Confidential Computing Patent Landscape 2026
Confidential Computing Patent Landscape in 2026
Intel holds a commanding lead in a field of 1,771 patent families where the top five filers account for 40% of the hundred largest applicants’ combined output, signaling a highly concentrated competitive structure. Activity reached a peak in 2022 and has since plateaued, with the United States remaining the dominant filing jurisdiction and AI-driven data processing as the defining technology axis.
Intel leads a concentrated field with a strong Chinese challenger tier
Intel Corporation is the clear category leader with 333 patent families, more than three times the next-ranked applicant, Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. at 92. Microsoft Technology Licensing rounds out the top three at 79 patent families.
The top five filers — Intel, Alipay (Hangzhou), Microsoft, Royal Bank of Canada, and Kunlunxin Technology — together represent 40% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a two-tier market: one dominant incumbent and a competitive but clearly subordinate challenger group.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intel Corporation | 333 | |
| 2 | Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. | 92 | |
| 3 | Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC | 79 | |
| 4 | Royal Bank of Canada | 59 | |
| 5 | Kunlunxin Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. | 53 | |
| 6 | Baidu USA LLC | 53 | |
| 7 | CreateAI Inc. | 44 | |
| 8 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 43 | |
| 9 | Quantum Digital Solutions Corp | 39 | |
| 10 | International Business Machines Corporation | 39 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 39 | |
| 12 | Dell Products LP | 34 | |
| 13 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson | 28 | |
| 14 | Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. | 24 | |
| 15 | Hyundai Motor Company | 23 | |
| 16 | NEC Corporation | 22 | |
| 17 | BeeKeeperAI Inc. | 20 | |
| 18 | Advanced New Technologies Co., Ltd. | 19 | |
| 19 | Quantum Star Tech LLC | 17 | |
| 20 | Hitachi, Ltd. | 17 |
Intel’s scale implies entrenched hardware-rooted positions across trusted execution environments and secure data processing, while the presence of Alipay, Kunlunxin, and Baidu USA in the top six points to significant Chinese ecosystem investment in confidential computing at the software and AI inference layers.
Patent publications typically lag filings by 18–24 months, so activity in 2024–2025 is likely under-counted in the current corpus; the apparent plateau should be interpreted with that delay in mind. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing activity peaked in 2022; AI and secure data processing dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that grew rapidly from 2017 through 2022 and has since plateaued at a high level. The technology composition chart shows that AI-model computing and electric digital data processing together account for the overwhelming majority of classified records, with digital transmission and business-data processing as secondary pillars.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed from 91 in 2017 to a peak of 286 in 2022, then eased to the 190s in 2023–2024 before recovering toward 223 in 2025. The 2025–2026 bars should be read as substantially under-counted due to publication lag; the underlying pace of new filing activity may be higher than the published record suggests.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G06N (AI-model computing) and G06F (electric digital data processing) are the dominant IPC classes, reflecting the field’s focus on securing computation in AI workloads and trusted-execution frameworks. H04L (digital information transmission) is a meaningful third branch, underscoring the importance of secure multi-party communication protocols. Smaller but strategically notable branches include G06Q (business and commerce data processing), H04W (wireless networks), and G16H (healthcare informatics).
↗ 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.
Method used in a mobile equipment with a Trusted E…
A method used in a mobile equipment for authenticating or identifying a user based on his face includes acquiring a sequence of biometric face sample corresponding to successive image frames of the user in a Trusted Execution Environment of the mobile equipment, and, in the Trusted Execution Environment, modifying or replacing some of the biometric face… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | System for enabling multiple execution environment… | 377 |
| 2 | Technologies for distributing iterative computatio… | 363 |
| 3 | Technologies for distributing gradient descent com… | 332 |
| 4 | Verifiable Deep Learning Training Service | 293 |
| 5 | Radio access network intelligent application manager | 232 |
| 6 | Optimized decision tree machine learning for resou… | 204 |
| 7 | Graph neural network and reinforcement learning te… | 190 |
| 8 | Machine-To-Machine Gateway Architecture | 185 |
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 confidential computing patent structure means for R&D investment
The evidence points to a maturing but still active field with high concentration at the top, a well-defined Chinese ecosystem cohort, and several adjacent technology branches that remain comparatively sparse. Teams deciding where to focus should weigh entry barriers against the specific white-space opportunities below.
