Active Noise Control Patents: Who Leads, Where Filings Cooled 2026
- Filings have cooled since the 2022 peak. 146 families in 2022 against 55 in 2017, with the curve now flattening rather than climbing — a sign that core feedforward and secondary-path claim territory is largely staked out.
- One IPC subclass dominates. G10K (acoustics & sound generation) covers 1,480 of 1,610 records, nearly four times the next largest subclass, H04R (loudspeakers & transducers) at 370 — most of the contest is happening inside one classification, not spread across many.
- Momentum has stalled even among the biggest names. Harman, Apple, Honda, Qualcomm and Cirrus Logic all show zero filings in the latest tracked year, consistent with a publication lag rather than an exit — but it means the visible ranking is already a year or more behind reality.
Filing growth compares 2021 (102 records) with 2024 (73) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,610 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the active noise control patent record shows
Active noise control (ANC) systems cancel unwanted sound by generating an inverse acoustic signal, and the patent record concentrates around the control-theory core of that problem: reference microphone placement, secondary path estimation, LMS-family adaptive filters and feedforward architectures. The search corpus spans 1,610 patent families filed between 2015 and 2026, drawn primarily from the United States, European, Chinese, PCT, Japanese and UK offices, reflecting where headphone, automotive and telecom OEMs seek protection first.
Filing activity rose steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2022, and has since flattened — a pattern more consistent with claim space filling up than with the technology cooling off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years in any chart understate real activity; treat the most recent data points as a floor, not a ceiling.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,610-family dataset: filings over time, and where those filings sit across the International Patent Classification.
A peak in 2022, then a plateau
Filings grew from 55 in 2017 to a peak of 146 in 2022, then leveled off through the most recent tracked years. Read the tail end cautiously: the 2026 figure is partial and will rise as pending applications publish.
One subclass carries most of the weight
G10K accounts for 1,480 of the 1,610 records, with H04R (370) and G10L (140) as the next largest groups. Smaller counts in A61F, B60R, H03B, H03H and H04B mark where ANC claims cross into hearing devices, vehicle cabins, oscillator design and RF transmission — narrower but potentially less contested ground.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,610 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Active Noise Control Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about active noise control systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe prior art doing the most citation work
US20160300563A1 — Active noise cancellation featuring secondary path estimation (Qualcomm)
Techniques for robust estimation of a secondary path transfer function in an active noise cancellation (ANC) system are disclosed. The estimation techniques do not rely on a pilot signal. In addition, the techniques provide good approximations of secondary path transfer functions, and further, they can greatly reduce the risk of instability in feedback ANC systems. In one aspect, a secondary path transfer function estimation method includes receiving a first environmental signal (e.g., a reference microphone signal) and a second environmental signal (e.g., an error microphone signal) at an ANC system. The secondary path transfer function is then estimated based on the first environmental sigAbstract excerpted as published.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20110007907A1 | Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for adaptive active noise cancellation | 406 |
| 2 | US20100014685A1 | Adaptive noise control system | 335 |
| 3 | US20050207585A1 | Active noise tuning system | 270 |
| 4 | US5940519A | Active noise control system and method for on-line feedback path modeling and on-line secondary path modeling | 244 |
| 5 | US20110299695A1 | Active noise cancellation decisions in a portable audio device | 217 |
| 6 | US20080181422A1 | Active noise control system | 211 |
| 7 | US5481615A | Audio reproduction system | 208 |
| 8 | US6278786B1 | Active noise cancellation aircraft headset system | 207 |
| 9 | US20140044275A1 | Active noise control with compensation for error sensing at the eardrum | 204 |
| 10 | US20100124337A1 | Quiet zone control system | 185 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate references inside this corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of present-day importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against filing dates and classification codes.
Core acoustics claims are the densest ground
Nearly all activity sits inside G10K, meaning the fundamental control loop — reference sensing, adaptive filtering, secondary path modeling — has been claimed repeatedly across a decade of filings. New entrants competing directly on this loop face a crowded field.
The filing curve has flattened since 2022
Growth from 2017 to 2022 was substantial; since then the trend has been flat to declining. Given the ~18-month publication lag, the 2025-2026 figures will revise upward, but the shape of the slowdown from the 2022 peak is already visible.
