Laminated Automotive Glazing Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentrated at the top. Five companies hold 68.0% of the 153 records in scope, and ten hold 89.5% — a field where the claim space around lamination, acoustic interlayers and head-impact performance is largely staked out already.
- Filing kept climbing after 2021. From 3 filings in 2021 to 4 in 2024, a +33% rise over that span, even as the field's peak year remains 2018 at 32 filings.
- B32B dominates the classification mix. 71.2% of records carry a B32B (layered products) class, far ahead of C03C glass compositions at 29.4% — most of the contested ground is in the laminate structure itself, not the glass chemistry.
Filing growth compares 2021 (3 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 153 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Laminated automotive glazing sits at the intersection of glass processing, polymer interlayer chemistry and vehicle safety regulation. The 153 records in scope span filings addressing acoustic interlayers, optical distortion control, delamination resistance, head-impact requirements, glass bending and thickness reduction — the technical levers manufacturers pull to meet weight, noise and safety targets at once. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so recent-year counts in this dataset are undercounts, not a sign the field has gone quiet.
The scope draws on records published between 2015 and mid-2026, with receiving-office activity spread across the United States, the European Patent Office, WIPO's PCT route, and national offices including Austria, Canada and Germany. Family-level counting is used throughout so the concentration and trend figures below are not inflated by continuation filings or multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 153-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings ran from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 32 in 2018, then settled into a lower band; the 2021-to-2024 span shows a +33% rise (3 to 4 filings), and 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag.
IPC subclass composition
B32B (layered products & laminates) appears in 71.2% of records, well ahead of C03C glass compositions (29.4%) and G02B optical elements (22.2%); B60J vehicle windows/fittings (17.6%), C03B glass manufacture (11.8%), C08L polymer compositions (10.5%), C08K polymer additives (7.8%) and B60K vehicle propulsion (7.2%) round out the mix. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares sum to more than 100% of the 153-record total.
Shares are the percentage of the 153 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Laminated Automotive Glazing with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about laminated automotive glazing and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in the field
CA2154580C — Apparatus and method for controlling stresses in laminated automotive glass
A glass sheet annealing ring includes an insulating ring juxtaposed the inboard periphery of the annealing ring for reducing the cooling rate of the glass sheet in proximity to the insulating ring, thereby reducing the magnitude of net inner band tension while maintaining edge compression as the glass sheet is cooled.Filed by Glasstech, Inc., this record addresses stress control during the annealing step of glass bending — a process-side claim rather than an interlayer or laminate-structure claim.
View full filing →| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6797396B1 | Wrinkle resistant infrared reflecting film and non-planar laminate articles made therefrom | 459 |
| 2 | US5013779A | Plasticized polyvinyl butyral and interlayer thereof | 160 |
| 3 | US5908704A | Interlayer film for protective glazing laminates | 137 |
| 4 | US20160243796A1 | Obscuration having superior strength and optical quality for a laminated automotive windshield | 111 |
| 5 | US20170232713A1 | Obscuration having superior strength and optical quality for an automotive laminate | 90 |
| 6 | US4998784A | Automotive windshield for a head up display system | 79 |
| 7 | WO2001096104A2 | Wrinkle resistant infrared reflecting film and non-planar laminate articles made therefrom | 71 |
| 8 | US5385786A | Apparatus and method for controlling stresses in laminated automotive glass | 64 |
| 9 | US20200391577A1 | Glazing having a frame for an information acquisition system | 31 |
| 10 | WO2019147605A1 | Glazing having a frame for an information acquisition system | 31 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Reading concentration, classification spread and citation patterns together points to where new claims are likely to clear and where they are not.
The top of the field is tightly held
Five entities account for 104 of the 153 records in scope and ten account for 137. A newcomer's freedom-to-operate analysis has to clear a small number of large portfolios before it clears anything else, since the long tail beyond the top ten holds comparatively little.
Laminate structure outweighs glass chemistry
B32B layered-product claims cover more than seven in ten records, while C03C glass-composition claims cover under a third. Filing strategy aimed purely at glass formulation is competing for a smaller, less crowded slice of the claim space than filing aimed at the laminate stack itself.
