timelines for ISAC remain early.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ across O-RAN technology routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H04W 88 · Wireless communication networks | H04W 92 · Wireless communication networks | H04L 41 · Digital information transmission | H04W 76 · Wireless communication networks | H04W 24 · Wireless communication networks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Strong · 337 | Strong · 190 | Moderate · 73 | Moderate · 88 | Moderate · 81 |
| AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Strong · 103 | Emerging · 18 | Strong · 53 | Moderate · 38 | Moderate · 35 |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) | Strong · 55 | Strong · 37 | Strong · 41 | Strong · 36 | Strong · 32 |
| DISH Wireless LLC | Moderate · 28 | Absent | Strong · 73 | Absent | Strong · 40 |
| InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc. | Strong · 44 | Strong · 36 | Moderate · 19 | Strong · 39 | Absent |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | Strong · 66 | Moderate · 15 | Absent | Moderate · 15 | Absent |
| Convida Wireless LLC | Strong · 29 | Strong · 16 | Absent | Strong · 15 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 1,665 patent families related to 5G O-RAN and open interfaces.
Samsung Electronics is the top filer with 411 patent families, more than double the second-ranked filer AT&T Intellectual Property at 170 patent families.
The field is in a Growth lifecycle stage. The recent three-year filing window is 45% above the prior three-year window, indicating multi-year expansion. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, though 2024 and 2025 counts are further reduced by publication lag and should not be read as a real decline.
The United States leads with 590 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 403, WIPO (PCT) at 263, India at 148, Japan at 93, and China at 86. Multiple jurisdictions can cover the same family, so these counts are at the patent-record level.
Both segments are active. DISH Wireless and JIO Platforms appear as new entrants with concentrated recent filing activity, and AT&T Intellectual Property holds 170 patent families. Operators are building IP particularly around management-plane, orchestration, and network operation interfaces — a distinct angle from device and chipset makers.
The most cited work in the corpus covers topics including Radio Download Control Channel (380 citations), control and user plane separation for 5G systems (188 citations), dual connectivity for different access types (102 citations), and reserved resource implementation methods (84 citations). Network slicing support and efficient 5G data transfer are also among the most cited subject areas.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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