IGBT Module Patent Landscape 2026
IGBT Module Patent Landscape in 2026
The IGBT module patent field is a mature, highly concentrated space dominated by a small group of Japanese and European power-semiconductor incumbents, with Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji Electric holding near-equivalent leading positions. Annual filing volume peaked in 2017 and has eased since, signalling a field past its peak growth phase rather than one in active expansion.
Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji Electric lead a tightly held field
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. sit at the top of the Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba ranks third at 3,427 patent records, followed by Infineon Technologies AG at 2,148 and Denso Corporation at 1,896.
The top five filers account for 47% of the combined patent records of the hundred largest filers — a pronounced concentration that reflects decades of accumulated portfolio depth by incumbent power-semiconductor manufacturers. The gap between rank five (Denso, 1,896) and rank six (Rohm, 1,610) is narrower than the gap between ranks one and two, but the distance from the top trio to the rest of the ranking is substantial.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 4,602 | |
| 2 | Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | 4,551 | |
| 3 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | 3,427 | |
| 4 | Infineon Technologies AG | 2,148 | |
| 5 | Denso Corporation | 1,896 | |
| 6 | Rohm Co., Ltd. | 1,610 | |
| 7 | Renesas Electronics Corporation | 1,433 | |
| 8 | Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. | 1,349 | |
| 9 | Infineon Technologies Austria AG | 990 | |
| 10 | TOSHIBA ELECTRONICS DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORARTION | 981 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Toyota Motor Corporation | 854 | |
| 12 | Hitachi, Ltd. | 599 | |
| 13 | Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC | 592 | |
| 14 | Wolfspeed, Inc. | 537 | |
| 15 | Texas Instruments Incorporated | 346 | |
| 16 | Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. | 332 | |
| 17 | Minebea Power Semiconductor Device Inc. | 328 | |
| 18 | Hitachi Energy Ltd. | 304 | |
| 19 | UNIV OF ELECTRONICS SCI & TECH OF CHINA | 303 | |
| 20 | Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd. | 261 |
The entrenched positions of Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric, and Toshiba imply high freedom-to-operate barriers in core IGBT device architectures. New entrants and challengers must navigate dense claim landscapes or focus investment on adjacent or next-generation branches — such as wide-bandgap alternatives and advanced packaging — where incumbents hold comparatively thinner coverage.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; the 2024 and 2025 figures in particular should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Volume has eased from its 2017 peak; semiconductor device claims dominate the mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that reached its high-water mark in 2017 and has contracted since, while the technology composition shows overwhelming concentration in semiconductor device classes with a long tail of adjacent engineering disciplines.
Annual filing trend
Filings peaked at 1,265 records in 2017 and have declined in most subsequent years, reaching 974 in 2022 before dropping further. The 2023–2025 bars are partially suppressed by publication lag and do not reflect true final-year activity. The multi-year direction is nonetheless downward from the 2017 peak, consistent with a maturing technology cycle rather than active growth.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (Semiconductor devices) dominates the composition with 19,947 patent records — far exceeding every other class. The next-largest branches — H10D (Semiconductor devices, general) at 1,721, H03K (Pulse technique and logic circuits) at 780, H02M (Power conversion) at 779, and H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies) at 352 — each represent a small fraction of the total. This gap signals that most innovation is concentrated in core device structure and process rather than in system integration or packaging.
↗ 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.
Power inverter having series connection of semicon…
An inverter apparatus constituted by one or more series connections of plural semiconductor devices each having a pair consisting of an insulated gate bipolar transistor, and a diode, both of which are in a reverse parallel connection with each other, wherein the resistivity of the base layer of the lowest impurity concentration in the diode is lower than… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Combination bake/chill apparatus incorporating low… | 701 |
| 2 | Advanced methods for making semiconductor devices … | 525 |
| 3 | Light emitting diode multiphase driver circuit and… | 489 |
| 4 | Method for processing a semiconductor layer, metho… | 385 |
| 5 | Grooved DMOS process with varying gate dielectric … | 382 |
| 6 | Power IC having SOI structure | 378 |
| 7 | Manufacturing apparatus for semiconductor device a… | 373 |
| 8 | Integrated circuit including inverted dielectric i… | 343 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D investment
The combination of a past-peak filing trend, extreme concentration among incumbents, and active cross-company collaboration shapes where new R&D investment is likely to find room.
