Battery Formation Process Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked up. the ranked leader holds 4 records while a long tail of single-filing entrants makes up most of the 18 ranked companies.
- Filings are accelerating from a low base. growth ran +200% from 2021 to 2024 (1 to 3 records), with 2019 still the peak year overall at 4.
- Almost everything sits in one IPC subclass. 95.7% of the 23 records in scope carry an H01M battery-cell classification, leaving power-supply and metrology classes thinly populated.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (3) — 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 23 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the formation-process patent record shows
Battery formation — the initial charge/discharge cycling that builds the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and determines cell lifetime — is a narrow but active filing area. The corpus in scope covers 23 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026, concentrated overwhelmingly around lead-acid and lithium-ion formation current profiles, gas generation during formation, and formation-line throughput. Filings run almost entirely through China, with a small share filed as PCT applications through WIPO.
The most-cited records in the set date from the early-to-mid 2010s and describe formation current-profile control and internal formation techniques for lead-acid cells — evidence that these are foundational methods other filings build on, not that the technology has stopped moving. More recent filings, including a 2025 application on gas-generation control during formation, show the field shifting toward safety and process-monitoring claims layered on top of established current-profile methods.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 23-record corpus: activity over time, and where those records sit across the IPC classification system.
A small field with a recent growth pulse
Annual filings rose from zero in 2017 to a first peak of 4 in 2019, then cooled before rebuilding: 2021 to 2024 shows +200% growth (1 to 3 records). 2025 and 2026 figures will keep revising upward as publication catches up with filing, so treat the most recent two years as a floor, not a ceiling.
H01M dominates; adjacent classes are thin
22 of 23 records (95.7%) carry an H01M battery/cell classification, confirming this is a cell-manufacturing story first. H02J (power supply systems) appears in 2 records (8.7%), and G01F and G01G (flow/volume and weighing) each appear once (4.3%) — signalling a handful of filings that touch formation-line instrumentation rather than cell chemistry itself.
Shares are the percentage of the 23 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Battery Formation Process Optimization with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about battery formation process optimization and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent representative filing
WO2025185109A1 — Gas-generation control method, system and battery formation system
This application, filed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and published September 2025, describes a control method that measures a first flow rate of protective gas introduced during battery formation and supplies that gas based on the measured rate, diluting flammable gas produced during formation to below a standard concentration threshold. The stated aim is to improve reliability and stability during the formation stage.Machine-assisted translation from the original Chinese-language filing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN111883866A | 一种锂离子电池化成工艺及其得到的锂离子电池 | 32 |
| 2 | CN203288703U | 一种锂离子电池化成装置 | 14 |
| 3 | CN103594747A | 一种贫液式铅酸蓄电池内化成工艺 | 12 |
| 4 | CN111092270A | 一种铅蓄电池化成工艺优化方法 | 10 |
| 5 | CN109659638A | 一种动力型铅蓄电池大电流化成工艺 | 10 |
| 6 | CN208848999U | 一种锂电池结构件下塑胶分流装置 | 10 |
| 7 | CN110911629A | AGM蓄电池内化成工艺及AGM起停蓄电池 | 7 |
| 8 | CN111180800A | 一种锂离子电池的化成工艺及锂离子电池 | 6 |
| 9 | CN107634263A | 一种高温不膨胀的高能量密度硅碳电池 | 5 |
| 10 | CN112952308A | 一种蓄电池加酸、真空化成一体式装置及方法 | 4 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus — read them as a signal of foundational influence, not of which technique is current best practice.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. 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 read-outs from the concentration, classification and citation data that matter for anyone deciding where to file next.
The top of the field is thin, not dominant
The top 5 assignees combined account for 11 of the 23 records in scope (47.8%), and the top 10 reach 69.6% (16 records). With a ranked leader at only 4 records and a tenth-place company at 1, no single filer has cornered formation-process claims the way leaders do in more mature battery sub-fields.
Momentum is real but recent
Filings tripled from 1 in 2021 to 3 in 2024. That is growth from a small base rather than a mature ramp, and it follows an earlier peak of 4 in 2019 — this looks like a field with two separate waves of interest rather than one steady climb.
Claims sit almost entirely inside cell chemistry
Only a handful of records reach into power-supply systems (H02J) or measurement equipment (G01F, G01G). That leaves formation-line instrumentation and grid-interaction aspects of formation relatively open compared with the densely claimed current-profile and SEI-quality core.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to battery formation process optimization, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the line is thin
The ranked leaders sit alongside a long tail of single-record filers, and the co-assignment data points to at least one internal software/hardware split within a leading group.
A modest lead, not a lock
The top-ranked assignee holds 4 of the 23 records in scope — enough to lead the field but far short of the dominant share seen in more heavily litigated battery sub-areas. Fifth place holds just 1 record, showing how quickly the ranking flattens.
One internal software-hardware pairing stands out
The single strongest co-assignee pair in the dataset links a leading battery manufacturer with an affiliated software technology entity, consistent with formation-process control shifting from pure hardware claims toward software-driven current-profile and gas-monitoring control.
Filing is overwhelmingly domestic
21 of the 23 records were filed through the China receiving office, with the remaining 2 filed as PCT/WIPO applications. That skew suggests most formation-process innovation here is still being protected primarily for the domestic manufacturing base rather than pursued for broad international coverage.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) | 0 | — |
| Shenzhen Greend Energy Group Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Henan Chaowei Power Supply Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Tianneng Battery Group Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Fengfan Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Chaowei Power Group Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Wuhu Tianyi Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Hubei Xiangwei New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above are a starting point for scoping a filing or freedom-to-operate question, not a substitute for one.
Check freedom-to-operate against the cited core
The most-cited records describe foundational lead-acid and lithium-ion formation current-profile methods; any new filing on current-profile control should be checked against these before drafting claims.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaTrack the software-control shift
The 2025 gas-generation control filing and the internal software/hardware co-assignee pairing both point toward formation control moving into software claims — worth monitoring for new entrants building monitoring or control algorithms.
Set up monitoring in EurekaFrequently asked questions
This dataset identifies 23 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that match battery formation process and cell formation/aging search terms combined with specific technical criteria such as formation current profile, SEI quality, formation time, energy consumption or gas generation. That is a narrow, tightly-scoped corpus rather than a broad view of all battery manufacturing patents. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts will continue to rise as more applications publish.
The ranking covers 18 companies, with the top-ranked assignee holding 4 of the 23 records in scope and the fifth-ranked holding just 1. The top 5 assignees together account for 47.8% of all records, and the top 10 reach 69.6% — a field with a modest leader but no single company holding a dominant claim position. Most of the ranked companies are Chinese battery or battery-material manufacturers.
Nearly all records (95.7%) carry an H01M battery/cell classification, meaning the core subject matter is formation current-profile design, SEI formation quality and gas generation during charge/discharge cycling. A small number of records also touch power-supply systems (H02J) or measurement equipment for flow and weighing (G01F, G01G), pointing to formation-line instrumentation as a secondary but much less claimed theme.
Yes, on the most recent complete data: filings grew +200% from 1 record in 2021 to 3 in 2024. That said, 2019 remains the single highest year on record at 4 filings, so the field has already seen one earlier filing peak. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
The classification data shows claims concentrated almost entirely in H01M cell chemistry, leaving formation-line metrology (flow and weighing measurement), grid-interactive power management during formation, and protective-gas flow-rate control comparatively under-claimed. These branches appear in only one or two records each across the 23-record corpus. A new filing targeting formation-stage instrumentation or software-driven gas/current control would face a much thinner prior-art base than one targeting current-profile methods directly.
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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.