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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/lithium-metal-anode-protection-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Batteries & Energy StorageLithium Metal Anode Protection Patents: Who Is Filing and Where the Claim Space Is Still Open
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 39 families and has declined since the midpoint year (2022, 26 families) already sits below peak, suggesting the field is consolidating rather than accelerating.
- Nearly all activity sits in one IPC subclass 226 of 227 families touch H01M, with electroplating (C25D) and electrolytic metal production (C25C) as the only sizeable secondary clusters.
- Co-filing is rare — only 8 co-assignee pairs across 227 families most applicants protect this technology solo rather than through joint development deals.
227
Published Records
22%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-49%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (39 records) with 2024 (20) — 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 227 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Lithium metal anode protection covers the methods used to stop dendrite growth, stabilise the solid electrolyte interphase, and manage volume change in cells that use metallic lithium instead of graphite or silicon at the negative electrode. The claims in this corpus span artificial SEI coatings, 3D host structures that give lithium somewhere to plate without piercing a separator, and current collector design intended to even out current density across the electrode face. Because publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, the 2025-2026 counts in any trend chart understate real filing activity for those years.
The search corpus holds 227 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn primarily from US, Chinese, European and PCT filings. The technology composition is heavily concentrated: batteries and cells (H01M) account for nearly every record, with electroplating, electrolytic metal production and a scatter of coating and nanotechnology classifications forming a thin secondary layer around the core.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The data
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 227 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 21 in 2017 to a peak of 39 in 2021, then eased to 26 by the 2022 midpoint and continued down to 3 by 2026 — a partial year. The shape reads as an early build-up phase that has already crested rather than a technology still gathering pace.
IPC subclass distribution
H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) dominates with 226 of 227 records. C25D (electroplating) and C25C (electrolytic metal production) form the largest secondary clusters at 17 and 14 respectively, pointing to lithium plating and current-collector surface treatment as recurring sub-themes rather than isolated filings.
Shares are the percentage of the 227 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records in this corpus
Representative filing
Scalable 3D lithium metal anode (US20210091413A1)
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
A rechargeable battery device built around a scalable 3D lithium metal host, fabricated by coating a slurry of LiNO3, carbon black and PVDF onto copper foil, with a binder and additives that include both conductive and SEI-forming components. The design targets stable lithium metal cycling by giving the electrode a structured 3D architecture rather than a flat plating surface.Filed by The Regents of the University of California; published 2021-03-25.
Highest-citation families
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170133662A1 | Composite lithium metal anodes for lithium batteries with reduced volumetric fluctuation during cycling and d… | 133 |
| 2 | US20170062829A1 | Lithium metal battery | 110 |
| 3 | US20150349380A1 | Electrolyte additives for lithium-sulfur batteries | 53 |
| 4 | US20180375089A1 | Anode active material particles having an artificial SEI layer | 38 |
| 5 | EP3136475A1 | Lithium metal battery | 36 |
| 6 | US20190260066A1 | High energy density, high power density, high capacity, and room temperature capable "anode-free" rechargeabl… | 35 |
| 7 | CN108281612A | 一种复合锂金属负极 | 34 |
| 8 | US20150364791A1 | Electrode materials with a synthetic solid electrolyte interface | 32 |
| 9 | US20190348668A1 | Lithium metal anode, fabrication method thererof, and lithium secondary battery comprising same anode | 29 |
| 10 | US20200194786A1 | System for an ionic liquid-based electrolyte for high energy battery | 25 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
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.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers say
Four read-outs from the filing trend, technology mix and citation pattern that matter for anyone deciding where to file or what to watch.
Filing momentum
39 → 3
peak (2021) to latest partial year
The field has already crested
Filings climbed from 21 in 2017 to 39 in 2021, then declined through the 2022 midpoint of 26 down toward single digits by 2026. Even allowing for publication lag understating the last one to two years, the trajectory is a decline from a 2021 peak rather than a technology still in its build-up phase.
Source: filing trend, 2017-2026
Technology concentration
226 / 227
records touching H01M
Claim space is almost entirely one subclass
Batteries and cells (H01M) accounts for nearly the entire corpus. The secondary classifications — electroplating, electrolytic metal production, inorganic compounds, welding, coatings — each appear in single digits to low teens, meaning the interesting differentiation happens inside H01M sub-groups rather than across IPC boundaries.
Source: IPC subclass distribution
Filing geography
80 / 50 / 35
US / China / EPO receiving-office counts
US leads, China and Europe close behind
The United States receives the largest single share of filings at 80, with China at 50 and both EPO and WIPO PCT routes at 35 each. That spread indicates applicants are pursuing protection across all three major markets rather than concentrating on a home jurisdiction.
