Holographic HUD Combiner Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 62.5% concentration. The top 5 of 14 ranked assignees account for 20 of the 32 records in scope — filing here is already claimed by a small group, not wide open.
- Filing peaked in 2021, then dropped to zero by 2024. A -100% swing from 6 filings to 0 over that span, though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in under normal publication lag.
- Near-total overlap with vehicle optics. 96.9% of records sit in G02B (optical elements) and 53.1% also carry B60K (vehicle propulsion/drive), showing this is functionally an automotive-optics niche, not a standalone display category.
Filing growth compares 2021 (6 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 32 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
This landscape tracks 32 published records matching holographic combiner and waveguide head-up display technology, filtered to documents discussing diffraction efficiency, rainbow artefact suppression, photopolymer recording, windshield lamination, angular uniformity or environmental durability. The scope runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, though the most recent one to two years are understated because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months.
Filing offices skew toward Japan and the United States (10 each), with Europe, WIPO/PCT, Canada and Australia making up the remainder — consistent with a technology whose commercial buyers are automotive OEMs and Tier 1 optics suppliers concentrated in those jurisdictions.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 32-record set: filings by year, and the IPC subclasses those filings carry. Because a single record can be tagged with several IPC classes, the class shares below sum to well over 100% of the record total — that is expected and does not indicate double-counting of records.
A sharp peak, then silence
Filings were absent in 2017, rose to a peak of 6 in 2021, and fell to 0 by 2024 — a -100% move over that three-year window. Treat the 2025-2026 near-zero figures as provisional rather than evidence of a continued decline, since publication lag has not yet caught up with those filing years.
Optics and vehicle classes dominate
G02B (optical elements & systems) appears on 96.9% of the 32 records, and B60K (vehicle propulsion & drive) on 53.1% — together they confirm this is an automotive windshield-optics field first and a holography field second, since G03H (holography proper) reaches only 6.3%.
Shares are the percentage of the 32 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Holographic and Waveguide HUD Combiners with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about holographic and waveguide hud combiners and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe foundational filings
US5313292A — Windshield display system for an automobile
A windshield display system for automobile includes a wavelength selective holographic combiner (12) laminated within the plies (36, 50) of an automobile windshield. A lamination process is provided to prevent degradation of the holographic combiner (12), which might otherwise occur with conventional windshield lamination processes. The holographic combiner (12) is processed in a manner that permits it to withstand the temperature and pressure extremes of the windshield lamination process. Also provided is a display system (60) for producing an image of vehicle information and the motorist's field of view as the motorist observes the real world scene.Filed by Flight Dynamics, a joint venture of Rockwell HUD Systems and Kaiser Flight Dynamics; granted 1994-05-17.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EP0368898A1 | Windshield display system for an automobile | 300 |
| 2 | US3915548A | Holographic lens and liquid crystal image source for head-up display | 268 |
| 3 | US5917459A | Holographic head up display | 76 |
| 4 | US4842389A | Vehicle display system using a holographic windshield prepared to withstand lamination process | 53 |
| 5 | WO1988009942A1 | Windshield display system for an automobile | 50 |
| 6 | US5313292A | Windshield display system for an automobile | 34 |
| 7 | JP1994273691A | Head-up type display device for vehicle | 21 |
| 8 | US20170102540A1 | Variable reflectivity image combiner for wearable displays | 12 |
| 9 | US20230176388A1 | On-axis holographic sight | 11 |
| 10 | US20190271845A1 | Systems, devices, and methods for eyebox expansion in wearable heads-up display | 10 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings; read them as a signal of influence on the field, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
The dataset is small — 32 records — which makes concentration and IPC overlap more informative than the raw filing-year chart on its own.
Claim space sits with a handful of filers
20 of the 32 records in scope belong to the five leading assignees, and the top 10 combined reach 87.5% (28 records). With only 14 assignees ranked in total, a new entrant is filing into a field where most prior art is already attributable to a small, identifiable group rather than a fragmented long tail.
The 2021 peak has not been sustained
Filing activity peaked at 6 records in 2021 and fell to 0 by 2024, a -100% change the hero figures confirm. Because 2025 and 2026 are still inside the publication-lag window, this should be read as a completed three-year decline through 2024 rather than proof the field is still contracting.
This is an automotive-optics field, not a holography field
Almost every record (96.9% of 32) carries a G02B optical-elements classification, and over half also carry B60K vehicle propulsion & drive (53.1%). Pure holography classification (G03H) appears on only 6.3% of records, meaning the applied windshield/vehicle context is the dominant framing examiners and applicants use.