Leaderboard rankings are lagging indicators
Harman, Apple, Honda, Qualcomm and Cirrus Logic each show zero filings in the most recent tracked year. That is consistent with publication lag rather than withdrawal from the field, but it means today's visible ranking reflects filing decisions made a year or more ago.
Co-filing is rare and concentrated
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest by far links two Japanese manufacturers at 17 shared filings — most other pairings sit at single digits. Joint filing is the exception here, not the norm.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to active noise control systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is thinning
The assignee ranking spans automotive audio suppliers, consumer electronics makers and semiconductor firms, with filing pace uneven across all of them in the most recent tracked year.
Cabin noise specialists have gone quiet in the latest data
Assignees historically strong in vehicle cabin noise control show a sharp drop-off in the most recent tracked year. Given publication lag, this likely reflects filings still in the pipeline rather than a retreat from the space.
Headphone and mobile-device filers show the same lag pattern
Large consumer electronics assignees show zero recorded filings in the latest year, matching the pattern seen across the wider dataset rather than signalling reduced R&D investment in ANC for wearables and mobile devices.
Chipset vendors file individually more than jointly
Semiconductor and audio-chipset assignees appear repeatedly in the ranking but co-file infrequently; the strongest chipset-linked pairing tops out at three shared filings, well below the leading cross-company pair.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH | 0 | -100% |
| Harman International Industries, Incorporated | 0 | -100% |
| Apple Inc. | 0 | — |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 0 | — |
| Cirrus Logic International Semiconductor Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Google LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Bose Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with a dense, well-claimed core and thinner claim density at its edges. The next steps depend on whether the goal is defensive clearance or a genuine white-space filing.
Map claims against the G10K core before filing
With 1,480 of 1,610 records sitting in one subclass, a freedom-to-operate check against feedforward and secondary-path claims should come before any drafting work on core ANC control loops.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the lagging assignees directly
Zero-filing years for major assignees are likely a reporting lag, not a strategy shift. Set up monitoring on those specific entities to catch newly published filings as they clear the 18-month lag.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaTest the under-claimed crossover branches
Lower filing density in A61F, B60R, H03B, H03H and H04B crossovers suggests room for narrowly scoped claims tied to specific hardware contexts rather than the general control loop.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions about active noise control patents
This dataset tracks 1,610 patent families filed between 2015 and 2026 across major offices including the US, EPO, China, WIPO, Japan and the UK. Filing activity rose from 55 families in 2017 to a peak of 146 in 2022, then flattened. The apparent drop in the most recent years is partly a data artefact: publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so recent totals will revise upward as pending applications publish.
The ranking includes automotive audio suppliers such as Harman-affiliated entities, consumer electronics firms including Apple and Honda, and semiconductor and chipset companies such as Qualcomm and Cirrus Logic. Several of these top-ranked assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, which is more likely a publication-lag effect than a signal that they have stopped investing in the technology. Co-filing between assignees is uncommon, with only ten identified co-assignee pairs and most of those in the single digits.
The overwhelming majority of records, 1,480 of 1,610, fall under IPC subclass G10K, which covers acoustics and sound generation broadly, including the core feedforward control, reference-microphone sensing and secondary-path estimation techniques central to ANC. Loudspeaker and transducer-related claims (H04R) and speech/audio processing claims (G10L) form the next largest groups. Smaller counts appear in implant, vehicle, oscillator and filter-related classifications, marking narrower crossover applications.
Growth has slowed markedly since a peak of 146 filed families in 2022, with the trend since then flat to declining rather than climbing. That does not necessarily mean underlying R&D has slowed to the same degree, since the newest filings in any dataset are always undercounted due to the roughly 18-month gap between filing and publication. Still, the plateau suggests that core control-loop claim space is increasingly occupied, pushing new filers toward narrower or adjacent applications.
The clearest opportunities sit outside the dense G10K core, in crossover areas with comparatively low filing counts: hearing-aid and implant-related secondary path modeling, vehicle-cabin multi-reference feedforward arrays, oscillator-driven cancellation circuits, and impedance-filter co-design for ANC. These branches show real filing activity but at a fraction of the density seen in the core acoustics classification, which typically means narrower prior art to design around rather than an empty field.
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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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.