EDLC Energy & Power Density Patent Landscape 2026
The EDLC energy/power density patent field spans 970 families and is in a mature phase, with annual filings plateaued near their 2020 peak rather than still climbing. Activity is moderately fragmented — no single applicant controls more than a small fraction of the corpus — though U.S. materials specialists and emerging university filers from Saudi Arabia and China hold the leading positions.
Nanotek Instruments leads a fragmented, university-rich field
Nanotek Instruments Group LLC ranks first with 34 patent families, ahead of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (19 families) and FastCap Ultracapacitors LLC (18 families). The top five applicants together account for 14% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, signaling a broadly distributed competitive landscape with no dominant incumbent.
The gap between the leader and the second tier is relatively narrow: the top applicant holds roughly 34 families versus 19 for the second-ranked entity, and several players cluster tightly between 10 and 16 families. This shallow concentration tier suggests that a focused entrant can reach the top ten without displacing established leaders.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nanotek Instruments Group LLC | 34 | |
| 2 | Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University | 19 | |
| 3 | FastCap Ultracapacitors LLC | 18 | |
| 4 | Corning Inc | 16 | |
| 5 | FastCap Systems Corp | 13 | |
| 6 | Panasonic Holdings Corporation | 13 | |
| 7 | Zhejiang University | 13 | |
| 8 | The Regents of the University of California | 13 | |
| 9 | South China University of Technology | 12 | |
| 10 | National Institute for Materials Science | 12 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC | 12 | |
| 12 | Honda Motor Co Ltd | 11 | |
| 13 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 11 | |
| 14 | Jilin University | 11 | |
| 15 | Vellore Institute of Technology | 11 | |
| 16 | Beijing University of Chemical Technology | 11 | |
| 17 | AGC Inc | 11 | |
| 18 | Maxwell Technologies Global LLC | 10 | |
| 19 | Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology | 10 | |
| 20 | Shandong University | 9 |
The presence of multiple universities — Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Zhejiang University, the University of California system, South. China University of Technology, and Xi’an Jiaotong University among the top twenty — indicates that fundamental materials research remains an active source of new IP, and that academic-to-commercial licensing pathways are likely routes to market.
Filing data for approximately the last 18–24 months is subject to publication lag and will appear fuller in future snapshots; interpret the most recent periods as under-counted rather than as a true slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity plateaued after a 2020 surge; capacitor chemistry dominates the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that peaked in 2020 and has since settled into a plateau range, while the IPC branch breakdown shows overwhelming concentration in capacitor-specific classes with meaningful secondary coverage in carbon chemistry and nanotechnology.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose to a 2020 peak and have since oscillated in a plateau band. The 2025–2026 bars reflect publication lag and should be read as floors, not final counts. The multi-year window still shows positive growth of 8% relative to the prior comparison period, consistent with a mature but active field.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01G (Capacitors) is the overwhelmingly dominant branch, reflecting the core device focus. C01B (Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds, notably carbon allotropes) and H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells) form a secondary tier, pointing to electrode-material and hybrid-storage research. B82Y (Nanotechnology applications) confirms a strong nanomaterial thread running through the corpus. Branches such as H02J (Power supply and grid systems) and B01J (Chemical and physical processes) are comparatively sparse.
↗ 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.
Lithium-ion supercapacitor using graphene-CNT comp…
As an object to provide a lithium-ion supercapacitor having a high energy density and a high power density, capable of being charged and discharged many times, and having a long product life, there is provided a lithium-ion supercapacitor using a graphene/CNT composite electrode, the lithium-ion supercapacitor including: an anode; a cathode that is arranged… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electric double-layer capacitor | 361 |
| 2 | Electric double-layer capacitor | 125 |
| 3 | Supercapacitor with high energy density | 119 |
| 4 | Electric double-layer capacitor and carbon materia… | 106 |
| 5 | 制备石墨烯气凝胶及石墨烯/金属氧化物气凝胶的方法 | 102 |
| 6 | Metal oxide electrode for supercapacitor and manuf… | 86 |
| 7 | Active carbon electrode and its manufacturing meth… | 77 |
| 8 | Production process for a supercapacitor having a h… | 75 |
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 — maturity stage, concentration level, collaboration patterns, and geographic spread — together shape where defensible IP positions remain available and where competitive pressure is highest.
Field is mature: plateau after a 2020 peak
Annual filings have plateaued near the 2020 peak rather than continuing to rise, placing this field in a mature life-cycle stage. The 8% multi-year growth figure confirms that cumulative output is still expanding, but the pace of new annual entries has eased. R&D teams should expect incremental electrode and electrolyte refinement to dominate new filings rather than broad platform-level invention.
Lifecycle: MatureShallow concentration leaves room for focused entrants
The top five filers hold only 14% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, and the leader’s margin over the second-ranked applicant is modest. No single company has locked up the landscape. A focused entrant with a differentiated electrode architecture or electrolyte chemistry can reach top-ten standing without displacing the current leaders, particularly in underserved sub-branches.
Concentration: Low–ModerateCo-filing is rare; one university–lab–industry cluster identified
The evidence shows only two co-filing relationships: Zhejiang University with Huanjiang Laboratory (one joint family) and Zhejiang University with Beihai Xingshi Carbon Materials Technology (one joint family). Co-development activity is therefore minimal across the corpus, suggesting that most IP is filed unilaterally and that consortium or cross-licensing structures are not yet a dominant feature of this field.