Past-peak: field peaked in 2017, now in decline stage
Annual filing volume peaked in 2017 at 1,265 patent records and has eased consistently since, placing the field in a decline lifecycle stage. This trajectory reflects incremental improvement activity on well-established IGBT architectures rather than foundational invention. R&D teams entering core silicon IGBT device design will face dense prior art and limited white space; value creation is more likely in integration, packaging, or wide-bandgap transitions.
Lifecycle: DeclineTop five filers hold 47% of the leading-100 share
The top five applicants — Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric, Toshiba, Infineon Technologies, and Denso — collectively hold 47% of the patent records among the hundred largest filers. This level of concentration means that freedom-to-operate analysis is mandatory before entering core device or gate-structure areas. Challengers outside the top tier have materially thinner portfolios and may be more open to licensing or co-development arrangements.
High concentrationToyota ecosystem and Toshiba–TED are the most active co-filers
The most active co-filing pair is Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba and Toshiba Electronics Devices and Storage Corporation with 408 joint patent records — a parent-subsidiary relationship that concentrates filing under a coordinated strategy. Outside that pair, Denso, Toyota Motor, and Toyota Central Research Labs form a tightly linked automotive-application cluster, with 70 joint records between Denso and Toyota Motor, and 52 between Toyota Motor and Toyota Central Labs. Rohm and Nissan Motor also co-file, linking a device specialist to an automotive OEM. These coalitions signal where device development is being driven by end-application pull.
Ecosystem clustersUnited States is the primary protection jurisdiction by a wide margin
The United States leads jurisdiction coverage with 14,321 patent records, followed by EPO at 2,749 and Japan at 1,218. WIPO PCT filings total 798, indicating moderate international prosecution activity. China has 377 records despite being a major IGBT manufacturing market — a potential exposure for incumbents and an indicator that Chinese domestic filings may be captured through separate national routes not fully reflected here.
US-centric filingGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Toshiba Electronics Devices & Storage Corporation | 408 |
| Denso Corporation | Toyota Motor Corporation | 70 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. | 52 |
| Denso Corporation | Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. | 25 |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. | Nara Institute of Science and Technology | 19 |
| Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) | 15 |
| Denso Corporation | Mirise Technologies Corporation | 14 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Mirise Technologies Corporation | 13 |
| Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | Denso Corporation | 12 |
| Rohm Co., Ltd. | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 12 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji Electric co-lead; both on declining momentum
The top two players are separated by fewer than 60 patent records and share nearly identical technology emphases concentrated in H01L semiconductor device subclasses. Both show negative recent momentum, consistent with the broader field decline.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Mitsubishi Electric holds 4,602 patent records — the largest single portfolio in the corpus — concentrated in H01L 29 (semiconductor devices, 1,366 records), H01L 21 (manufacturing processes, 1,089 records), and H01L 27 (integrated circuits, 560 records). Recent filing momentum shows a sharp contraction of 59% versus the prior period, the steepest decline among the top players, suggesting the company has passed a major filing cycle peak and may be consolidating rather than expanding its core IGBT position.
patent records: 4,602Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
Fuji Electric is effectively co-leader with 4,551 patent records and an almost identical technology profile — H01L 29 (1,692 records), H01L 21 (1,346 records), and H01L 27 (747 records). Its recent filing trend shows a 24% decline, more moderate than Mitsubishi Electric’s contraction, which may indicate a slightly more active ongoing prosecution program. Fuji Electric also maintains a collaboration with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (15 joint records), extending its reach into government-backed R&D.
patent records: 4,551| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | 355 | ▼ -24% |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 148 | ▼ -59% |
| Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | 190 | ▼ -22% |
| Infineon Technologies AG | 135 | ▼ -57% |
| Infineon Technologies Austria AG | 103 | ▼ -30% |
| Renesas Electronics Corporation | 66 | ▬ 0% |
| Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. | 12 | ▼ -75% |
| Rohm Co., Ltd. | 150 | ▼ -13% |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant semiconductor device core
While H01L semiconductor device claims dominate the corpus, several adjacent IPC branches show materially lower coverage relative to their technical relevance to IGBT module applications, representing areas where the patent density is comparatively thin.
