Lithium Extraction Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
Lithium extraction patents: who is filing on brine and ore recovery routes toward 2026
Filings grew 187% from 2021 to 2024, the last year publication data can be treated as complete, before the usual 18-month lag thins out 2025-2026. Filings held near zero through the mid-2010s before accelerating from 2021, reaching a peak of 89 records in 2024 — a 187% rise from 2021's 31 records over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures will rise as publications continue to clear the pipeline.
- 1MANGROVE WATER TECHNOLOGIES LTD67
- 2ENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES INC42
- 3ROCKWOOD LITHIUM INC29
- 4INNOVATOR ENERGY LLC19
- 5ELEMENT3 A DBA OF LITHOS IND INC15
See the full lithium extraction from brine and ore analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on lithium extraction patents
Who holds the most lithium extraction patents?
One assignee leads the ranked list with 67 of the 376 records in this dataset, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 15 and tenth place at 9. The top 5 assignees combined hold 45.7% of all records, and the top 10 hold 60.4%, so filing activity is concentrated at the top with a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants below it. That concentration means a new filer’s freedom-to-operate review should prioritise the leading names before the rest of the list.
What is direct lithium extraction and how does it show up in patents?
Direct lithium extraction (DLE) refers to processes that pull lithium from brine without relying on multi-year evaporation ponds, typically using adsorbents, membranes or ion exchange. In this dataset, DLE-related claims sit mainly within the C01D (alkali-metal compounds), C22B (metal extraction and refining) and B01D (separation processes) subclasses, which together cover a majority of the 376 records. The representative 2026 filing from Aquatech International, covering an ion exchange softener paired with a lithium adsorbent stage, is typical of how DLE claims are structured around ion ratio control and brine recycling.
Is lithium extraction patent filing activity still growing?
Filings rose 187% from 31 records in 2021 to 89 in 2024, the field’s clearest growth window on record. 2024 is treated as the most recent complete year because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset will understate true activity until more publications clear. Based on the 2021-2024 trend, the underlying filing rate was still climbing through the most recent complete year measured.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Extraction from Brine and Ore covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.