Collaboration: NascentChina leads filings; U.S. and India are significant secondary offices
China is the leading filing jurisdiction by a wide margin, followed by the United States and India. Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT) filings provide international coverage but at lower absolute volumes. The strong India presence, partly driven by university applicants such as Vellore Institute of Technology and SRM Institute, signals a growing academic IP base in that market. Organizations seeking broad freedom-to-operate should prioritize China, U.S., and EPO clearance.
Geography: China-ledGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zhejiang University | Huanjiang Laboratory | 1 |
| Zhejiang University | Beihai Xingshi Carbon Materials Technology Co Ltd | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Nanotek and FastCap anchor the commercial tier; Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University surges as a new entrant
The top of the ranking is split between established U. S. commercial specialists and a fast-rising Saudi university, with Chinese universities forming a deep second tier. Technology focus is almost uniformly anchored in H01G11 (electrochemical double-layer capacitors), with differentiation in secondary branches.
Nanotek Instruments Group LLC
The top-ranked applicant holds 34 patent families, concentrated in H01G11 (Capacitors), with secondary coverage in H01M10 and H01M4 (battery and fuel-cell classes), reflecting a strategy that bridges EDLC and hybrid energy-storage architectures. Momentum data for the closely related FastCap Systems entity shows a declining trend of –50% in recent filings versus the prior period, suggesting the broader FastCap/Nanotek cluster may be in a consolidation phase rather than an expansion phase.
families: 34Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
Ranked second with 19 patent families, this Saudi university is classified as a new entrant in terms of momentum, with 18 recent filings — effectively all of its output concentrated in the recent window. Its focus is tightly on H01G11, with only marginal coverage of H01G9 and H01M10. The rapid accumulation from a standing start makes it the fastest-growing institutional filer in the top tier and a potential licensing or collaboration partner for commercial players seeking to access its electrode-materials IP.
families: 19| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| FastCap Systems Corp | 5 | ▼ -50% |
| Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University | 18 | ▲ new entrant |
| Zhejiang University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC classes adjacent to the dominant H01G capacitor branch show low patent density relative to their technical relevance to EDLC energy and power density improvement. These are observations of relative sparsity; plausible technical value and entry path are noted where evidence supports it.
H02J · Power Supply & Grid Systems
With only 21 records in the evidence, H02J is notably sparse for a field where EDLC modules are increasingly integrated into grid buffering, renewable-energy smoothing, and fast-charge architectures. The technical link is direct — power management circuits and energy-dispatch algorithms are co-developed with the capacitor cells themselves — yet IP coverage in this branch lags the core device class by a large margin. Entrants with system-level integration expertise could file in H02J to differentiate from electrode-material-focused incumbents, though commercial validation of specific circuit topologies would be needed before treating this as a confirmed opportunity.
Search this in Eureka →B01J · Chemical & Physical Processes and Catalysis
B01J covers synthesis and processing routes — activation, functionalization, and surface-chemistry methods — that are foundational to producing high-surface-area electrode materials. At 20 records, this branch is sparse relative to H01G despite its upstream importance. Organizations focused on scalable manufacturing of activated carbons, graphene derivatives, or pseudocapacitive coatings may find freedom to operate here, and process patents could provide a layer of protection complementary to device-level claims. Entry would require demonstrated process novelty rather than incremental parameter changes.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ by technology sub-route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H01G 11 · Capacitors | C01B 32 · Non-metallic elements & inorganic compounds | H01G 9 · Capacitors | H01M 4 · Batteries, cells & fuel cells | B82Y 30 · Nanotechnology applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FastCap Systems Corp | Strong · 29 | Moderate · 8 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 10 |
| Nanotek Instruments Group LLC | Strong · 28 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 6 | Absent |
| The Regents of the University of California | Strong · 12 | Strong · 9 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 8 |
| Panasonic Holdings Corporation | Strong · 13 | Absent | Strong · 12 | Absent | Absent |
| Corning Inc | Strong · 16 | Moderate · 6 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University | Strong · 19 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The evidence corpus contains 970 patent families scoped to EDLC energy and power density research globally.
Nanotek Instruments Group LLC holds the most patent families at 34, followed by Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University with 19 and FastCap Ultracapacitors LLC with 18.
The field is in a mature stage. Annual filings peaked in 2020 and have since plateaued rather than continuing to rise, though the multi-year window still shows 8% growth relative to the prior comparison period. The most recent 18–24 months of data are subject to publication lag and will appear fuller over time.
China is the leading jurisdiction by a wide margin, followed by the United States and India. Europe (EPO) and WIPO (PCT) filings provide international reach at lower volumes, and Japan and South Korea account for smaller but meaningful shares.
H01G (Capacitors) is the overwhelmingly dominant IPC class. Secondary branches include C01B (Non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds, reflecting carbon-allotrope electrode research), H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells, reflecting hybrid-storage work), and B82Y (Nanotechnology applications).
H02J (Power supply and grid systems) and B01J (Chemical and physical processes and catalysis) are comparatively sparse relative to their technical relevance to EDLC performance. C01G (Compounds of other metals) and B82Y (Nanotechnology applications) also show lower density relative to the dominant capacitor class and may warrant monitoring.
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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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