HTS Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing peaked in 2018 at 24 families and has not returned to that level, with the 2022 midpoint sitting at 9 — a flat-to-declining trend rather than a growing one.
- Magnet and inductor claims (H01F) touch 132 of 165 families, while fusion-reactor-adjacent filings (G21B) sit at just 13 — the smallest of the eight subclasses tracked.
- The most-cited record in the set is a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus filing from 2002, not a coated-conductor process patent — citation weight here still favours early magnet-application art over newer tape manufacturing routes.
What the HTS patent record actually covers
High-temperature superconductor patenting spans two distinct claim families that get bundled under one label: materials and tape manufacturing (coated conductors, REBCO film deposition, flux pinning architectures) and system-level application (magnets, protective circuits, NMR and diagnostic apparatus). The dataset here, built from 165 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026, shows the application side is far more heavily claimed than the materials side. H01F magnet and inductor filings alone touch 132 records, roughly 80% of the corpus, while cable and conductor claims under H01B sit at just 48.
That imbalance matters for anyone scoping freedom to operate: a new entrant working on magnet integration or quench protection is filing into dense, well-cited prior art, while someone with a genuinely new tape architecture or flux-pinning method has comparatively more open ground. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months in most jurisdictions, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart understate real filing activity for those years.
Filing trend and technology composition
Annual filing counts and IPC subclass distribution across the 165 families in this corpus, drawn from receiving-office and classification data filed between 2015 and mid-2026.
A 2018 peak that filing has not matched since
Filings rose to 24 in 2018, the high point of the tracked period, then eased toward a midpoint of 9 in 2022. The most recent full year sits well below peak, and 2026 is a partial year with a single record recorded so far — read the tail of any trend line as a floor, not a forecast.
Magnet and solid-state claims dominate over cable and materials claims
H01F (magnets, inductors, transformers) appears in 132 of 165 families and H10N (other solid-state devices) in 70, against 48 for H01B (cables and conductors). Fusion-reactor-adjacent G21B claims number just 13, the smallest subclass tracked, and diagnostic-apparatus claims under A61B sit at 18 — both signal narrower, more specialised filing activity rather than a crowded field.
Shares are the percentage of the 165 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on High-Temperature Superconductor Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about high-temperature superconductor landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe filings shaping this landscape
US6545474B2 — Controlling method of superconductor magnetic field application apparatus, and nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus and superconducting magnet apparatus using the method
Covers a controlling method for a nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus: cooling a high-temperature superconductor to a magnetization temperature below its transition temperature and magnetizing it in a field; raising it to a flux-setting temperature between the magnetization temperature and the transition temperature to fix a predetermined flux density; then operating the superconductor in a temperature range below the flux-setting temperature.Assigned to RIKEN, granted 2003-04-08. Anchors the magnetization-and-hold control sequence used across multiple later NMR and magnet filings in this corpus.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JP2002006021A | Nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus | 56 |
| 2 | US20150348681A1 | Coated conductor high temperature superconductor carrying high critical current under magnetic field by intri… | 53 |
| 3 | WO2017042543A1 | HTS magnet sections | 38 |
| 4 | US20020000806A1 | Nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus | 35 |
| 5 | JP2003069093A | Perpetual current switch and superconducting magnet using it | 25 |
| 6 | US8965468B2 | Persistent-mode high-temperature superconducting shim coils to enhance spatial magnetic field homogeneity for… | 23 |
| 7 | JP2001093721A | High-temperature superconducting magnet | 23 |
| 8 | JP2002008917A | Control method of superconductor magnetic field application apparatus, nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus u… | 21 |
| 9 | US20130102472A1 | Persistent-mode high-temperature superconducting SHIM coils to enhance spatial magnetic field homogeneity for… | 18 |
| 10 | CN104217894A | 一种传导冷却超导磁体低温热开关 | 16 |
Citation counts inside this searched corpus skew toward older filings by construction — treat them as a measure of influence on later filers, not as a signal of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about where this field is heading
Three patterns stand out once filing volume, IPC composition and citation weight are read together.
Growth has flattened since the 2018 peak
Annual filings climbed to 24 in 2018 and have not returned to that level since; the 2022 midpoint of 9 confirms a declining trajectory rather than a temporary dip. Recent-year momentum data shows several major assignees at zero filings in the latest year, reinforcing that this is a maturing filing cycle, not an emerging one.
Magnet and system claims dominate the corpus
Eighty percent of families carry an H01F classification, covering magnets, inductors and transformers. Materials-side classes — H01B conductors at 48 and G21B fusion-adjacent claims at just 13 — are comparatively thin, suggesting the application layer is where competitive filing pressure has concentrated.
The most influential prior art predates the current filing wave
The most-cited records in this corpus are NMR apparatus and magnet-control filings from the early 2000s, not recent coated-conductor process patents. That is expected in a searched corpus — older filings accumulate citations simply by being available longer — but it means the technical core that later filers build on is still the magnet-application layer, not newer tape manufacturing routes.
