Human-Centric Lighting Patents: Who Leads, Where Filing Peaked 2026
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 17 families and has not returned to that level since, with the 2022 midpoint already below peak — a maturing filing wave, not an accelerating one.
- H05B captures 48 of 49 families leaving component form-factor (F21V), digital processing (G06F) and light-source form (F21Y) as visibly thinner, more open technical ground.
- Three records share the top citation tier at 9 citations each held by different assignees, meaning the dual blue-enriched/blue-depleted architecture is a shared reference point rather than one company's blocking position.
Filing growth compares 2021 (6 records) with 2024 (4) — 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 49 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent families combining human-centric, circadian and tunable-white lighting claims with the specific technical language of melanopic tuning, non-visual light effects, and tunable-white control — filtered to the IPC subclasses that actually govern lighting circuits and control logic. The corpus is small and precise by design: 49 families published between 2015 and mid-2026, concentrated almost entirely in one electrical lighting classification.
Because the search is scoped tightly around circadian and tunable-white terminology rather than lighting broadly, the picture here is of a specific architecture — dual or multi-channel spectral tuning paired with control logic — rather than the lighting industry at large. Read the technology mix and citation tiers as a map of where that specific claim space has filled in, and where it has not.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trends and technology composition
The dataset spans 49 published families filed between 2015 and mid-2026, with the most recent year necessarily undercounted because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
Filing activity peaked in 2020, then flattened
Annual filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 17 in 2020. The 2022 midpoint sits at 13, and activity has not returned to the 2020 high, pointing to a maturing rather than an accelerating filing pattern for the core architecture.
H05B dominates; adjacent classes are thin
H05B (electric heating and lighting circuits) appears in 48 of 49 records, effectively defining the category. F21K, A61M, A61N and H01L each register in the single digits, and F21V, G06F and F21Y are thinner still — marking the mechanical, data-processing and form-factor angles as comparatively open.
Shares are the percentage of the 49 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Human-Centric Lighting Human-Centric Lighting with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about human-centric lighting human-centric lighting and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this landscape
Circadian Lighting Apparatus — US10609798B1
A circadian lighting apparatus includes a housing, two light sources, and a control logic. The first light source is a blue-enriched light source for stimulating human to a high circadian mode. The second light source is a blue-depleted light source for calming down human to a low circadian mode. The criteria of a good circadian lighting apparatus are identified. When coated with an anti-bacterial photocatalytic coating on the exterior, the circadian lighting apparatus becomes a disinfecting equipment that can kill the airborne bacteria and viruses that make contact to its anti-bacterial photocatalytic coated surface.Assigned to ALEDDRA INC.; granted 2020-03-31; tied for the highest citation count in this dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20220279634A1 | Human-Centric Lighting Controller | 9 |
| 2 | US20200260543A1 | Preferred lighting spectrum and color shifting circadian lamps | 9 |
| 3 | US10609798B1 | Circadian lighting apparatus | 9 |
| 4 | US10709899B1 | Clamping circadian lighting apparatus | 6 |
| 5 | US20220272806A1 | LED lighting channels having spectral power distribution characteristics and related multi-channel tunable wh… | 5 |
| 6 | WO2021030272A1 | LED lighting channels having spectral power distribution characteristics and related multi-channel tunable wh… | 4 |
| 7 | US10786648B2 | Apparatus, method, and system for providing tunable circadian lighting at constant perceived brightness and c… | 4 |
| 8 | WO2023006471A1 | Circadian lighting for moderate light levels | 3 |
| 9 | WO2022263787A1 | Circadian lighting system | 3 |
| 10 | WO2022086792A1 | Tunable white lighting system with high color fidelity and adjustable melanopic content | 2 |
Ranked by citation count within the searched corpus; older filings are structurally favoured, so treat this as a map of influence rather than current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern signals
Read together, the trend line, the IPC spread and the citation tiers point to a technology that consolidated fast around one architecture and then slowed.
Growth has flattened since the 2020 peak
Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to 17 in 2020, then fell back to 13 by 2022. That shape is consistent with an initial claiming rush around dual-channel tunable-white architecture rather than a technology still in an early growth phase.
Nearly all claim value sits in one circuit classification
H05B covers electric lighting circuits and appears in all but one of the 49 records. The remaining classifications — F21K, A61M, A61N, H01L, F21V, G06F, F21Y — each register in single digits, marking where claim density drops off sharply.
Influence is shared across filers, not concentrated in one
Three separate records tie for the highest citation count in this set, each from a different assignee. No single company's filing dominates the most-referenced documents, which lowers the risk of one party controlling the core architecture outright.
