NMC Battery Efficiency Enhancement Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- Filing peaked in 2018 at 10 records and has not returned to that level since — the midpoint year of 2022 sits at just 3, pointing to a flat-to-declining filing pattern rather than a rising field.
- No assignee shows positive momentum in the latest full year; several tracked filers, including Battelle and A123 Systems, recorded a 100% year-on-year drop to zero.
- US filings dominate the receiving-office mix with 26 of 55 records filed there, more than triple the next-largest office (EPO or WIPO, 8 each), concentrating enforcement risk in one jurisdiction.
Filing growth compares 2021 (3 records) with 2024 (5) — 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 55 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape tracks 55 patent families at the intersection of NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) cathode chemistry and efficiency-oriented claim language — coulombic efficiency, round-trip efficiency, energy density enhancement and low-resistance design — filed under the core lithium-battery IPC classes. The window runs from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, though publication lag of roughly 18 months means the most recent year is understated and should not be read as a drop-off in real filing activity.
Filing activity rose through the mid-2010s, peaked in 2018, and has since run below that level, with the 2022 midpoint sitting well off the peak. Read alongside the IPC composition — heavily concentrated in H01M battery classes with secondary weight in C01G metal-compound chemistry — the picture is one of a mature claim space rather than an emerging one.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 55-family dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
A peak in 2018, no clear recovery since
Filings ran from 3 records in 2017 to a peak of 10 in 2018, cooled toward a 2022 midpoint of 3, and the most recent tracked year sits at 1 — partial, but consistent with the broader flattening rather than a late-stage surge.
H01M carries the field; C01G is the largest secondary class
All 55 records sit in H01M (batteries, cells & fuel cells), the expected core class. C01G (compounds of other metals) appears in 15 records, reflecting cathode-material chemistry claims layered on top of cell-level claims. Vehicle-propulsion classes B60K and B60L each appear in only 3 records, and crystal-growth (C30B) and metal-extraction (C22B) classes appear once or twice — thin coverage that suggests these adjacent applications are claimed as afterthoughts rather than as primary inventive ground.
Shares are the percentage of the 55 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on NMC Battery Efficiency Enhancement with Eureka
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Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
US20160211517A1 — Lithium rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LR-NMC)
Set forth herein are positive electrode active material compositions, e.g., lithium-rich nickel manganese cobalt oxides. The lithium-rich nickel manganese cobalt oxides set forth herein are characterized, in some examples, by an expanded unit cell which maximizes the uniform distribution of transition metals in the crystalline oxide. Also set forth herein are positive electrode thin films including lithium-rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide materials. Disclosed herein are novel and inventive methods of making and using lithium-rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide materials for lithium rechargeable batteries. Also disclosed herein are novel electrochemical devices which incorporate these materiFiled by QuantumScape Battery, Inc., published 2016-07-21. The most-cited record in this dataset, at 76 citations.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160211517A1 | Lithium rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LR-NMC) | 76 |
| 2 | US20170338471A1 | High capacity and stable cathode materials | 58 |
| 3 | US20200185709A1 | Lithium tetraborate glass coating on cathode materials for improving safety and cycling ability | 28 |
| 4 | US10199649B2 | Lithium rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LR-NMC) | 21 |
| 5 | US20190036171A1 | Novel battery systems based on two-additive electrolyte systems | 19 |
| 6 | WO2016106321A1 | Lithium rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LR-NMC) | 17 |
| 7 | WO2019040533A1 | Lithium tetraborate glass coating on cathode materials for improving safety and cycling stability | 14 |
| 8 | US20190280334A1 | Novel battery systems based on two-additive electrolyte systems including 1,2,6-oxodithiane-2,2,6,6-tetraoxide | 12 |
| 9 | EP2351139B1 | Mixed lithium nickel cobalt oxide and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide cathodes | 7 |
| 10 | WO2023230537A1 | Methods for preparing lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide particulate | 4 |
Citation counts are drawn from a searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the citation and filing pattern signals
Three read-throughs from the citation leaders, the office split, and the co-assignee structure of this dataset.
Lithium-rich NMC compositions anchor the field
The two most-cited records both cover lithium-rich NMC (LR-NMC) oxide compositions, with the leading filing cited 76 times and a related family member cited 21 times. Later filers citing these records are building on cathode-composition claims rather than cell-architecture claims, which is where design-around work needs to start.
Enforcement exposure sits mostly in one office
Nearly half of all records in this dataset were filed at the USPTO, more than three times the next-largest receiving office (EPO or WIPO, 8 each). A design or freedom-to-operate review that only checks European or PCT filings will miss the bulk of the enforceable claim set.
