Atomic Layer Deposition Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
Atomic Layer Deposition Equipment and Precursors Patents
40.6% of all 6,860 records sit with just five assignees, with a steep drop from the leader's 692 records to 266 at fifth place. Filings ran from 386 in 2017 to a peak of 551 in 2020. Volume fell from 475 in 2021 to 339 in 2024, a -29% change over that span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent years understate actual filing activity and should not be read as a slowdown.
- 1APPLIED MATERIALS INC10.1%
- 2ASM IP HLDG BV9.8%
- 3LAM RES CORP9.2%
- 4VERSUM MATERIALS US LLC7.7%
- 5TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO LTD3.9%
See the full atomic layer deposition equipment and precursors analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Frequently asked questions
Who holds the most atomic layer deposition patents?
Filing is concentrated among a small group of equipment and materials suppliers: the top five ranked assignees together account for 40.6% of the 6,860 records in scope, and the top ten account for 54.7%. The single leading assignee holds 692 records, with a steep drop to the fifth-place holder at 266 and the tenth-place holder at 130. This concentration reflects decades of accumulated filing by the same core group of semiconductor equipment and specialty chemicals companies, not a recent land grab.
Is ALD patent filing activity growing or slowing down?
Filings peaked in 2020 at 551 in this dataset, then declined from 475 in 2021 to 339 in 2024, a -29% change over that three-year window. Figures for 2025 and 2026 appear much lower, but that is expected: publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years are always undercounted at the time of any search. Treat the 2021-2024 trend, not the tail years, as the reliable read on filing momentum.
What are the main technology areas covered by ALD patents?
Coating and surface deposition (IPC class C23C) is the largest category, present on 64.3% of the 6,860 records, followed by semiconductor devices (H01L) at 47.3%. Narrower categories include memory device manufacture (H10B, 4.3%), general semiconductor devices (H10D, 4.0%) and crystal growth (C30B, 3.0%). Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than summing to 100%, and the smaller categories mark areas with comparatively less claim density.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Atomic Layer Deposition Equipment and Precursors covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.