Li-Ion In-Cell Sensors Patent Landscape 2026
The Li-Ion in-cell sensors patent space is moderately concentrated, with Robert Bosch holding a commanding lead and the field having peaked in 2021 before annual volumes eased. The dominant protection route is the United States, and core battery-cell technology classes account for the vast majority of filings.
Robert Bosch leads a moderately concentrated field
Robert Bosch GmbH sits at the top of the applicant ranking with 40 patent records, more than doubling the next challenger, Samsung SDI at 14 patent records, and Briggs & Stratton and Medtronic each at 12 patent records.
The top five filers account for 30% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a moderate concentration structure where a clear leader coexists with a fragmented mid-tier spanning automotive, industrial, consumer-electronics, and medical device sectors.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 40 | |
| 2 | Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. | 14 | |
| 3 | BRIGGS & STRATTON CORP | 12 | |
| 4 | Medtronic Inc. | 12 | |
| 5 | Toyota Motor Corporation | 9 | |
| 6 | CPS Technology Holdings LLC | 8 | |
| 7 | Honeywell International Inc. | 7 | |
| 8 | Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV | 6 | |
| 9 | Blue Line Battery Inc. | 6 | |
| 10 | Denso Corporation | 6 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | HRL Laboratories LLC | 6 | |
| 12 | Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Co., Ltd. | 5 | |
| 13 | Apple Inc. | 5 | |
| 14 | APB Corp. | 5 | |
| 15 | NOCO Company | 5 | |
| 16 | Koninklijke Philips NV | 5 | |
| 17 | Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. | 5 | |
| 18 | Saft America Inc. | 4 | |
| 19 | Purdue Research Foundation | 4 | |
| 20 | IBM Corporation | 4 |
Bosch’s scale advantage signals deep, sustained commitment to embedded cell diagnostics, likely tied to its broad automotive and power-tool supply chains. Challengers from unrelated verticals — Medtronic (implantables), Briggs & Stratton (small engines) — suggest the sensing problem is perceived as cross-domain, which may limit any single incumbent’s ability to set a de facto standard.
The most recent 18–24 months of data are subject to publication lag and will grow as pending applications publish; near-term totals 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.
Activity peaked in 2021; battery-cell fundamentals dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend reveals a field that grew through 2021 and has since eased, while the technology composition confirms that in-cell sensing remains anchored in core battery and cell design classes rather than in adjacent sensing or signal-processing branches.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings climbed from 15 in 2017 to a peak of 33 in 2021, then eased to lower levels through 2023–2025. The 2025–2026 bars are materially under-counted due to patent publication lag and should not be read as a sustained contraction.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01M (Batteries, cells & fuel cells) dominates the IPC mix by a wide margin, followed by H02J (Power supply & grid systems) and G01R (Electric & magnetic measurement). Lower-volume branches — G01K (Temperature measurement), G01N (Material analysis & testing), G08B (Signalling & alarm systems), and A62C (Fire-fighting) — represent adjacent application areas that remain lightly covered relative to the core.
↗ 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.
Lithium-ion battery charging system for a battery …
An elevator system includes at least one lithium-ion battery, a temperature sensor (<b>56, 57</b>) operatively coupled to the at least one lithium-ion battery (<b>44</b>), and a lithium-ion battery charging system (<b>50</b>) including a controller (<b>30</b>) having a central processing unit (CPU) (<b>36</b>) interconnected functionally via a system bus to… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lithium reservoir system and method for rechargeab… | 127 |
| 2 | Electrolyte for a rechargeable cell | 124 |
| 3 | Apparatus for simulating high battery temperature … | 71 |
| 4 | Battery with reference electrode for voltage monit… | 48 |
| 5 | A method for the SOC estimation of Li-ion battery … | 43 |
| 6 | Battery with reference electrode for voltage monit… | 42 |
| 7 | 具有用于电压监测的参比电极的电池 | 41 |
| 8 | Flame-retardant additive for li-ion batteries | 37 |
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 patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a past-peak lifecycle, moderate concentration, active cross-sector collaboration at the top, and strong US-centric protection creates a specific risk-opportunity profile for new entrants and incumbents alike.
Post-peak: core sensing architectures are consolidating
The lifecycle stage is classified as Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2021 peak. This indicates that foundational in-cell sensor architectures are maturing and early-mover positions are being locked in. R&D investment should focus on differentiated sub-technologies — such as multi-parameter sensing or integration with BMS firmware — rather than re-doing well-covered core claims.
Life-cycle: DeclineOne dominant player; mid-tier is fragmented across sectors
Robert Bosch’s 40-record lead over Samsung SDI’s 14 creates a significant tier gap at the top. Below that, the mid-tier is split across automotive (Toyota, Denso), consumer (Apple), medical (Medtronic), and industrial (Briggs & Stratton) players, each with narrow single-digit counts. This fragmentation makes cross-licensing or standards-setting difficult and leaves room for a focused challenger to build a defensible second-tier position.
