Metalens Advanced Materials Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing peaked in 2019 at seven records then fell back to a flat mid-decade pace, suggesting the initial wave of high-index dielectric and phase-change materials claims has already been staked out rather than expanded.
- G02B carries the bulk of the art with 15 of 21 records classed there, while B82Y nanotechnology and H04N imaging applications each carry seven — a sign that lens optics still dominates over device-level integration claims.
- Filing is split across seven receiving offices with Europe and the United States tied at seven records each, and no single office holding a majority — an unusually distributed filing footprint for a field this small.
What the metalens advanced materials dataset actually contains
Metalens advanced materials patenting covers the search for dielectric and phase-change compounds that let a flat, nanostructured surface bend light the way a curved lens does. The claims in this dataset center on high-index dielectric materials, TiO2-based metasurface layers and phase-change metasurface materials — the building blocks that determine whether a metalens can be manufactured at wafer scale rather than assembled as a bespoke optical component. This is a materials-and-structure question as much as an optics one: the same nano-pillar or nano-hole geometry performs very differently depending on the refractive index and loss profile of the material filling it.
With only 21 patent families identified across more than a decade of coverage, this is a narrow, still-forming corpus rather than a mature one. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the flat-to-declining trend through the most recent years understates whatever filing is already in the pipeline.
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Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 21-family dataset: annual filing activity, and how those families distribute across IPC subclasses.
Annual filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of seven records in 2019, then eased to two at the 2022 midpoint — a flat-to-declining pattern rather than sustained growth. The 2026 figure is partial and should not be read as a drop-off.
IPC subclass composition
G02B (optical elements & systems) accounts for 15 of 21 records, well ahead of B82Y (nanotechnology applications) and H04N (pictorial communication) at seven each. G01J (radiation & light measurement) and G02F (optical control & modulation) trail with four and two records respectively, marking them as the thinnest-claimed branches in the dataset.
Shares are the percentage of the 21 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Metalens Advanced Materials with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about metalens advanced materials and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe records anchoring this landscape
WO2024175673A1 — An optical metasurface and a method for producing an optical metasurface
The invention relates to an optical metasurface to interact with incoming light and a method for producing an optical metasurface. The optical metasurface may be used as a meta-lens, a blazed grating, a phase plate or another optical device. The optical metasurface is comprising a transparent substrate comprising a plurality of nano-holes or nano-pillars. The plurality of the nano-holes or nano-pillars of the transparent substrate are covered by a plurality of shaped layers comprising a transparent dielectric material.Filed by Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Technical University of Denmark), published 2024-08-29.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20210337140A1 | Optical device for a thermal sensor and a hybrid thermal sensor | 16 |
| 2 | EP3671322A1 | Device for forming an outgoing electromagnetic wave from an incident electromagnetic wave | 7 |
| 3 | WO2024175673A1 | An optical metasurface and a method for producing an optical metasurface | 3 |
| 4 | US20220191410A1 | Optical device for a thermal sensor and a hybrid thermal sensor | 2 |
| 5 | EP3913405A2 | Optical device and imaging device including the same | 2 |
| 6 | US11303827B2 | Optical device for a thermal sensor and a hybrid thermal sensor | 1 |
| 7 | US12174512B2 | Device for forming an outgoing electromagnetic wave from an incident electromagnetic wave | 1 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later art, not of current commercial importance.
Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (7 of 7 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Four read-outs from the dataset that matter more than the raw counts on their own.
The early wave has already crested
Filing rose to seven records in 2019 and has not returned to that level since, with the 2022 midpoint at just two. That is consistent with an early exploratory phase closing rather than an expanding one — new entrants are filing into a claim space that has already had its first pass.
Optics claims dominate over device integration
Fifteen of 21 records sit in G02B, optical elements and systems, versus seven each in B82Y (nanotechnology applications) and H04N (imaging communication). The imbalance suggests most filers are still protecting the lens element itself rather than its integration into a sensor or camera module.
