Micro-LED Mass Transfer Patent Landscape 2026
X Display Co Technology leads a moderately concentrated field, holding the largest single-filer position among the top-ranked applicants in the 253-family corpus. Annual volume peaked in 2020 and has eased since, placing the field in a post-peak maturity stage while the United States remains the dominant filing jurisdiction.
X Display Co Technology leads a field with a clear but not impenetrable top tier
X Display Co Technology occupies the leading position with 54 patent records, more than 1.5 times the count of its nearest rival, Applied Materials Inc at 34 patent records. Sakai Display Products ranks third at 13, followed by Chongqing Konka Photoelectric Tech Research Institute at 11.
The top five filers account for 39% of the combined total across the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate-to-high concentration. A clear tier gap separates the top two from the rest of the ranking, with most applicants holding fewer than 10 patent records.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X Display Co Technology Ltd | 54 | |
| 2 | Applied Materials Inc | 34 | |
| 3 | Sakai Display Products Corporation | 13 | |
| 4 | Chongqing Konka Photoelectric Tech Research Institute Co Ltd | 11 | |
| 5 | Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd | 7 | |
| 6 | BOE Technology Group Co Ltd | 7 | |
| 7 | X Celeprint Limited | 6 | |
| 8 | Wuhan University | 5 | |
| 9 | Lumileds Singapore Pte Ltd | 5 | |
| 10 | Maxwell Technology (Zhuhai) Co Ltd | 5 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Cree LED Inc | 5 | |
| 12 | Apple Inc | 5 | |
| 13 | SmartKem Ltd | 4 | |
| 14 | Intel Corporation | 4 | |
| 15 | Shenzhen Sitan Technology Co Ltd | 4 | |
| 16 | Goertek Inc | 4 | |
| 17 | Jiangsu Chuanyue Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd | 4 | |
| 18 | Poro Technologies Ltd | 4 | |
| 19 | Veeco Instruments Inc | 3 | |
| 20 | Nanjing University | 3 |
X Display’s lead, built largely on semiconductor-device and optical-modulation claims, suggests a broad foundational position that challengers will need to design around. Applied Materials’ strong second-place showing signals that equipment and process-layer IP is also contested territory.
Filing data for approximately the last 18–24 months is subject to publication lag and likely undercounts recent activity; the apparent drop in 2024–2025 should be interpreted with that caveat. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2020; semiconductor-device claims dominate the technology mix
Two lenses—annual filing volume and IPC branch composition—reveal both the maturity of the field and the sub-domains where coverage is still relatively thin.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew sharply from 6 in 2017 to a peak of 41 in 2020, then eased to 38 in 2022 and 30 in 2023. The apparent drop to 27 in 2024 and 7 in 2025 should be read cautiously given typical 18–24-month publication lag.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (Semiconductor devices) dominates at 298 patent records, far ahead of G02F (Optical control & modulation) at 43 and H10P at 36. Lighting-circuit (H05B, 35), optical-systems (G02B, 29), and display-control (G09G, 28) branches each carry meaningful but smaller shares, pointing to adjacent sub-domains with lower coverage density.
↗ 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.
Adapter plate, mass transfer method, and micro-led…
An adapter plate is provided. The adapter plate is used in a manufacturing process of a Micro-LED display to realize a mass transfer of LEDs. The adapter plate includes a substrate and a bonding adhesive layer laminated on the substrate and is used to bind and transfer the LEDs, where the bonding adhesive layer is made of organic silicone or acrylic acid… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements | 260 |
| 2 | Printable inorganic semiconductor structures | 143 |
| 3 | Display with micro-led front light | 128 |
| 4 | Full-color monolithic micro-led pixels | 119 |
| 5 | Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements | 114 |
| 6 | Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements | 112 |
| 7 | Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements | 102 |
| 8 | Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements | 100 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The field’s post-peak lifecycle, moderate top-tier concentration, and US-dominant jurisdiction profile each carry distinct implications for where new entrants or challengers can build defensible positions.
Post-peak field: annual volume has eased from the 2020 high
The lifecycle evidence places Micro-LED mass transfer in a Decline stage, with annual filings easing back from the 2020 peak of 41. For R&D teams, this suggests foundational process patents are already established and new entrants must either differentiate on sub-process or application layers, or accept Freedom-to-Operate constraints from existing portfolios.
Lifecycle: Post-peakTwo-tier structure: X Display and Applied Materials set the pace
The top five filers hold 39% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total. X Display (54 patent records) and Applied Materials (34) form a distinct upper tier; the next three applicants each hold 7–13 records. Challengers in the second and third tiers have room to accumulate focused portfolios in adjacent IPC branches without directly clashing with the leaders’ core claims.
Concentration: Moderate-highBOE group entities are the most visible co-filers
The collaboration evidence shows BOE Technology Group co-filing with Beijing BOE Display Technology (2 joint filings) and Fuzhou BOE Optoelectronics Technology (1 joint filing). Co-filing activity is sparse overall, suggesting the field has not yet developed the dense consortium structures seen in more mature display technologies. This leaves room for partnership-driven IP strategies.