Joint filing is limited and concentrated around a few institutions
Only nine co-assignee pairs appear across 165 families, and the strongest pairing is far ahead of the rest by count. That points to research consortia and university-industry links driving a small share of output, with the bulk of filings coming from single-assignee programmes.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to high-temperature superconductor landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity has cooled
Recent-year momentum shows a field where several previously active assignees have gone quiet, and no single organisation is scaling filings upward.
Multiple established filers show zero recent-year activity
Assignees with historically strong filing records — including research institutes and fusion-systems developers — recorded zero filings in the most recent year, several down 100% year-on-year. This is consistent with the broader flattening trend rather than an isolated pullback by one player.
One institution-industry pairing anchors the collaboration graph
The strongest co-assignee link in the corpus outweighs the next pairings by a wide margin, pointing to a dedicated joint programme between a research institution and a fusion-systems company. Other pairings, including two involving Japanese research institutes and industrial partners, cluster at far lower counts.
Filing activity splits across US, Japan and PCT routes
The United States leads as receiving office with 49 records, ahead of Japan at 29 and WIPO PCT filings at 22. Europe, China and the United Kingdom each carry meaningfully smaller counts, suggesting protection strategy in this field still centres on US and Japanese national routes rather than broad multi-jurisdiction PCT-first filing.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Tokamak Energy Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | 0 | -100% |
| RIKEN | 0 | — |
| University of Houston System | 0 | — |
| Commonwealth Fusion Systems | 0 | -100% |
| Toshiba Corporation | 0 | — |
| Bruker BioSpin GmbH | 0 | — |
| Superconductor Technologies Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing and citation data point to specific next steps depending on whether you are scoping freedom to operate or looking for open claim space.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on magnet integration claims
With 132 of 165 families touching H01F classifications, any new magnet-integration or quench-protection filing needs a close read against the cited core, particularly the early-2000s NMR and magnet-control patents that anchor citation weight in this corpus.
Check claims in EurekaScope the thinner materials-side branches
H01B conductor claims and G21B fusion-adjacent claims are comparatively under-filed relative to magnet and solid-state classes. A tape-architecture or flux-pinning method with genuine novelty has more room to establish a first claim here.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack assignees that have gone quiet
Several previously active filers show zero filings in the latest tracked year. Before assuming the field has cooled for everyone, verify whether specific programmes have paused or shifted filing strategy toward trade secret protection.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaCommon questions about HTS patents
These terms describe overlapping but distinct claim targets. Coated conductor tape and REBCO film claims typically cover the materials and deposition process — how the superconducting layer is grown on a substrate and how flux pinning is engineered into it — and fall mainly under H01B and H10N classifications in this corpus. HTS wire and HTS magnet claims are more often system-level, covering how the tape is wound, cooled and protected inside a magnet assembly, which is why H01F appears in 132 of the 165 families tracked here. When searching prior art, treat these as separate claim layers: a materials patent on film composition does not automatically block a magnet-integration patent using that film, and vice versa.
Filing in this corpus rose to 24 families in 2018, its high point across the 2017-2026 window, then eased to a midpoint of 9 by 2022. The trend has not returned to the 2018 level, and recent-year momentum data shows several previously active assignees, including major research institutes, at zero filings in the latest tracked year. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very latest years in any dataset will always look lower than they eventually settle at, but the multi-year decline from 2018 to 2022 predates that lag effect and reflects a genuine slowdown in new filing activity.
Influence here is best read through citation counts within the searched corpus, and the most-cited records are NMR apparatus and magnet-control filings dating to the early 2000s rather than recent coated-conductor patents. RIKEN's controlling-method patent for superconducting magnetic field application, granted in 2003, is a representative example of this cited core. Because older filings accumulate citations simply by having been public longer, high citation counts are a better signal of foundational influence on later filers than of which organisation is currently most active — check recent-year filing momentum separately for that.
Based on IPC subclass distribution, fusion-reactor-adjacent claims under G21B are the thinnest tracked category at 13 families, and cable/conductor claims under H01B sit at 48 against 132 for magnet-related H01F claims. That gap suggests flux-pinning architecture, REBCO deposition process detail and fusion-magnet integration are comparatively under-claimed relative to general magnet and system-application claims. A first claim in these areas would need to specify the pinning mechanism, deposition parameters or integration geometry precisely enough to sit outside the broader magnet-application claims that already dominate the corpus.
No — joint filing is limited. Only nine co-assignee pairs were identified across the full 165-family corpus, and the strongest pairing is well ahead of the others by shared filing count, pointing to a dedicated research consortium rather than a broad industry norm. Other identified pairings involve Japanese research institutes filing alongside industrial partners, but at much lower counts. The majority of families in this dataset carry a single assignee, so collaboration signals should be read as the exception rather than the rule in this field.
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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.
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.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.