Li-Ion Battery Safety Patent Snapshot 2026
Air Products & Chemicals dominates a concentrated but still-growing field, holding the clear leadership position among the top 100 filers. Filing activity has expanded on a multi-year basis, with H01M battery chemistry remaining the dominant technical branch while adjacent areas such as AI-based diagnostics and protective circuit design remain sparsely covered.
Air Products & Chemicals leads a concentrated field with a clear tier gap
Air Products & Chemicals (AIR PROD & CHEM INC) holds the top position with 11 patent records, well ahead of second-ranked Accentus PLC and Lenovo Switzerland International GmbH, each with 3 patent records.
The top five filers account for 42% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query, indicating meaningful but not extreme concentration. A visible tier gap separates the leader from the rest of the ranked field, with the second tier clustered at 2–3 patent records each.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AIR PROD & CHEM INC | 11 | |
| 2 | Accentus PLC | 3 | |
| 3 | Lenovo Switzerland International GmbH | 3 | |
| 4 | National Engineering Research Centre of Advanced Energy Storage Materials (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 5 | Zhejiang Liwinon Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 6 | Skyrora Ltd. | 2 | |
| 7 | HELLA GMBH & CO KGAA | 2 | |
| 8 | RJ Technologies LLC | 2 | |
| 9 | Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH | 2 | |
| 10 | Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Shandong Kangyang Power Supply Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 12 | AEA Technology Battery Systems | 1 | |
| 13 | Lan Yang Energy Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 14 | CASTEEL WILLIAM JACK | 1 | |
| 15 | National Institute of Technology | 1 | |
| 16 | Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited | 1 | |
| 17 | Guizhou Jiaying Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 18 | Dongguan Amperex Technology | 1 | |
| 19 | AEA Technology PLC | 1 | |
| 20 | NEAT ROBIN JOHN | 1 |
Air Products & Chemicals’ commanding position — more than three times the nearest rival — suggests a durable first-mover advantage in electrolyte and cell chemistry safety, which could constrain freedom-to-operate for new entrants in the core H01M space.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; forward-looking reads should treat recent-year figures as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Steady multi-year growth anchored in battery-cell chemistry
Two charts capture the pace of filing and the spread of technical focus. Together they show a field still expanding on a multi-year basis with a visible core branch and several sparse adjacencies.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings have grown 33% over the recent window. Activity was modest from 2017 to 2021, stepped up in 2022, and has continued at an elevated pace through 2024–2025. The 2023 and 2026 figures appear low due to publication lag and should not be read as real dips.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01M (Batteries, cells & fuel cells) is visible in the branch mix, reflecting the field’s core focus on cell-level and electrolyte safety. H02J (Power supply & grid systems) is the second-largest branch, with C07F (organo-metallic compounds), B64G (spacecraft), G01L (force/pressure measurement), G06N (AI models), H02H (protective circuits), and H04L (digital transmission) each representing small shares.
↗ 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.
Secondary lithium ion cell or battery and protecti…
The present invention provides a new method for improving capacity, average operating voltage and specific energy of a secondary lithium ion cell or battery. This method is achieved by means of properly adjusting the ratio between a positive material and negative material, which is calculated by theoretical specific energy, and properly increasing charge… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrolyte for a rechargeable cell | 124 |
| 2 | Secondary lithium ion cell or battery and protecti… | 43 |
| 3 | Electrochemical cell package | 36 |
| 4 | Preventing overcharge of lithium cells | 24 |
| 5 | Lithium-ion battery cut-off voltage adjustment | 20 |
| 6 | Overcharge protection by coupling redox shuttle ch… | 14 |
| 7 | 一种新能源汽车专用安全型锂离子电池 | 13 |
| 8 | Electrolyte for a rechargeable cell | 13 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Air Products & Chemicals
Air Products & Chemicals (AIR PROD & CHEM INC) holds 11 patent records, concentrated exclusively in H01M battery, cell, and fuel cell technology — specifically H01M 10 and H01M 4 sub-classes. This deep, focused position in core cell chemistry and electrolyte safety creates a strong freedom-to-operate barrier for competitors working in the same technical space. No momentum trend is reported for the leader, indicating an established rather than rapidly accelerating position.
patent records: 11Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA
Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA (HELLA GMBH & CO KGAA) holds 2 patent records and is flagged as a new entrant in the momentum data, making it one of two notable recent arrivals. Hella’s technical focus spans G01L 5 (force and pressure measurement), H01M 10, and H01M 50 — a distinctive multi-branch approach combining mechanical sensing with cell-level safety, relevant to automotive battery pack monitoring applications.
patent records: 2Frequently asked questions
Air Products & Chemicals (AIR PROD & CHEM INC) is the top-ranked filer with 11 patent records, more than three times the count of the next-ranked applicants, Accentus PLC and Lenovo Switzerland International GmbH, each with 3 patent records.
The top five filers account for 42% of the combined total across the ranked applicants visible in this query, indicating meaningful concentration with a clear leader and a tightly clustered mid-tier. The mid-tier spans multiple filers at 2–3 patent records each.
Filings have grown 33% over the recent window, consistent with a Growth-stage lifecycle classification. The most recent 12–24 months are subject to publication lag, so current-year figures should be treated as provisional underestimates.
H01M (Batteries, cells & fuel cells) is the visible branch by a wide margin, followed at a distance by H02J (Power supply & grid systems) and C07F (Organo-metallic compounds). Branches such as G06N (AI models) and H02H (Protective circuits) have very low filing counts.
The United States leads with 19 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) with 11, China with 5, and WIPO (PCT) with 4. Canada and Germany each have 2 records, with Austria, the United Kingdom, India, and Malaysia each recording 1.
Momentum data identifies Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA and Zhejiang Liwinon Energy Technology Co. Ltd. as new entrants, each with 2 patent records in the recent period. Hella’s focus spans automotive sensing (G01L) and cell safety (H01M), while Zhejiang Liwinon is concentrated in H01M battery and cell chemistry.
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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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