Collaboration: Early-stageUS leads filings; China and PCT routes add significant breadth
The United States accounts for 129 patent records, making it the primary battleground. China follows at 89 records, with WIPO PCT at 30 and EPO at 23 providing international reach. Taiwan (11), Japan (6), and other jurisdictions are represented but at lower volumes. Teams seeking global freedom to operate should prioritize the US, China, and EPO filing corridors.
Geography: US-centricGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| BOE Technology Group Co Ltd | Beijing BOE Display Technology Co Ltd | 2 |
| BOE Technology Group Co Ltd | Fuzhou BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
X Display and Applied Materials lead, with Wuhan University emerging as a new entrant
The top two filers differ meaningfully in their technology emphasis: X Display spans device integration and optical modulation, while Applied Materials concentrates on semiconductor assembly process layers.
X Display Co Technology
X Display Co Technology leads with 54 patent records. Its portfolio spans H01L 33 (semiconductor LED devices), H01L 25 (multi-component assemblies), and G02F 1 (optical modulation), indicating a broad cross-layer position covering chip, assembly, and optical interface. Momentum data shows recent filings of 2 records, flagged as a new-entrant signal in the most recent window, consistent with a maturing portfolio.
Patent records: 54Applied Materials Inc
Applied Materials ranks second with 34 patent records, focused on H01L 25 (multi-component assemblies), H01L 33 (LED devices), and H01L 27 (integrated circuits). Its momentum trend is flagged as a new entrant in the recent window with 30 recent records, suggesting a rapid and concentrated push into the field from a process-equipment vantage point. This positions it as the most active near-term challenger to X Display’s lead.
Patent records: 34| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Applied Materials Inc | 30 | ▲ new entrant |
| X Display Co Technology Ltd | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Guangdong University of Technology | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Wuhan University | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Optical modulation, lighting circuits, and display control are under-served relative to the semiconductor core
These branches appear at materially lower densities than the dominant H01L class; each has plausible technical overlap with mass transfer but has not yet attracted the same filing intensity.
G02F · Optical control & modulation
G02F carries 43 patent records and a 7% share of IPC assignments—sizable in absolute terms but well below the H01L core. For mass transfer, optical modulation claims cover pixel-level light shaping and waveguiding after chip placement, a layer that becomes critical as display resolution scales. Teams with expertise in liquid-crystal or electro-optic tuning adjacent to LED arrays could find room to build differentiated positions here.
Search this in Eureka →H05B · Electric heating & lighting circuits
H05B accounts for 35 patent records and a 6% share, covering the drive and thermal-management circuitry that must be co-designed with mass-transferred LED arrays. Coverage density is low relative to the device layer, yet thermal uniformity and current-control after high-speed transfer are known yield-limiting factors. An applicant with circuit-design strength could target this branch to complement existing H01L positions without direct overlap.
Search this in Eureka →Leaders differ by process layer: device integration vs. assembly vs. optical interface
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H01L 33 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 25 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 21 · Semiconductor devices | H01L 27 · Semiconductor devices | G02F 1 · Optical control & modulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X Celeprint Limited | Strong · 43 | Strong · 30 | Moderate · 9 | Moderate · 10 | Strong · 28 |
| Applied Materials Inc | Strong · 27 | Strong · 29 | Moderate · 8 | Moderate · 9 | Absent |
| X Display Co Technology Ltd | Strong · 14 | Strong · 11 | Absent | Strong · 8 | Strong · 14 |
| Sakai Display Products Corporation | Strong · 13 | Moderate · 5 | Absent | Moderate · 6 | Absent |
| Chongqing Konka Photoelectric Tech Research Institute Co Ltd | Strong · 9 | Strong · 6 | Moderate · 4 | Absent | Absent |
| Guangdong University of Technology | Strong · 10 | Absent | Strong · 8 | Absent | Absent |
| Wuhan University | Strong · 9 | Absent | Moderate · 4 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 253 patent families in scope. Patent-record counts used in applicant rankings can exceed this figure because a single family may be filed across multiple jurisdictions and counted at each.
X Display Co Technology leads with 54 patent records, followed by Applied Materials Inc at 34 and Sakai Display Products at 13. The top five filers together account for 39% of the combined total across the hundred largest filers.
Annual filings peaked at 41 in 2020 and have eased since, reaching 30 in 2023 and 27 in 2024. The lifecycle evidence places the field in a post-peak stage. The apparent further drop in 2024–2025 is likely partially explained by publication lag and should not be read as a definitive collapse in activity.
The United States leads with 129 patent records, followed by China at 89, WIPO PCT at 30, and EPO at 23. Taiwan, Japan, and a handful of other jurisdictions each contribute smaller volumes. A robust freedom-to-operate analysis should prioritize the US, China, and EPO corridors.
H01L (Semiconductor devices) dominates the IPC mix at 298 patent records. G02F (Optical control & modulation, 43), H10P (36), H05B (Electric heating & lighting circuits, 35), G02B (Optical elements & systems, 29), and G09G (Display control circuits, 28) are the next-largest branches but remain well below the H01L core.
The most-cited work in the corpus is titled ‘Micro assembled LED displays and lighting elements,’ which appears in multiple related records with citation counts of 260, 114, 112, and 102. ‘Printable inorganic semiconductor structures’ (143 citations) and ‘Display with micro-LED front light’ (128 citations) are also among the most-referenced documents.
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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.
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