Co-Packaged Optics Patent Landscape 2026
Co-Packaged Optics Patent Landscape in 2026
Co-packaged optics is in active growth, with filings expanding 423% in the recent window and the United States accounting for the largest share of filings. The field remains fragmented at the top — three applicants share the lead position — yet the top five filers account for only 19% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, signalling room for new entrants.
A fast-growing, fragmented field with three co-leaders at the front
Intel Corp, Teramount Ltd, and Lightmatter Inc each hold 39 patent families, placing them in a three-way tie at the top of the applicant ranking. ZTE Corp follows at 35 families, with Cisco Technology Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd each at 32 families.
The top five filers represent only 19% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — a notably low concentration figure that reflects a genuinely open competitive field. No single incumbent has established a dominant chokehold on the IP, and the gap between tier one and tier two is narrow.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intel Corporation | 39 | |
| 2 | Teramount Ltd | 39 | |
| 3 | Lightmatter Inc | 39 | |
| 4 | ZTE Corp | 35 | |
| 5 | Cisco Technology Inc | 32 | |
| 6 | Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 32 | |
| 7 | Prime World International Holdings Ltd | 28 | |
| 8 | Sicily Merger Sub II Inc | 28 | |
| 9 | II-VI Delaware Inc | 25 | |
| 10 | CORNING RES & DEV CORP | 25 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd | 24 | |
| 12 | All Ring Tech Co Ltd | 23 | |
| 13 | AIP Inc | 22 | |
| 14 | Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd | 21 | |
| 15 | Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd | 21 | |
| 16 | Furukawa Electric Co Ltd | 20 | |
| 17 | Marvell Asia Pte Ltd | 19 | |
| 18 | Ningbo Global Broadband Technology Co Ltd | 18 | |
| 19 | Fujikura Ltd | 18 | |
| 20 | Ruijie Networks Co Ltd | 17 |
The co-leadership of a legacy semiconductor platform company (Intel), a photonic-integration specialist (Teramount), and an AI-networking photonics firm (Lightmatter) signals that CPO IP is being contested across distinct technical approaches — semiconductor packaging, free-space coupling, and compute-centric optical interconnects — rather than converging on one dominant architecture.
Filing counts for 2025 and 2026 are materially understated due to the 18–24 month publication lag; the apparent slowdown in those years should not be interpreted as a real trend reversal. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Rapid multi-year ramp dominated by optical-element filings
The annual filing trend reveals a field that barely existed before 2020 and has since scaled sharply; the technology composition chart shows that optical elements and systems (G02B) anchor the corpus, with semiconductor and transmission branches playing meaningful secondary roles.
Annual filing trend
Filings were negligible through 2019 (no more than four per year), then jumped to 38 in 2020 and accelerated to 195 by 2023 and 302 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 counts (262 and 27 respectively) reflect publication lag and should be treated as provisional lower bounds, not as evidence of deceleration.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G02B (Optical elements and systems) dominates with 1,014 records — far ahead of all other classes. H01L (Semiconductor devices) and H04B (Transmission, general) each contribute roughly 157–159 records, confirming that CPO work spans both the photonic assembly and the signal-routing layers. Laser and printed-circuit branches (H01S, H05K) are active but smaller, pointing to areas where the IP base has room to deepen.
↗ 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.
Co-packaged optics device and opto-electronic module
An opto-electronic module and a co-packaged optics device included therein are provided. The co-packaged optics device can include a package substrate; an electronic component disposed on the package substrate; optical transceivers disposed on the package substrate, arranged around the electronic component, wherein the electronic component is electrically… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faceplate pluggable remote laser source and system… | 55 |
| 2 | Method and system for co-packaging photonics integ… | 54 |
| 3 | Integrated compact in-package light engine | 51 |
| 4 | Fiberless co-packaged optics | 37 |
| 5 | Directly bonded optical components | 35 |
| 6 | Co-packaged optics and transceiver | 35 |
| 7 | Optical Coupling | 34 |
| 8 | Network device with optical communication interface | 33 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations — on life-cycle stage, concentration, ecosystem collaboration, and jurisdiction reach — frame where CPO IP risk and opportunity currently sit.
Early growth: annual filings still rising from a near-zero base
The lifecycle evidence classifies co-packaged optics as Growth stage, with annual filings still rising and recent years understated by publication lag. The field only gained meaningful filing volume in 2020, meaning most existing IP is less than five years old. Early movers still have a realistic path to establishing foundational positions before the field consolidates.
Growth stageLow concentration: 19% top-five share leaves the field open
The top five filers account for 19% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output — a low figure that indicates no single player has locked up the core architecture. Three applicants are tied at the top with identical family counts. For a new entrant, this structure means freedom-to-operate is comparatively broad and targeted filing programs can still build differentiated positions.
Fragmented top tierLimited co-filing activity; two academic-industry pairs identified
The evidence shows two co-filing relationships: Huawei Technologies co-filed with the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2 joint families), and ZTE Corp co-filed with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (1 joint family). Co-filing activity is sparse relative to the overall corpus size, suggesting most players are filing independently. Academic-industry collaboration is concentrated in China-based institutions.
