GaN Power Reliability Patent Landscape 2026
GaN power reliability is in a growth phase, with the field still expanding on a multi-year basis even as annual volume has eased from its 2022 peak; Navitas Semiconductor leads by patent records, followed closely by Huawei Technologies and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. The competitive structure is moderately fragmented, with device-level semiconductor IP dominating and adjacent branches in power conversion, measurement, and logic circuits remaining comparatively sparse.
Navitas leads a moderately fragmented field with clear Chinese institutional strength
Navitas China with 9. The U. S. Government and Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology each register 8 patent records, forming a tight second tier.
The top five filers account for 27% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately concentrated but not heavily dominated landscape. No single entity commands a decisive lead, and at least a dozen institutions and companies hold meaningful positions.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Navitas Semiconductor Limited | 11 | |
| 2 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 10 | |
| 3 | UNIV OF ELECTRONICS SCI & TECH OF CHINA | 9 | |
| 4 | The Government of the United States of America | 8 | |
| 5 | Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. | 8 | |
| 6 | Efficient Power Conversion Corporation | 6 | |
| 7 | Huang Chih Shu | 6 | |
| 8 | HRL Laboratories, LLC | 5 | |
| 9 | Peking University | 5 | |
| 10 | INST OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION ENG OF UESTC IN … | 4 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Fujitsu Limited | 4 | |
| 12 | Indian Institute of Science | 4 | |
| 13 | Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. | 4 | |
| 14 | Jiangsu CoreEnergy Semiconductor Co., Ltd. | 3 | |
| 15 | AGENCY FOR SCI TECH & RES | 3 | |
| 16 | University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. | 3 | |
| 17 | GaN Systems Inc. | 3 | |
| 18 | Xidian University | 3 | |
| 19 | NO 55 INST CHINA ELECTRONIC SCI & TECHNOLOGYGROUP … | 3 | |
| 20 | Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC | 3 |
The presence of both commercial fabless players (Navitas, Efficient Power Conversion, GaN Systems) and large integrated firms (Huawei, Fujitsu) alongside strong university and government lab participation signals that foundational device reliability IP is still actively contested across multiple organizational types.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; trends and rankings should be read with that caveat in mind. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth holds, device IP dominates, adjacent branches remain thin
The annual filing trend and technology composition together reveal a field that is still expanding on a three-year basis, anchored almost entirely in semiconductor device classification, with power conversion and measurement branches capturing only a small share.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings grew from 4 records in 2017 to a plateau of 23 in both 2022 and 2023, before easing to 15 in 2024 and 6 in 2025; 2026 shows zero, consistent with publication lag rather than a genuine halt. The recent three-year window sits 65% above the prior three-year window, confirming continued multi-year expansion. Do not interpret the 2024–2025 step-down as a real decline — it reflects lag in patent publication.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (Semiconductor devices) accounts for the large majority of classified records, reflecting the field’s concentration in device structure and process IP. H10D and H10W each register modest counts, while G01R (Electric and magnetic measurement), H02M (Power conversion), H03K (Pulse technique and logic circuits), and H02J (Power supply and grid systems) each hold smaller shares — pointing to under-served adjacent branches where reliability-oriented IP is 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.
Gallium nitride power transistor and method for pr…
The present disclosure relates to a Gallium Nitride, GaN, power transistor (100), comprising: a Gallium Nitride buffer layer (110) comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, the Gallium Nitride buffer layer comprising a first region (101), a second region (102) and a third region (103) at the top surface; an Aluminum Gallium Nitride barrier layer (112)… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | III-Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistor Stru… | 98 |
| 2 | ENHANCEMENT MODE GaN HEMT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FA… | 85 |
| 3 | 一种场效应晶体管多层场板器件及其制作方法 | 43 |
| 4 | Enhancement mode GaN HEMT device with gate spacer … | 32 |
| 5 | ENHANCEMENT MODE GaN HEMT DEVICE WITH GATE SPACER … | 32 |
| 6 | Enhancement mode GaN HEMT device | 25 |
| 7 | High Electron Mobility Transistors Having Improved… | 23 |
| 8 | ENHANCEMENT MODE GaN HEMT DEVICE | 22 |
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 structure means for GaN reliability R&D investment
The combination of growth-phase dynamics, moderate concentration, active academic-industry collaboration, and. China-led jurisdiction coverage shapes the strategic options for both incumbents and new entrants.
