GaN LED Optoelectronic Test Patent Snapshot 2026
The GaN LED optoelectronic test corpus is tightly concentrated, with Wolfspeed and Cree LED together accounting for the largest share of patent records among the top filers. Filing activity is sparse and sporadic, with the corpus comprising 3 patent families in scope and the bulk of records clustered in early periods, suggesting a mature or stagnant niche rather than an actively contested frontier.
Wolfspeed leads a tightly held, specialist niche
Wolfspeed Inc holds the top position with 16 patent records, followed by Cree LED Inc with 11, making these two entities the visible forces among the ranked applicants visible in this query in this niche. The top five filers collectively account for 61% of the combined total of the ranked applicants visible in this query.
The tier gap between Wolfspeed and the rest of the field is pronounced. The next tier — Michael John Bergmann, Kathleen Marie Doverspike, John Adam Edmond, and Kong Hua Shuang — each hold 4 patent records, illustrating a sharp drop-off after the top two. A second step-down occurs at 3 records for International Business Machines Corporation and Seoul Opto Device Co Ltd.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolfspeed Inc | 16 | |
| 2 | Cree LED Inc | 11 | |
| 3 | BERGMANN MICHAEL JOHN | 4 | |
| 4 | DOVERSPIKE KATHLEEN MARIE | 4 | |
| 5 | EDMOND JOHN ADAM | 4 | |
| 6 | KONG HUA SHUANG | 4 | |
| 7 | International Business Machines Corporation | 3 | |
| 8 | Seoul Opto Device Co Ltd | 3 | |
| 9 | Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation | 2 | |
| 10 | Dongguk University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | GlobalFoundries Inc | 2 | |
| 12 | The Regents of the University of California | 2 | |
| 13 | Liu Yayun | 1 | |
| 14 | Mu Jiansheng | 1 | |
| 15 | KIM HWA MOK | 1 | |
| 16 | Bridgelux Inc | 1 | |
| 17 | Chen Longjian | 1 | |
| 18 | Tian Qinghe | 1 | |
| 19 | Chen Xinmei | 1 |
Wolfspeed’s dominance, combined with the named-inventor cluster (Bergmann, Doverspike, Edmond, Kong) whose collaboration records are all linked to Wolfspeed, indicates that the top position reflects a vertically integrated research programme rather than an ecosystem of diverse independent filers.
Records from the most recent 18–24 months may be under-represented due to standard patent publication lag; apparent inactivity in 2023–2026 should not be read as confirmed market withdrawal. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Sparse and episodic filing with semiconductor devices at the core
The annual trend and technology composition together reveal a technically narrow field anchored in semiconductor device classification, with extremely low and irregular filing activity over the observed window.
Annual filing trend
Filing activity peaked modestly in 2017 with 2 records, then fell to zero for multiple years before a single record appeared in 2024. This pattern suggests the corpus captures a very specific and historically bounded body of work rather than an actively growing field. The most recent periods remain subject to publication lag and should be read accordingly.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (Semiconductor devices) is visible in the technology mix with 43 patent records, followed by H01S (Lasers and stimulated emission) with 27. The remaining branches — H10K (Organic semiconductors / OLED), B82Y (Nanotechnology applications), and H01Q (Antennas) — each hold single-digit counts, confirming that GaN LED optoelectronic test activity is concentrated in core semiconductor and laser classifications.
↗ 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.
Hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor light emitt…
This invention provides a novel hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor light emitting diode. The device consists of an electroluminescent layer and a photoluminescent layer. The electroluminescent layer is an inorganic GaN light emitting diode structure that is electroluminescent in the blue or ultraviolet (uv) region of the electromagnetic spectrum when… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor light emitt… | 178 |
| 2 | Group III nitride LED with undoped cladding layer … | 162 |
| 3 | Light-emitting diode and its manufacturing method | 114 |
| 4 | Group III nitride LED with undoped cladding layer … | 87 |
| 5 | Hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor light emitt… | 86 |
| 6 | Group III nitride LED with undoped cladding layer … | 84 |
| 7 | Group III nitride LED with undoped cladding layer … | 66 |
| 8 | Group iii nitride LED with undoped cladding layer … | 57 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Wolfspeed Inc
Wolfspeed leads the corpus with 16 patent records, concentrated equally across H01L 33 (Semiconductor devices) and H01S 5 (Lasers and stimulated emission), with minor presence in B82Y 20 (Nanotechnology applications). The company’s position is reinforced by a cluster of four named co-inventors each holding 4 records in collaboration with Wolfspeed. Applicant momentum data is not available in the current evidence.
patent records: 16Cree LED Inc
Cree LED Inc holds 11 patent records, placing it second in the ranking with a focus consistent with the semiconductor device and laser stimulated-emission branches that define the corpus. Its count represents a meaningful gap relative to Wolfspeed’s 16, and applicant momentum data is not available in the current evidence to characterize recent trajectory.
patent records: 11Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 3 patent families in scope. The patent record counts cited in the applicant ranking and technology composition reflect multiple records that can map to these families across jurisdictions and classification codes.
Wolfspeed Inc leads with 16 patent records, ahead of Cree LED Inc at 11. Together they account for the largest share of the top-ranked filers in this niche.
H01L (Semiconductor devices) is the visible class with 43 patent records, followed by H01S (Lasers and stimulated emission) at 27. These two classes together cover the vast majority of the corpus.
The United States leads with 20 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 7 and WIPO (PCT) at 5. South Korea and Taiwan — both significant GaN manufacturing markets — each show only 1 record in this corpus.
The highest-cited titles include works on hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor light emitting structures (178 citations) and Group III nitride LEDs with undoped cladding layers (162 citations). These foundational references underpin the structural and materials basis of GaN LED optoelectronic test approaches.
All observed co-filing relationships are internal to Wolfspeed: four named inventors — Bergmann, Doverspike, Edmond, and Kong — each co-filed 4 records with Wolfspeed. No cross-company or university-industry collaboration pairs appear in the evidence.
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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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