H02M · Power Conversion Circuits
H02M (Power conversion — AC/DC etc.) carries 779 patent records against more than 19,000 in the dominant H01L class, representing approximately 3% of the top-branch records. For IGBT modules, power conversion topology and gate-driver integration are directly performance-critical, yet the filing density here is sparse relative to the device layer. An entrant with system-level integration expertise — covering converter design, switching-loss optimization, or soft-switching topologies tailored to IGBT characteristics — could establish differentiating positions in a less crowded sub-space. The realistic entry path is via system-integration patents that cite IGBT device art but claim circuit-level innovations.
Search this in Eureka →H05K · Printed Circuits & Module Assemblies
H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies) accounts for 352 patent records — roughly 1% of the leading branch — despite packaging and substrate technology being a primary differentiator in commercial IGBT module reliability, thermal performance, and power density. The sparse coverage here is an observation that module-level assembly innovation has been filed under different classification strategies or has been under-patented relative to its commercial importance. Engineers focused on direct bonded copper substrates, advanced sintering attach, or embedded cooling structures may find comparatively fewer blocking positions in this branch than in core device architecture.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route emphasis
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H01L 29 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 21 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 27 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 23 · Semiconductor devices | H10D 62 · Semiconductor devices (general) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | Strong · 1,692 | Strong · 1,346 | Moderate · 747 | Moderate · 441 | Emerging · 184 |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | Strong · 1,366 | Strong · 1,089 | Moderate · 560 | Moderate · 471 | Emerging · 109 |
| Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Strong · 1,447 | Strong · 781 | Moderate · 432 | Emerging · 186 | Emerging · 166 |
| Infineon Technologies AG | Strong · 824 | Strong · 905 | Moderate · 206 | Strong · 535 | Emerging · 92 |
| Renesas Electronics Corporation | Strong · 551 | Strong · 362 | Moderate · 215 | Moderate · 192 | Emerging · 65 |
| Rohm Co., Ltd. | Strong · 527 | Strong · 380 | Moderate · 249 | Moderate · 175 | Absent |
| Denso Corporation | Strong · 479 | Strong · 357 | Moderate · 230 | Moderate · 131 | Emerging · 60 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 7,902 patent families. Filing activity peaked in 2017 and has eased since; the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and should be treated as provisional counts.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation leads with 4,602 patent records, followed closely by Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. at 4,551, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba at 3,427, Infineon Technologies AG at 2,148, and Denso Corporation at 1,896. Together the top five hold 47% of patent records among the hundred largest filers.
The field is classified in a decline stage: annual filings peaked in 2017 at 1,265 patent records and have eased consistently, with a recent-window contraction of 30%. This reflects incremental innovation on mature architectures rather than foundational new activity.
The United States leads with 14,321 patent records, followed by EPO at 2,749, Japan at 1,218, WIPO PCT at 798, and China at 377. The US lead by a wide margin reflects the importance of the North American market and broad prosecution strategies by incumbent Japanese and European filers.
The most active co-filing pair is Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba and Toshiba Electronics Devices and Storage Corporation with 408 joint patent records. The Toyota ecosystem — Denso, Toyota Motor, and Toyota Central Research Labs — forms the next-most-active cluster, with 70 joint records between Denso and Toyota Motor. Rohm and Nissan Motor also co-file with 12 joint records, linking device and automotive expertise.
H02M (Power conversion circuits) and H05K (Printed circuits and assemblies) are the two most notable adjacent branches with comparatively sparse coverage — 779 and 352 patent records respectively against more than 19,000 in the dominant H01L class. These branches cover power conversion topology and module packaging, areas of direct commercial relevance where filing density is lower than in core device architecture.
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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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