Growth stage — multi-year expansion with easing annual peak
The lifecycle evidence places GaN power reliability in the Growth stage. The recent three-year filing window is 65% above the prior three-year window, confirming the field is still expanding on a multi-year basis. Annual volume eased from the 2022 peak of 23 records, and the 2024–2025 data are further understated by publication lag, so the slowdown is not confirmed as structural.
Growth · 65% recent window vs priorModerately fragmented — no dominant owner, multiple viable entry points
The top five filers hold 27% of the output of the hundred largest filers, and the gap between first place (11 patent records) and fifth place (8 patent records) is narrow. This fragmentation means no single entity can block the field, but it also implies that a focused filing campaign of even modest scale can establish a credible position in the ranking.
Top-5 share: 27% of top 100Intra-institutional and inventor-corporate co-filing dominate co-applicant activity
The most active co-filing pair is the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China with its Guangdong Electronics and Information Engineering Research Institute, sharing 4 joint records — reflecting a campus-affiliate model common in Chinese academia. Inventor Curatola Gilberto appears alongside both Huawei Digital Power Technology (3 joint records) and Huawei Technologies (2 joint records), suggesting an expert consultant or acquired-inventor relationship within the Huawei ecosystem. Fujitsu and Fujitsu Semiconductor share 2 joint records, consistent with a parent-subsidiary filing structure.
Top pair: UESTC + UESTC Guangdong (4)China leads filings; the U.S. and PCT routes provide meaningful secondary coverage
China accounts for 79 patent records, making it the primary jurisdiction by a substantial margin. The United States follows with 54 records, WIPO PCT with 13, and Europe (EPO) with 10. Japan, India, Taiwan, and Singapore each register smaller counts. The China-U.S. split signals that the most consequential validity and freedom-to-operate analyses will need to cover both jurisdictions simultaneously.
Lead office: China (79 records)Go 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 |
|---|---|---|
| University of Electronic Science and Technology of China | UESTC Guangdong Institute of Electronics and Information Engineering | 4 |
| CURATOLA GILBERTO | Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. | 3 |
| Fujitsu Limited | Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited | 2 |
| CURATOLA GILBERTO | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Huang Chih Shu | Huang Chih Shu | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Navitas and Huawei lead by count; UESTC anchors academic IP
The top two commercial filers approach the field from distinct angles — Navitas from integrated circuit packaging and multi-die architecture, Huawei from transistor-level device engineering — while strong university and government lab participants add foundational process and characterization IP.
Navitas Semiconductor
Navitas Semiconductor holds 11 patent records, the highest count in the corpus. Its technology emphasis spans H01L 23, H01L 25, and H01L 27 — covering semiconductor device packaging, multi-chip assemblies, and integrated arrays — reflecting a system-level reliability strategy rather than a pure device-structure focus. Applicant momentum data classifies it as a new entrant in the recent window, indicating its position was built entirely in the most recent filing period.
patent records: 11Huawei Technologies
Huawei Technologies registers 10 patent records, narrowly behind Navitas, with its emphasis concentrated in H01L 29 (discrete transistor and FET structures) and a secondary touch on H02M 3 (DC-DC power conversion) — pointing to a device-plus-converter reliability strategy. Momentum data also classifies Huawei as a new entrant in the recent window, suggesting the bulk of its GaN reliability portfolio has been assembled recently. The Huawei Digital Power Technology affiliate adds a further 4 patent records under a related but distinct entity.
patent records: 10| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Navitas Semiconductor Limited | 11 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| University of Electronic Science and Technology of China | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huang Chih Shu | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Peking University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served routes in measurement, power conversion, and logic reliability
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant H01L device class have low record counts relative to the corpus total, suggesting these areas receive comparatively little dedicated IP coverage and may warrant further investigation for teams with the relevant technical expertise.