Field has reached plateau maturity after a 2022 peak
Annual filings peaked in 2022 at 286 and have since plateaued near that level, placing confidential computing in the maturity stage of its lifecycle. Core trusted-execution-environment and secure-enclave concepts are now well-staked, so incremental improvements to established architectures face high prior-art density. R&D differentiation is most viable at the application layer — particularly where confidential computing intersects AI inference, healthcare, and edge computing — rather than at foundational hardware primitives.
Maturity stageOne dominant incumbent, a competitive challenger tier
Intel’s 333-family portfolio is more than 3.5× the next applicant’s count, creating a moat that is difficult to challenge head-on in hardware-centric trusted execution. The challenger tier — Alipay (Hangzhou), Microsoft, Royal Bank of Canada, Kunlunxin, Baidu USA, and CreateAI — is itself fragmented, with no single challenger close to Intel’s scale. New entrants are best positioned in application-specific niches or in cross-layer approaches that combine secure computation with AI model governance.
High concentrationCo-filing is rare; ecosystem partnerships are mostly intra-group
Observed co-filing activity is limited and largely intra-ecosystem: Baidu USA and Kunlunxin Technology (Beijing) are the most active co-filers with two joint families. Alipay (Hangzhou) and Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) share one joint filing, reflecting the Ant Group ecosystem. IBM and its international subsidiaries (IBM China and IBM UK) each hold one joint filing with the parent entity. The low collaboration count suggests that most players are protecting proprietary architectures rather than pursuing open-standard joint development at the patent level.
Low co-filingUS leads; China is a substantial second jurisdiction
The United States accounts for 761 patent records, making it the primary filing destination and the jurisdiction most likely to be the battleground for enforcement. China follows at 444 records, underlining the strategic importance Chinese applicants attach to domestic protection and the significant Chinese R&D investment in the field. EPO coverage at 210 records and PCT filings at 167 indicate that the leading players are pursuing broad international protection, raising the cost of freedom-to-operate in Europe for late entrants.
US–China dual axisGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Baidu USA LLC | Kunlunxin Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. | Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. | 1 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 1 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | IBM China Co., Ltd. | 1 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | IBM UNITED KINGDOM LTD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEPAR… | 1 |
| International Business Machines Corporation | IBM DEUTSCHLAND GMBH | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Intel dominates hardware-rooted positions; Samsung shows the strongest recent momentum
The leader ranking is anchored by Intel’s hardware-platform advantage, while the challenger tier reflects diverse strategic angles — financial-sector AI security, cloud-native workloads, and chip-level AI acceleration. Recent filing momentum diverges sharply across this group.
Intel Corporation
Intel leads with 333 patent families, concentrated in electric digital data processing (G06F 15 and G06F 21) and AI-model computing (G06N 20), reflecting its hardware-rooted trusted-execution-environment strategy. However, recent filing momentum shows a 23% decline versus the prior three-year period, consistent with the field’s overall plateau. This suggests Intel is consolidating its existing portfolio rather than aggressively expanding into new sub-domains.
333 patent familiesSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung holds 43 patent families with a technology emphasis on AI-model computing (G06N 3), secure digital data processing (G06F 21), and electric digital data processing (G06F 15). Uniquely among the top players, Samsung’s recent filing trend shows a 47% increase versus the prior three-year period, making it the fastest-growing large applicant in this cohort. Its trajectory suggests an accelerating push into on-device or memory-integrated confidential computing, where its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities provide a natural advantage.