No single office dominates filing
Europe and the United States each carry seven records, with Germany and WIPO PCT at two apiece and single filings in Austria and India. For a dataset this size, that is an unusually even split — filers are not concentrating protection in one jurisdiction.
Influence concentrates in a handful of early filings
The most-cited record in the set carries 16 citations, more than double the next-ranked filing at seven. Both lead the corpus by a wide margin over the rest, which cluster at two or three citations — a typical pattern where a small number of early filings anchor the field's prior art.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to metalens advanced materials, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
With only 21 families across the whole dataset, no assignee has built a dominant position — recent-year filing activity across the named parties shows no growth in the latest tracked year.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics appears among the named assignees in this dataset but shows no filings in the most recent tracked year, consistent with the broader flat-to-declining trend across the corpus.
Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark holds the dataset's representative filing, WO2024175673A1, but its recent-year activity has fallen to zero, a -100% year-over-year change from the prior period.
InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings
InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings is named among the assignees tracked in this dataset, with no recorded filings in the latest year — in line with the general pause in new activity across the corpus.
Thomson Licensing
Thomson Licensing shows historical presence in the dataset but no filings in the most recent tracked year, matching the pattern of an early cohort of filers that has not sustained continued output.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics | 0 | — |
| InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings | 0 | — |
| Technical University of Denmark | 0 | -100% |
| Thomson Licensing | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
This landscape is a starting point for a freedom-to-operate check or a scouting exercise, not a substitute for one.
Map claim scope against your own material stack
The dataset shows dense G02B coverage but thin claiming in phase-change and fill-material engineering — worth checking directly against whatever dielectric or phase-change compound you plan to use.
Explore in Eureka →Track the Technical University of Denmark filing family
WO2024175673A1 is the most structurally central recent filing in this set; understanding its claim boundaries early avoids late-stage surprises in a design cycle.
Explore in Eureka →Revisit filing momentum next quarter
Publication lag means the flat 2024-2026 trend likely understates filings already made; a re-run in a few months will surface records not yet published.
Explore in Eureka →Common questions about metalens advanced materials patents
The claims center on high-index dielectric materials, TiO2-based metasurface layers, and phase-change metasurface materials, applied to nano-pillar or nano-hole structures on a transparent substrate. These material choices determine the refractive index contrast and optical loss that make a flat metasurface behave like a curved lens. Most of the dataset's claims protect the material-and-structure combination rather than a specific manufacturing process, which is why G02B optical elements carries the largest share of records.
The named assignees in this dataset include Samsung Electronics, the Technical University of Denmark, InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings and Thomson Licensing, but none holds a dominant position across the 21 tracked families. All four show zero filings in the most recent tracked year, which points to a field where positions were staked out earlier rather than one with an active leader still filing at pace. A practitioner should not assume any single company controls the core claim space here.
Not on the evidence in this dataset. Filing peaked at seven records in 2019 and had fallen to two by the 2022 midpoint, a flat-to-declining pattern rather than sustained growth. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the most recent years are undercounted, so some caution is warranted before concluding the field has stalled outright, but the multi-year trend does not show acceleration.
The thinnest-claimed branches by IPC subclass are G01J (radiation and light measurement, four records) and G02F (optical control and modulation, two records), well behind G02B's 15. Within materials specifically, phase-change tuning layers, fill-material engineering for nano-hole structures, and wafer-scale dielectric deposition all show limited direct claiming relative to the core lens-element art. These are areas where a first, carefully drafted claim could establish a position rather than compete against dense prior art.
WO2024175673A1, filed by the Technical University of Denmark, claims an optical metasurface built from a transparent substrate with nano-holes or nano-pillars covered by shaped layers of transparent dielectric material, usable as a metalens, blazed grating or phase plate. It is a structural-and-material claim rather than a narrow application claim, which means anyone using a similar nano-hole-plus-dielectric-layer architecture should review it closely. It does not, on its own, block phase-change material approaches or fill-material variations outside its specific layer structure — those remain open avenues worth checking independently.
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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.