Sparse collaborationUS leads filings; China and PCT routes are substantial secondary channels
The United States leads with 421 filings, followed by China at 235 and WIPO (PCT) at 149. Taiwan, with 103 filings, reflects the involvement of packaging and foundry players such as TSMC and Siliconware Precision. Europe (EPO) at 84 and Japan at 43 are materially smaller, suggesting those markets are less contested and may offer freedom-to-operate advantages in some sub-domains.
US-China-PCT triangleGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 |
| ZTE Corp | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Intel, Teramount and Lightmatter lead with distinct technical emphases
The top players share a heavy focus on optical-element and system filings (G02B) but diverge in their secondary technical routes — semiconductor packaging, free-space coupling, or optical transmission — revealing separate architectural bets on how CPO will be implemented.
Intel Corporation
Intel holds 39 patent families and is filing at a momentum of +92% versus the prior three-year period, the strongest trajectory among established incumbents. Its technical emphasis spans optical elements (35 records in G02B), semiconductor device integration (H01L 23 and H01L 25, 7 records each), reflecting a platform-level approach that bridges photonic and electronic packaging. Intel’s breadth across packaging substrates positions it as the most likely reference point for platform interoperability claims.
families: 39Lightmatter Inc
Lightmatter holds 39 patent families and entered the ranking as a new entrant in the recent period, with 27 families filed recently — a filing rate that matches Intel in absolute terms despite a far shorter history. Its focus concentrates on optical elements (39 records in G02B), optical transmission (H04B 10, 18 records), and multiplex communication (H04J 14, 14 records), reflecting its compute-centric photonic interconnect architecture aimed at AI accelerator clusters. The transmission and multiplexing depth distinguishes Lightmatter from packaging-oriented peers.
families: 39| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Lightmatter Inc | 27 | ▲ new entrant |
| Teramount Ltd | 29 | ▲ new entrant |
| Intel Corporation | 25 | ▲ +92% |
| ZTE Corp | 27 | ▲ new entrant |
| Cisco Technology Inc | 21 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 19 | ▲ new entrant |
| Prime World International Holdings Ltd | 28 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant optical-element core
Several IPC classes appear in the CPO corpus at low relative shares, pointing to areas where the patent base is thin relative to the technical importance of those sub-domains in a fully integrated co-packaged optical system.
H01S · Lasers and stimulated emission
With 76 records — roughly 4% of the corpus — laser-source IP is sparse given that on-package laser integration is a central unsolved challenge in CPO. The thin coverage likely reflects the difficulty of integrating III-V gain materials with silicon photonics substrates. Teams with expertise in heterogeneous integration or micro-transfer printing could file into this branch with relatively few established blocking positions to navigate.
Search this in Eureka →H05K · Printed circuits and assemblies
At 69 records (approximately 4% of the corpus), substrate and PCB-level integration for CPO is under-patented relative to its engineering importance — CPO modules must interface with high-density electrical substrates, yet thermal, signal-integrity and co-design IP in H05K is sparse. Substrate designers and EMS companies could find a relatively open filing environment in CPO-specific board-level integration, particularly for thermal management at high optical power densities.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across optical, semiconductor and transmission branches
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | G02B 6 · Optical elements & systems | H04B 10 · Transmission (general) | H01L 23 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 25 · Semiconductor devices | H01S 5 · Lasers & stimulated emission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightmatter Inc | Strong · 39 | Moderate · 18 | Emerging · 7 | Absent | Absent |
| Intel Corporation | Strong · 35 | Absent | Emerging · 7 | Emerging · 7 | Absent |
| Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | Strong · 28 | Moderate · 10 | Absent | Emerging · 4 | Moderate · 6 |
| ZTE Corp | Strong · 35 | Emerging · 7 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Teramount Ltd | Strong · 38 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 3 |
| Cisco Technology Inc | Strong · 31 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 3 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 1,066 patent families globally. Filing activity was negligible before 2020 and has since grown by 423% in the recent window, making this one of the faster-emerging areas in optical interconnect IP.
Intel Corp, Teramount Ltd, and Lightmatter Inc are tied at 39 patent families each at the top of the ranking. ZTE Corp follows at 35 families, with Cisco Technology Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd each holding 32 families.
The field is fragmented. The top five filers account for 19% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — a low figure indicating no single player controls the core IP. Three applicants share the leading position with identical family counts, underscoring the absence of a dominant incumbent.
The United States leads with 421 filings, followed by China at 235, WIPO (PCT) at 149, and Taiwan at 103. Europe (EPO) at 84 and Japan at 43 are smaller markets. These counts are at the patent-record level, so a family filed in multiple offices contributes to each jurisdiction’s count.
Evidence classifies co-packaged optics as Growth stage. Annual filings rose from essentially zero in 2017–2019 to 302 in 2024. Counts for 2025 and 2026 appear lower due to the 18–24 month publication lag and should not be interpreted as a slowdown.
The most notable under-served branches relative to the dominant G02B class are H01S (Lasers and stimulated emission, 76 records) and H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies, 69 records). G02F (Optical control and modulation, 55 records), H04J (Multiplex communication, 45 records), and H04Q (Switching and selecting, 37 records) are also comparatively thin and worth monitoring for new filing opportunities.
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