Older interlayer patents still anchor the field
The most-cited record in this dataset is a wrinkle-resistant infrared-reflecting film patent, followed closely by foundational polyvinyl butyral interlayer filings. Their citation weight reflects age and searched-corpus visibility more than current commercial relevance.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to laminated automotive glazing, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ranked positions, and where the gate sits
Nineteen companies make up the entire assignee ranking the dataset returns — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, but the full list of ranked filers, with a leader at 38 records and a steep drop to single digits by the tenth position.
One filer sets the scale for the field
The leading assignee's 38 records is more than three times the fifth-place count of 11, establishing an outsized single-portfolio presence that any competitive analysis of this space has to account for first.
The field thins out fast past fifth place
Record counts fall from 11 at fifth place to 6 at tenth, and the ranking includes only 19 companies in total — this is a field with a short list of serious filers rather than a broad, evenly spread competitive set.
Filing activity splits across US, Europe and PCT
The United States (39) and the European Patent Office (36) lead receiving-office counts, with WIPO's PCT route close behind at 30 — a sign that serious filers are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than concentrating in a single market.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Central Glass Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| AGP America | 0 | — |
| 3M Innovative Properties Co. | 0 | — |
| Glasstech, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Monsanto Co. | 0 | — |
| AGC Glass Europe SA | 0 | — |
| Saint Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. | 0 | — |
| Central Glass America Glass LLC | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claim sets and specific assignees.
Map claims against the top-held portfolios
Start with the leading assignee's full claim set before drafting in the laminate-structure space, since it accounts for the largest single share of records in scope.
Explore assignee portfolios in Eureka →Check the under-claimed branches directly
Acoustic interlayer tuning and polymer additive formulations show lighter classification density than the core laminate claims — worth a targeted prior-art search before committing to a first draft.
Run a white-space search in Eureka →Track the 2024-onward filings as they land
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true 2025-2026 filing picture is still forming; revisit the trend once later records publish.
Set a filing alert in Eureka →Common questions about laminated automotive glazing patents
The assignee ranking for this field lists 19 companies in total, with the leading filer holding 38 of the 153 records in scope — more than three times the count at fifth place, which stands at 11. The top five combined account for 68.0% of all records, and the top ten account for 89.5%, so competitive attention concentrates on a small group rather than spreading evenly. Beyond the tenth position the ranking thins quickly, leaving a short tail of lower-volume filers.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 32 records and has settled to a lower level since, but the 2021-to-2024 span still shows a +33% rise, from 3 filings to 4. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any such dataset are necessarily incomplete and should not be read as a decline. The honest read is that the field's most recent complete year, 2024, shows growth rather than contraction.
B32B, the layered-products-and-laminates classification, appears in 71.2% of the 153 records in scope, making it the dominant technical area by a wide margin. C03C glass and enamel compositions follow at 29.4%, and G02B optical elements at 22.2%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total — they describe overlapping claim coverage, not a strict partition of the field.
CA2154580C, filed by Glasstech, Inc., covers an apparatus and method for controlling stresses during the annealing stage of laminated automotive glass production, specifically an insulating ring arrangement that manages cooling rate and edge compression. It is a process and equipment claim tied to the glass-bending and annealing step, not a claim over interlayer chemistry or laminate-stack composition. A new filing focused on acoustic interlayers, optical distortion or polymer additive formulations would sit in a different technical branch from this patent's core claims, though anyone working on stress-control apparatus for glass bending should review it directly.
The classification data points to lighter claim density in branches adjacent to the dominant B32B laminate-structure space: C08K polymer additive formulations sit at 7.8% of records, and B60K vehicle-propulsion integration sits at 7.2%, both well below the 71.2% carried by B32B itself. These lower shares do not guarantee an easy filing, but they indicate less occupied claim territory relative to the core laminate and glass-composition classes. A targeted prior-art search in these specific sub-areas is the sensible next step before drafting.
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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.