43 patent families| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Corporation | 85 | ▼ -23% |
| Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. | 23 | ▼ -75% |
| Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC | 14 | ▼ -60% |
| Royal Bank of Canada | 24 | ▼ -23% |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 14 | ▼ -18% |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 22 | ▲ +47% |
| International Business Machines Corporation | 9 | ▼ -65% |
Under-served adjacent branches worth watching
Relative to the dominant G06N and G06F branches, several IPC classes within the confidential computing corpus show lower filing density, which may reflect early-stage activity or gaps not yet claimed by major incumbents. These observations are drawn from branch share within the corpus and should be treated as starting points for further prior-art analysis, not confirmed commercial opportunities.
G06Q · Business, Commerce & Administrative Data Processing
With 187 records and a 4% share, G06Q is the fourth-largest branch but sparse relative to the core computing classes. Confidential computing applied to regulated financial workflows — privacy-preserving transaction processing, secure audit trails, and compliant multi-party data sharing — has clear technical value given the presence of Royal Bank of Canada and Ant Group entities in the ranking. The entry path involves combining existing trusted-execution-environment primitives with financial-sector compliance frameworks, an area where sector specialists may have an advantage over pure infrastructure players.
Search this in Eureka →H04W · Wireless Communication Networks
H04W accounts for 138 records and a 3% share, making wireless-edge confidential computing comparatively under-staked. As AI inference moves to edge and mobile devices, securing model weights and inference outputs in transit and at the device level becomes technically important. Ericsson is the highest-profile telecom applicant in this field, but the branch remains sparse relative to its likely commercial scope, suggesting potential for focused filings that link trusted-execution-environment mechanisms with 5G network slicing or RAN intelligence — a natural extension of the Radio Access Network AI manager patent already among the top-cited works in this corpus.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | G06F 21 · Electric digital data processing | G06N 3 · Computing based on AI models | G06N 20 · Computing based on AI models | H04L 9 · Digital information transmission | G06F 15 · Electric digital data processing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Corporation | Strong · 132 | Strong · 113 | Strong · 122 | Strong · 73 | Strong · 134 |
| Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. | Strong · 66 | Moderate · 26 | Strong · 53 | Absent | Strong · 36 |
| Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC | Strong · 58 | Moderate · 23 | Moderate · 24 | Moderate · 14 | Moderate · 29 |
| Royal Bank of Canada | Strong · 46 | Absent | Strong · 49 | Strong · 29 | Absent |
| Quantum Digital Solutions Corp | Strong · 37 | Strong · 39 | Absent | Strong · 37 | Absent |
| Baidu USA LLC | Strong · 34 | Absent | Strong · 51 | Moderate · 19 | Absent |
| International Business Machines Corporation | Strong · 19 | Strong · 28 | Moderate · 13 | Moderate · 8 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 1,771 patent families filed globally. The United States is the leading filing jurisdiction with 761 patent records, followed by China at 444 and the EPO at 210.
Intel Corporation leads with 333 patent families, which is more than three times the next-ranked applicant, Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd. at 92 patent families.
Annual filings grew from 91 in 2017 to a peak of 286 in 2022, then eased to the 190s in 2023–2024 before recovering to 223 in 2025. The 2025–2026 counts are likely under-stated due to the typical 18–24 month publication lag.
G06N (AI-model computing) and G06F (electric digital data processing) are the two largest IPC classes. H04L (digital information transmission) is a significant third branch, reflecting the importance of secure multi-party communication protocols alongside hardware-based trusted execution.
Co-filing activity is low. The most active co-filers are Baidu USA and Kunlunxin Technology (Beijing) with two joint patent families. Alipay (Hangzhou) and Ant Blockchain Technology (Shanghai) share one joint filing, as do IBM and its international subsidiaries. Most players appear to be protecting proprietary architectures independently.
Among the top applicants tracked for momentum, Samsung Electronics shows the strongest upward trajectory at 47% growth in recent filings versus the prior three-year period. Most other top filers, including Intel (−23%), Alipay (Hangzhou) (−75%), and Microsoft (−60%), show declining recent momentum consistent with the field’s overall plateau.
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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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