Moderate concentrationBosch–Samsung SDI is the dominant co-filing pair
The most active co-applicant relationship in the corpus is Robert Bosch GmbH and Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. with 14 jointly filed records — by far the largest collaboration signal in the dataset. Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij and Shell Oil Co. have filed 2 joint records, and Johnson Controls Technology has one joint filing with Johnson Controls New Energy Battery Research & Development. No other significant co-filing clusters are visible in the evidence, suggesting that collaborative IP development is concentrated at the top pair.
Bosch–Samsung SDI axisUS-centric filing; Europe and PCT provide secondary coverage
The United States leads jurisdiction coverage with 131 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 60 and WIPO (PCT) at 35. India at 27 records is notably active — higher than China at 19 — which may reflect academic and startup filings. South Korea at 9 and Germany at 8 round out the relevant markets. Japan, Canada, and Israel have minimal coverage, representing potential freedom-to-operate gaps for applicants seeking global manufacturing protection.
US-dominantGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Bosch GmbH | Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. | 14 |
| Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV | Shell Oil Co. | 2 |
| Johnson Controls Technology Company | JOHNSON CONTROLS NEW ENERGY BATTERY RES & DEV SHAN… | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Robert Bosch anchors the field; Denso and Toyota are emerging challengers
Two tiers are visible: Bosch as a clear volume leader with deep battery-cell focus, and a cluster of new-entrant momentum players — Denso and Toyota — recently establishing positions with multi-class coverage including EV propulsion and electrical measurement.
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH holds 40 patent records, the largest position in the corpus by a factor of nearly three over the nearest rival. Its technology emphasis is concentrated in H01M 10 (battery and cell design, 36 records) and H01M 50 (cell components, 18 records), with secondary coverage in H01M 2. Despite this dominant archive, Bosch’s recent filing trend is flagged as a new entrant pattern in the most recent window, likely reflecting a filing pause or portfolio reorganization after an earlier active period.
40 patent recordsDenso Corporation
Denso Corporation has 6 patent records and is classified as a new entrant in the most recent filing window, signaling fresh and growing commitment to in-cell sensing. Its technology focus spans G01R 31 (electrical measurement, 6 records), H01M 10 (battery cell fundamentals, 6 records), and H02J 7 (power supply systems, 5 records) — a broader multi-class spread than most peers, pointing toward integration of sensing with charging and BMS functions. Toyota Motor Corporation shows the same new-entrant momentum with 9 patent records and emphasis on H01M 10, G01R 31, and B60L 50 (EV propulsion), suggesting the Denso–Toyota ecosystem is building a coordinated EV-sensing position.
6 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Bosch GmbH | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Briggs & Stratton Corporation | 2 | ▼ -80% |
| Ethium LLC | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Denso Corporation | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC branches appear in the corpus at low share relative to the dominant H01M core, representing areas where in-cell sensing concepts intersect with adjacent application domains that are currently lightly covered.
G08B · Signalling & alarm systems
G08B accounts for only 12 patent records — about 2% of the IPC branch counts — despite the direct technical link between in-cell sensors and battery fault detection, thermal runaway alerting, and early warning systems. As regulatory pressure on battery safety grows (especially for EV and stationary storage), the gap between sensor capability and certified alarm-system integration represents a plausible entry point for safety-system specialists or BMS software vendors willing to file across both H01M and G08B.
Search this in Eureka →A62C · Fire-fighting
A62C appears at only 8 patent records — roughly 1% of the branch distribution — even though lithium-ion thermal runaway is a well-documented fire risk. In-cell sensors that detect early-stage gas evolution or temperature excursions could directly enable automatic suppression triggering. This branch is the sparsest of the safety-adjacent classes in the evidence, and the combination of low incumbency and high regulatory salience makes it an observable gap, though commercialization would require cross-domain expertise in both electrochemistry and suppression system certification.
Search this in Eureka →Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 182 patent families in scope. The United States is the lead filing jurisdiction, accounting for 131 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 60 and WIPO (PCT) at 35.
Robert Bosch GmbH is the top applicant with 40 patent records, concentrated in H01M 10 (battery and cell design) and H01M 50 (cell components). Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. is the nearest challenger at 14 patent records.
The lifecycle is classified as Decline, with annual filings having peaked in 2021 at 33 records and easing since. The most recent 18–24 months of data are subject to publication lag, so the apparent low counts in 2025–2026 are provisional and will increase as applications publish.
The applicant base spans multiple verticals. Medtronic Inc. (medical implants, 12 patent records), Briggs & Stratton (small engines, 12 patent records), Apple Inc. (consumer electronics, 5 patent records), and Koninklijke Philips NV (5 patent records) all appear in the top 20, indicating that in-cell sensing is treated as a cross-domain problem.
The dominant co-filing relationship is between Robert Bosch GmbH and Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., which have filed 14 joint patent records together — by far the largest co-applicant signal in the corpus. No other pair approaches that scale.
Based on the IPC distribution, G08B (Signalling & alarm systems) at 12 patent records and A62C (Fire-fighting) at 8 patent records are among the most sparse adjacent branches. Both have plausible technical links to battery safety applications but remain lightly claimed relative to the dominant H01M core.
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