Co-filing is thin and centred on one filer
Only 6 co-assignee pairs appear across 55 families, and the strongest repeated pairing involves a single organisation appearing alongside three different named inventors. That points to individually-driven inventive work rather than joint-venture-style co-development being the norm in this space.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to nmc battery efficiency enhancement, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and who has stopped
Momentum in the latest tracked year is flat-to-negative across every assignee this dataset can measure, which changes how a competitive-intelligence read of this space should be framed.
Research-institute filing has gone quiet
Battelle Memorial Institute shows zero filings in the latest year, a 100% year-on-year decline. Institutional and research-lab filers in this dataset generally show the same pattern rather than continued output.
An established cell maker has also stopped
A123 Systems, an established lithium-ion cell manufacturer, also recorded zero filings in the latest year against a 100% year-on-year drop. Combined with Battelle's pattern, this suggests the slowdown is not limited to one type of organisation.
Flat momentum is the norm, not the exception
BASF, Tesla's Canadian subsidiary, QuantumScape and Novonix Battery Technology Solutions all show zero filings in the latest tracked year. Across every assignee this dataset can measure momentum for, none show positive year-on-year growth — a flat market overall, not one leader pulling ahead.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Battelle Memorial Institute | 0 | -100% |
| BASF SE | 0 | — |
| Tesla Motors Canada ULC | 0 | — |
| QuantumScape Corporation | 0 | — |
| A123 Systems, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Novonix Battery Technology Solutions Inc. | 0 | — |
| Tesla, Inc. (USA) | 0 | -100% |
| VIDYASIRIMEDHI INSTITITE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (VISTEC) | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The filing pattern here is flat, not rising — the next steps are about verifying freedom to operate and finding the branches still open, not about tracking a fast-moving race.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on LR-NMC composition claims
With citation activity concentrated on lithium-rich NMC oxide compositions, any new cathode-material filing should be checked against that claim set before further R&D spend.
Explore in Eureka →Map the under-claimed branches before filing
Crystal-growth and metal-extraction classes show thin coverage relative to the H01M core — worth a deeper look to confirm whether that reflects true white space or simply claims filed under different IPC codes.
Explore in Eureka →Track whether the 2026 partial-year figure recovers
Publication lag means the most recent year always understates real activity; re-checking this trend in six to twelve months will show whether the flat pattern holds or whether 2025–26 filings are still working through the pipeline.
Explore in Eureka →Common questions on NMC battery efficiency patents
In this dataset it means a filing whose title or abstract references NMC cathode chemistry — nickel manganese cobalt oxide or lithium-rich NMC — combined with efficiency-specific language such as coulombic efficiency, round-trip efficiency, energy density enhancement, or low-resistance design. The underlying IPC classification is anchored to H01M10/0525, H01M4/525 and H01M10/44, the standard classes for lithium secondary cells and cathode active materials. Filings that only mention NMC chemistry without an efficiency claim, or vice versa, fall outside this specific search string.
The dataset's most-cited records trace back to filers including QuantumScape and other cathode-materials specialists, with lithium-rich NMC (LR-NMC) compositions as the recurring subject matter. However, momentum data shows no assignee with positive year-on-year filing growth in the latest tracked year — several named filers, including Battelle Memorial Institute and A123 Systems, show a full drop to zero. That combination of historical citation weight but flat current output is more informative than a simple ranking by total filings.
Not on the evidence here. Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 10 records, fell back toward a 2022 midpoint of 3, and the most recent tracked year sits at 1, though that figure is partial because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. Taken together, the pattern reads as flat-to-declining rather than an actively expanding field, which matters for anyone deciding whether to invest in freedom-to-operate work versus new filings.
The IPC composition shows heavy concentration in core battery classes (H01M, all 55 records) with a meaningful secondary presence in cathode-material chemistry (C01G, 15 records), but only thin coverage in vehicle-integration classes (B60K and B60L, 3 records each) and almost none in crystal-growth or metal-extraction classes. Those thin branches — precursor crystal growth, feedstock metal recovery, and vehicle thermal-integration claims — are candidates for further filing, though thin IPC coverage should be checked against classification practice before assuming the area is genuinely open.
The United States accounts for 26 of the 55 records in this dataset, well ahead of the European Patent Office and WIPO's PCT route, which each account for 8. Canada, India and Austria appear in smaller numbers. Any competitive or freedom-to-operate review focused only on European or PCT filings would miss roughly half of the documented claim activity, since the US is clearly the primary enforcement jurisdiction for this technology.
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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.