Source: receiving-office counts
Collaboration pattern
8 pairs
co-assignee pairs across 227 families
Most filers go it alone
Only eight co-assignee pairs appear across the full corpus, and the strongest of them tops out at five joint families. That is a low collaboration rate for a technology this claim-dense, suggesting most organisations are building freedom-to-operate positions independently rather than through joint ventures.
Source: co-assignee pairs
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to lithium metal anode protection, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is active, and where momentum has stalled
Recent-year filing counts tell a different story from cumulative rankings: several historically active assignees show zero filings in the latest year, which either reflects the publication lag or a genuine pullback.
Momentum check
-67% YoY
leading assignee's latest-year change
Even the most active filer is slowing
The assignee with the most recent-year activity still only filed once in the latest year, down 67% year over year. Several other historically significant assignees, including major research universities, show zero filings in the latest year — consistent with either a genuine slowdown or filings still working through the publication pipeline.
Source: recent-year momentum by assignee
Institutional presence
3 universities
among the tracked assignees
Academic assignees hold a real share
Stanford, MIT and Cornell all appear among the assignees tracked in this corpus, alongside Korean research institutes. Their presence signals that fundamental interface chemistry and 3D host architectures are still being claimed from the research side, not solely by commercial cell makers.
Source: recent-year momentum table
Joint filing
5 families
strongest co-assignee pair
The densest collaboration is still thin
The strongest co-assignee relationship in the dataset covers five joint families, involving a Korean battery company and a partner firm. Two other Korean-institute pairings follow at three and four joint families. These are modest numbers against a 227-family corpus.
Source: co-assignee pairs
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Pure Lithium Corporation | 1 | -67% |
| Coreshell Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 0 | — |
| TAEN LLC | 0 | — |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | 0 | — |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | 0 | — |
| Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) | 0 | — |
| Solid Energy Systems | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's next
Where to take this
The trend and assignee data point to a field that has passed its filing peak but still has open branches. Two ways to dig further with Patsnap Eureka.
Check freedom-to-operate on 3D host claims
The most-cited record in this corpus, US20170133662A1, and the representative 3D anode filing both sit in dense claim territory. Before designing a 3D host or current-collector structure, run a targeted claim-scope search against the H01M sub-groups these filings occupy.
Explore this landscape in EurekaWatch the under-claimed branches
Pressure-effect control, current collector surface texturing and nanoscale artificial SEI coatings each show a fraction of the filing density of the core anode claims. That gap is either an opportunity or a sign the approach has not proven out commercially — worth checking which before committing R&D budget.
Run a white-space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions
The corpus shows filing concentrated among a mix of commercial battery makers and research universities, including Stanford, MIT and Cornell alongside Korean institutes and battery companies. No single assignee dominates the full 227-family corpus, and recent-year momentum has slowed sharply even for the most active filers, with the leading assignee's latest-year count down 67% from the prior year. This points to a fragmented field rather than one controlled by a small number of players.
No — filing peaked in 2021 at 39 families and has declined since, falling to 26 by the 2022 midpoint and down toward single digits by 2026. Some of the most recent decline is exaggerated by publication lag, since filings typically take about eighteen months to appear in the public record. Even accounting for that lag, the trajectory from 2021 onward is a clear decline rather than continued growth.
Artificial SEI layers, 3D lithium host structures, and current collector design account for the bulk of claim language in this corpus, almost entirely classified under IPC H01M. Secondary clusters around electroplating and electrolytic metal production suggest lithium plating control and current-collector surface treatment are recurring but smaller sub-themes. Very little claim activity extends outside batteries and cells into adjacent classifications like coatings or nanotechnology.
The under-claimed branches sit outside the dense H01M core: pressure-effect cycling control, current collector surface texturing, non-flat 3D host fabrication via electroplating routes, and nanoscale artificial SEI coatings each show far fewer filings than the core anode-protection claims. These are not guaranteed open — a freedom-to-operate search is still necessary — but the filing density is low enough to be worth investigating before assuming the space is occupied.
Citation counts inside any bounded patent corpus favour older filings simply because they have had more years to accumulate citations from later applicants. The two most-cited records in this dataset, both around composite and metal-based lithium anode designs, date to 2015-2017. That makes citation count a useful signal of historical influence on the field, but not a reliable indicator of which approaches are commercially relevant today.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Lithium Metal Anode Protection covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.