Influence concentrates in a few 1980s-1990s filings
The most-cited records in this set — including EP0368898A1 and US3915548A — date from the early history of windshield holographic displays and continue to anchor citation counts decades later. That pattern reflects the age advantage citation counts give older filings, not necessarily their current freedom-to-operate relevance.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to holographic and waveguide hud combiners, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
Fourteen assignees are ranked across the 32 records, with the leader holding 6 and the field thinning quickly — fifth place holds 3, tenth place holds 1.
One filer sets the pace
The leading assignee holds 6 of the 32 records in scope, roughly double the fifth-place holder's 3. That gap suggests a single organisation treated holographic HUD combiners as a sustained program rather than a one-off filing.
A tight cluster behind the leader
From second through roughly fifth place, holdings cluster closely enough that no single challenger stands out; the top 5 combined reach 62.5% of all 32 records, meaning the rest of the field files sparingly.
Single-filing entrants make up the rest
Beyond tenth place, holdings drop to single records. Recent-year momentum data shows several ranked assignees at 0 filings in the latest year, consistent with the broader 2021-to-2024 decline rather than any one company stepping back individually.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Marsupial Holdings | 0 | — |
| FURAITO DYNAMICS INC | 0 | — |
| AGC Inc. | 0 | — |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Hughes Flight Dynamics | 0 | — |
| Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) | 0 | — |
| Intel Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature, concentrated claim space with a defined citation core. The next steps depend on whether you are clearing a design or scouting a gap.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the cited core
Start from the most-cited records, including US5313292A and EP0368898A1, since these anchor the lamination and combiner claims that later filings build on.
Explore prior art in Eureka →Map the under-claimed branches before drafting
Photopolymer durability and angular-uniformity claims show thinner coverage than the core optical-elements class; a first claim there has more room than one filed directly against G02B.
Check white space in Eureka →Track whether filing resumes past 2024
The -100% drop to 2024 is the last complete year; watch the next publication cycle to see whether 2025-2026 filings, once fully published, reverse or confirm the decline.
Monitor filing trends in Eureka →Common questions about this landscape
Across the 32 records in this dataset, 14 assignees are ranked, with the leader holding 6 records and the field thinning quickly after that. The top 5 assignees combined account for 62.5% of all 32 records, and the top 10 reach 87.5%, so the field is concentrated among a small identifiable group rather than spread across many independent filers. Anyone evaluating freedom-to-operate should start with that leading group's portfolios rather than assuming a fragmented landscape.
Filing peaked at 6 records in 2021 and fell to 0 by 2024, a -100% change over that three-year span. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the near-zero figures for 2025 and 2026 are still provisional and should not yet be read as continued decline. The safest statement the data supports is that the 2021 peak was not sustained through the last complete filing year, 2024.
G02B, covering optical elements and systems, appears on 96.9% of the 32 records in scope, making it by far the dominant classification. B60K, vehicle propulsion and drive, appears on 53.1%, reflecting that most filings frame the combiner as part of an automotive windshield system rather than a standalone optical device. Pure holography classification, G03H, appears on only 6.3% of records, which tells you examiners and applicants treat this as applied vehicle optics first.
US5313292A, filed by Flight Dynamics (a joint venture of Rockwell HUD Systems and Kaiser Flight Dynamics), claims a windshield display system using a wavelength-selective holographic combiner laminated within the plies of an automobile windshield, along with a lamination process designed to protect the combiner from the heat and pressure of standard windshield lamination. Any design that lamintes a holographic optical element directly into windshield glass using a protective process should be checked against this claim scope specifically. It does not, on its own, cover waveguide-based combiners that avoid in-glass lamination or photopolymer recording techniques outside that lamination context, which is one reason those branches show up as comparatively under-claimed in this dataset.
The IPC composition shows heavy concentration in G02B and B60K but very thin coverage in G03H (holography, 6.3%), G06F (digital processing, 6.3%) and G09F (displays/signage, 6.3%), and single-digit representation in B29C (plastics shaping) and B32B (laminates). Practically, that points to photopolymer recording durability, angular uniformity across the eyebox, and windshield lamination process controls as areas with less direct claim density than the core combiner-optics space. A first claim in one of those branches is less likely to collide immediately with the cluster of records held by the leading assignees.
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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.