G01R · Electric and magnetic measurement for GaN reliability
G01R registers 16 patent records — just 6% of all classified records — despite characterization and in-situ measurement being central to understanding GaN trap states, dynamic on-resistance, and device degradation. This sparsity is notable given that UESTC and Peking University already show G01R 27 and G01R 31 sub-class activity, confirming technical relevance. Teams developing in-situ reliability test methods or trapping characterization tools for GaN HEMTs face a comparatively open filing landscape in this branch.
Search this in Eureka →H02M · Power conversion circuits with integrated GaN reliability
H02M captures 16 patent records, roughly 6% of classified records, even though GaN device reliability is inseparable from the switching converter circuits that stress the devices. Huawei Technologies and Fujitsu both show H02M 3 sub-class presence, confirming that at least some players link device and converter-level reliability IP. The branch remains thin relative to device-level filings, and teams focused on reliability-aware converter topologies, dead-time optimization, or gate-driver stress management have scope to establish differentiated positions here.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across IPC branches
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H01L 29 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 21 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 23 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 27 · Semiconductor devices | H10D 62 · Semiconductor devices (general) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navitas Semiconductor Limited | Strong · 11 | Absent | Strong · 11 | Strong · 11 | Strong · 7 |
| Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. | Strong · 8 | Strong · 7 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| The Government of the United States of America (as represented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) | Strong · 8 | Moderate · 4 | Moderate · 2 | Absent | Emerging · 1 |
| Huang Chih Shu | Strong · 7 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 4 | Moderate · 2 |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Strong · 10 | Absent | Emerging · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| Fujitsu Limited | Strong · 6 | Strong · 5 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 1 |
| HRL Laboratories, LLC | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 124 patent families. This is the base count used for growth and trend analysis; applicant rankings are reported separately at the patent-record level, which can exceed the family total because a family can be counted in multiple jurisdictions or IPC classes.
Navitas Semiconductor holds the top position with 11 patent records, narrowly ahead of Huawei Technologies with 10 and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China with 9.
Yes, on a multi-year basis. The recent three-year filing window is 65% above the prior three-year window, placing the field in the Growth lifecycle stage. Annual volume eased from a peak of 23 records in 2022, and the 2024–2025 step-down reflects publication lag rather than a confirmed structural decline.
China leads with 79 patent records, followed by the United States with 54, WIPO PCT with 13, and Europe (EPO) with 10. Freedom-to-operate and validity analyses should prioritize both the Chinese and U.S. patent systems.
The most-cited document is titled ‘III-Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistor Structure’ with 98 citations, followed by ‘Enhancement Mode GaN HEMT Device and Method for Fabrication’ with 85 citations. Enhancement-mode GaN HEMT device structures and gate-spacer engineering appear repeatedly among the top-cited works, underscoring the centrality of normally-off device reliability to the field.
The evidence identifies G01R (Electric and magnetic measurement, 16 records), H02M (Power conversion, 16 records), H03K (Pulse technique and logic circuits, 12 records), H10D (Semiconductor devices general, 21 records), and H10W (18 records) as branches with comparatively low coverage relative to the dominant H01L class. Measurement methods for trapping and degradation, and reliability-aware converter circuits, are the most technically grounded adjacent areas given the existing UESTC and Huawei sub-class activity in those branches.
Built on Patsnap Open Platform
This report’s underlying patent dataset — filings, assignees, technology clusters — is open for developers via MCP and REST API. Free to start, 10,000 credits, no credit card required.
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.