Linear Resonant Actuator Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Filing is concentrated but not locked up. The top 5 assignees hold 51.7% of the 60 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 75.0% — a real lead, but with room below it.
- Filing peaked in 2020 at 13 records and has since eased; the 2021→2024 span shows a -25% shift, though 2025-26 counts are still filling in due to publication lag.
- Control and processing classes dominate the claim map. G06F appears in 40.0% of records and H02P in 33.3%, while audio transducer claims under H04R sit at just 10.0%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (3) — 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 60 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the linear resonant actuator patent set covers
Linear resonant actuators (LRAs) turn electrical drive signals into localized mechanical vibration, and the patent activity in this dataset clusters around three problems: finding and holding the actuator’s resonance frequency under load, shaping the drive and braking waveform to control rise time and overshoot, and keeping audible noise and drive voltage within budget for mobile and wearable form factors. The search spans 60 published records from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, pulled from documents that discuss resonance frequency, rise time, braking waveform, magnet mass, audible noise or drive voltage directly in title or claims.
Most filings sit at the intersection of control electronics and mechanical actuator design rather than in a single discipline, which is why digital control classes outrank pure motor-hardware classes in this set. That split matters for freedom-to-operate work: a design that changes the drive waveform without touching the mechanical actuator can still land inside heavily claimed control-side patent families.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 60-record set: how filing activity moved year over year, and how those records split across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 13 in 2020, then eased; the 2021-2024 span (the most recent years complete enough to compare) moved from 4 to 3, a -25% shift. 2025 and 2026 counts will keep rising as publications catch up to filing dates, given the roughly 18-month publication lag.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
G06F (electric digital data processing) leads at 40.0% of the 60 records, followed by H02P (control of motors and generators) at 33.3% and B06B (generating mechanical vibrations) at 21.7%. Audio-specific claims under H04R and alarm/signalling claims under G08B each sit at 10.0% or below, marking the thinner branches of the map.
Shares are the percentage of the 60 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Linear Resonant Actuators with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about linear resonant actuators and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this set
WO2018126560A1 — Drive method for a linear motor and terminal
Filed by Huawei Technologies, this record describes detecting a linear motor's back-EMF signal after an initial drive pulse, extracting its frequency as the actuator's resonance frequency, and then driving the motor with a signal tuned to that measured frequency to increase vibration strength.Abstract translated and condensed from the original filing for readability.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20120229264A1 | Smart linear resonant actuator control | 182 |
| 2 | US20160258758A1 | Differential haptic guidance for personal navigation | 168 |
| 3 | US20190103829A1 | Closed-loop control of linear resonant actuator using back EMF and inertial compensation | 76 |
| 4 | US20160151238A1 | System and Method for Treating Skin and Underlying Tissues for Improved Health, Function and/or Appearance | 54 |
| 5 | US20180159457A1 | Apparatus and Method for Controlling an Oscillating Device | 47 |
| 6 | US20150204925A1 | Method and apparatus for LRA real time impedance tracking and BEMF extraction | 38 |
| 7 | US20150137713A1 | Adaptive linear resonance actuator controller | 34 |
| 8 | US10054622B2 | Method and apparatus for LRA real time impedance tracking and BEMF extraction | 20 |
| 9 | WO2018126560A1 | 一种线性马达的驱动方法及终端 | 19 |
| 10 | CN109874398A | 一种线性马达的驱动方法及终端 | 19 |
Citation counts are measured within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later work, not of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the class composition are read together.
A lead group, not a monopoly
The leader holds 12 records and fifth place holds 4, so the gap from first to fifth is steep even though the top 5 combined only cover just over half of all records in scope. That leaves roughly half the field spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
Activity has cooled from its 2020 peak
Filing built steadily from 6 records in 2017 to 13 in 2020, then pulled back; the 2021-2024 comparison shows a -25% move. Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, 2025-26 figures are not yet a reliable read on current activity.
Control logic outweighs mechanical hardware claims
G06F and H02P together touch a large share of the 60 records, meaning most contested claim territory sits in how the drive signal is computed and applied rather than in magnet or spring-mass design under H02K, which appears in 16.7% of records.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to linear resonant actuators, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gate sits
29 companies appear in the assignee ranking returned for this search — the whole ranking the dataset provides, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. Recent-year momentum across the leading names shows a common pattern.
One assignee sets the pace
The leading assignee's 12 records are roughly three times fifth place's 4, the steepest single gap in the ranking. That lead is built on control-side claims rather than pure mechanical actuator hardware.
The mid-field thins quickly
By tenth place, holdings have dropped to 2 records, and the top 10 combined still only reach 75.0% of the 60 records in scope — meaning a quarter of the field sits outside the ten most active filers.
No leading assignee shows fresh filings in the latest year
Recent-year momentum for the tracked leading assignees, including one name showing a -100% year-on-year change, reads as flat to declining — consistent with the broader post-2020 pullback rather than any single company's retreat.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Cirrus Logic International Semiconductor Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Texas Instruments Inc. | 0 | — |
| Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| General Vibration Corp. | 0 | — |
| Analog Devices, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Goodix Technology (HK) Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| TopRay MEMS | 0 | — |
| Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, sourcing, or identifying open claim space.
Check freedom-to-operate on drive-waveform claims
Because G06F and H02P together cover the largest share of records, a new drive or braking-waveform design should be checked against the leading assignee's control-side claims first, not just against mechanical actuator patents.
Run a claims search in EurekaTrack the thinner branches before they fill in
Audio transducer integration and alarm/signalling coupling both sit at or under 10.0% of records; that headroom narrows as filing resumes after the current lull.
Monitor these classes in EurekaWatch for the 2025-26 filing catch-up
Publication lag means the apparent post-2020 slowdown is partly an artefact of timing; revisit the trend once 2025 filings finish publishing.
Set an alert in EurekaCommon questions about linear resonant actuator patents
In this 60-record dataset, one assignee leads with 12 records, well ahead of fifth place at 4. The top 5 assignees combined hold 51.7% of all records in scope, and the top 10 hold 75.0%, so while there is a clear leader, a quarter of the field is spread across companies outside the top 10. The ranking covers 29 companies total, which is the full set the search returns rather than a curated top-50 or top-100 list.
Filing rose from 6 records in 2017 to a peak of 13 in 2020, then eased; comparing 2021 to 2024, the count moved from 4 to 3, a -25% change over that span. Because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts in any such dataset are understated and should not yet be read as a continuing decline. A fairer read is that activity cooled from its 2020 high rather than that the field is shrinking.
Digital processing and control claims dominate: G06F appears in 40.0% of the 60 records and H02P (motor and generator control) in 33.3%. Mechanical vibration generation under B06B follows at 21.7%, with electric motor hardware under H02K at 16.7%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares overlap and add to more than 100%, reflecting how closely control logic and mechanical actuator design are claimed together.
The thinnest classes in this set are audio transducer integration (H04R) and alarm/signalling coupling (G08B), each at or under 10.0% of the 60 records, alongside navigation-linked feedback (G01C) at 10.0%. These lower counts suggest less-crowded claim territory rather than technical infeasibility, since the underlying control and actuator techniques covered elsewhere in the dataset would still apply. Anyone filing in these branches should still check the leading assignees' control-side claims, since a new audio- or navigation-linked application may still route through core drive-waveform patents.
The United States receives the most filings in this dataset at 31, followed by the United Kingdom at 12 and WIPO's PCT route at 6. Europe (EPO) and China follow at 5 and 4 respectively, with Canada at 1. This spread suggests the US and UK are the primary venues to monitor for competitive filings and enforcement risk in this space.
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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.