Joint filing is rare in this space
Only 4 co-assignee pairings appear across the dataset, all tied to the same lead filer. Cross-company or cross-inventor collaboration on human-centric lighting claims is the exception, not the norm.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to human-centric lighting human-centric lighting, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how actively
No single assignee shows positive momentum in the most recent tracked year — several show zero filings, including one with a full year-over-year drop — consistent with a field that consolidated around 2020 and has since slowed across the board.
Recent-year filing has gone quiet across the board
Every assignee in the recent-momentum tracking shows zero filings in the latest year, including one with a -100% year-over-year change. That is consistent with the broader flat-to-declining trend since the 2020 peak, though the newest year is always undercounted due to publication lag.
One lead filer accounts for the visible collaboration
All four identified co-assignee pairings trace back to the same lead organisation working with named individual co-inventors or co-assignees. Collaboration between independent companies is not visible in this dataset.
US filings lead, with EPO and PCT close behind
The United States receives the largest share of filings (16), followed by EPO and WIPO/PCT routes (7 each), then Canada (5), Israel (4) and India (3). That spread points to filers protecting core markets directly while using PCT for broader international optionality.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Savant Systems, Inc. | 0 | — |
| MATE LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Lumileds LLC | 0 | — |
| Signify Holding B.V. | 0 | — |
| CIRCADA LTD | 0 | — |
| Ecosense Lighting, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Musco Lighting, LLC | 0 | — |
| Yeh Li Chia Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to go from here
The dataset points to a maturing dual-channel architecture and several thinner adjacent branches. The next step is turning that into a concrete filing or freedom-to-operate decision.
Run a full claim chart on the top-cited tier
Three records share the highest citation count in this set. Before filing near dual blue-enriched/blue-depleted architectures, map exactly what each independent claim covers.
Open claim charting in EurekaTest a design-around in the under-claimed branches
Form-factor, digital-processing and component classifications show far fewer records than the dominant circuit class. Draft a first claim there and check it against the existing filings before committing.
Explore white space in EurekaFrequently asked questions
In this dataset, human-centric lighting patents cluster around fixtures and control systems that adjust spectral output — commonly by mixing blue-enriched and blue-depleted light sources — to influence circadian rhythm, alertness or melanopic response. Nearly all of the 49 families sit inside the H05B electric lighting-circuits classification, meaning the patentable core is the circuit and control logic that drives the colour or intensity shift, not a new light-emitting material. Adjacent classifications like A61M and A61N appear only where lighting is paired with a therapeutic or physiological delivery function.
Filing is spread across a mix of specialist lighting firms and larger diversified lighting groups, with no single company showing consistent year-over-year momentum in the latest year — several tracked assignees show zero filings in the most recent year, including one with a -100% year-over-year drop. That pattern suggests the field has moved past an initial land-grab phase into a steadier, more dispersed filing rhythm rather than being led by one dominant filer. Co-assignee collaboration is also limited, with only 4 identified pairs in the whole set.
Not clearly. Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 17 in 2020, but the 2022 figure of 13 sits below that peak, and the trend through the most recent complete years reads flat to declining rather than accelerating. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very latest year in any such dataset always looks lower than it will eventually turn out to be, so a short-term dip should not be read as a definitive slowdown. Taken together with the 2020 peak, the overall shape looks like a maturing filing wave rather than an emerging one.
US10609798B1, assigned to ALEDDRA INC. and granted in March 2020, claims a circadian lighting apparatus with two distinct light sources — one blue-enriched, one blue-depleted — switched by control logic against defined criteria for effective circadian lighting, with an optional anti-bacterial coating limitation. It is one of three records tied at the top citation tier (9 citations) in this dataset, meaning it has repeatedly been cited by later filers working on similar dual-channel architectures. Anyone designing a two-channel tunable-white fixture should check their switching logic against this claim structure before finalising a design.
The thinnest technical areas relative to the dominant H05B circuit class are lighting-component form factor (F21Y), device components (F21V) and digital data processing (G06F) — each appearing in only a handful of the 49 records. That suggests mechanical form-factor innovation (modular or interchangeable channel housings) and computational approaches to spectral tuning (melanopic-curve calculation from sensor input) are less densely claimed than the core dual-source circuit architecture. A first filing that combines a specific form factor with a defined computational method, rather than a generic controller, has more room to establish a distinct claim position.
Research Human-Centric Lighting Human-Centric Lighting in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole human-centric lighting human-centric lighting corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.