Open RAN Network Slicing Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Filing has already peaked. 2022 recorded 39 families against a 2026 (partial) count of 3 — this is a cooling filing wave, not an emerging one.
- The US carries the bulk of activity. 76 of the tracked filings entered through the USPTO, more than double the WIPO/PCT count of 34, meaning US prosecution history is the first place to check for blocking claims.
- Momentum has largely reversed among named assignees. Most tracked assignees show 0 filings in the latest year and a -100% YoY change, with Ericsson one of the few showing continued (+100% YoY) activity.
Filing growth compares 2021 (21 records) with 2024 (28) — 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 158 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape tracks 158 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine Open RAN or O-RAN architecture terms with network slicing, RAN slicing, slice orchestration or resource isolation claims, classified under H04W28, H04L41 or H04W48. The search string requires both the Open RAN framing and the slicing-specific claim language in the same document, so this is a narrower set than general Open RAN or general network-slicing searches would return.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the 2026 figure understates real filing activity for that year; treat the most recent one to two years as a floor, not a ceiling. The dataset's IPC spread — concentrated in H04W and H04L with a smaller AI-classification tail in G06N — points to a field still framed primarily as wireless resource control, with machine-learning-assisted orchestration as a secondary but present thread.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 158-family dataset: how filing activity moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A filing wave that has already crested
Filings rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 39 in 2022, then declined toward a partial count of 3 in 2026. Read against the 18-month publication lag, the true peak may sit slightly later than 2022, but the downward slope from the 2022 midpoint is pronounced enough that this reads as a maturing filing wave rather than a still-accelerating one.
Concentration in wireless control, with an AI tail
H04W (131 records) and H04L (100) dominate, confirming this is fundamentally a radio-access and network-management claim set. G06N appears in 18 records, indicating a meaningful but secondary AI/ML-driven orchestration thread; G06F, H04B and G05D appear in low single-to-double digits, marking narrower supporting claim areas rather than independent branches.
Shares are the percentage of the 158 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Open RAN Network Slicing with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about open ran network slicing and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent representative filing
Performance assurance of network slicing in fifth generation (5G) open radio access network (o-ran)
Technologies for implementing open radio access network (O-RAN) network slice performance assurance services in a cellular network are described. One method includes collecting data associated with a network slice of a plurality of network slices in the cellular network, determining a performance accuracy metric of the network slice, determining whether an accuracy rate satisfies a target accuracy rate, and responsive to a shortfall, performing a corrective action.Published 2026-07-16, filed by Boost SubscriberCo L.L.C. — one of the most recent publications in the dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20220124543A1 | Graph neural network and reinforcement learning techniques for connection management | 196 |
| 2 | US20210258866A1 | Resource allocation and activation/deactivation configuration of open radio access network (o-ran) network sl… | 165 |
| 3 | US20220167236A1 | Intelligence and Learning in O-RAN for 5G and 6G Cellular Networks | 99 |
| 4 | US20220159525A1 | 5g new radio load balancing and mobility robustness | 57 |
| 5 | US20210045193A1 | 5G/4G/3G/2G Cloud-Native OpenRAN Architecture | 55 |
| 6 | US20240106709A1 | Network aware compute resource management use case for o-ran non-RT ric | 22 |
| 7 | US20210306899A1 | OpenRAN Networking Infrastructure | 17 |
| 8 | US20230129575A1 | Network slice subnet instance resource optimization for 5g ?systems | 15 |
| 9 | US20210045011A1 | OpenRAN and Virtualized Baseband Radio Unit | 15 |
| 10 | WO2022221260A1 | O-cloud lifecycle management service support | 13 |
Citation counts accumulate over time and favour older publications; treat this table as a map of influence to date, not a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing or freedom-to-operate decision
Three read-throughs from the trend, jurisdiction and citation data that matter more than the raw counts on their own.
The wave has crested, not started
Peak filing activity of 39 families in 2022 has given way to a sharp decline toward 2026. Even correcting for an 18-month publication lag, this is consistent with a field where the core architectural claims were staked out in the 2020-2022 window and later filers are working narrower, more incremental angles.
US prosecution history is the first checkpoint
United States filings (76) outnumber PCT applications (34) by more than two to one, with Europe (22), India (13), Japan (5) and Spain (2) trailing well behind. Freedom-to-operate work should start with USPTO file histories before extending to EPO or India National Phase equivalents.
Named filers have gone quiet, with one exception
Of the assignees with tracked recent-year momentum, most — including Dish Wireless, Rakuten Mobile, Samsung and Parallel Wireless — show zero filings in the latest year against prior activity, a -100% YoY reading. Ericsson is the visible exception, posting +100% YoY growth on a small base of 2 filings.
Influence sits with 2020-2022 publications
The most-cited records in the dataset — covering graph neural network connection management, O-RAN network slice subnet activation, and AI/learning frameworks for O-RAN — were all published in the 2020-2022 window, the same period as peak filing volume. Citation counts inside a searched corpus structurally favour older documents, so this concentration is partly an artefact of age, not proof that newer filings are weaker.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to open ran network slicing, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active, and where the claim space is still open
Co-filing patterns show tight corporate-family relationships rather than cross-company alliances, and momentum has cooled for most tracked assignees except one.
Co-filing stays inside corporate families
All of the strongest co-assignee pairs in the dataset link entities within the same corporate group — Rakuten Mobile with Rakuten Symphony entities, for instance — rather than joint filings between unrelated companies. This suggests slicing-related IP here is managed as a single-owner portfolio strategy, not through cross-licensing consortia.
Ericsson is filing while peers pause
Against a field where most named assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, Ericsson's small but positive momentum (2 filings, +100% YoY) stands out. On a field this size, a two-filing swing is not yet a trend, but it is the only visible sign of continued active prosecution among the assignees with tracked momentum.
US-based operators and MVNOs are visible filers
Entities such as Dish Wireless and Boost SubscriberCo appear in the dataset alongside equipment vendors, indicating that US carrier-side organisations are filing directly on network slice performance assurance and orchestration, not leaving that ground solely to infrastructure suppliers.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Sweden) | 2 | +100% |
| DISH WIRELESS LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Rakuten Mobile, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Korea) | 0 | -100% |
| Parallel Wireless, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Rakuten Symphony, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Northeastern University (USA) | 0 | -100% |
| KDDI Research, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is clearance, licensing or new filing strategy.
Run a US-first freedom-to-operate check
With 76 of 158 families filed at the USPTO, a clearance search should start there before extending to EPO, India or Japan equivalents of the same families.
Explore in EurekaTrack the AI-orchestration sub-thread
18 records classified under G06N indicate an active but still-thin machine-learning angle on slice orchestration, distinct from the core radio-resource claims.
Explore in EurekaWatch Ericsson's next filings
As the one assignee with positive latest-year momentum in a field where most peers show zero recent activity, subsequent Ericsson publications will indicate whether the filing wave is genuinely over.
Explore in EurekaCommon questions on Open RAN network slicing patents
This dataset tracks 158 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine Open RAN or O-RAN terminology with network slicing, RAN slicing, slice orchestration or resource isolation claims under IPC classes H04W28, H04L41 and H04W48. That is a narrow, claim-specific count, not a count of all Open RAN patents or all network-slicing patents generally. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true 2025-2026 filing count is understated in any dataset pulled today.
Filing activity is spread across equipment vendors, US carriers and MVNOs rather than concentrated in a single dominant filer. Recent-year momentum data shows most tracked assignees — including Dish Wireless, Rakuten Mobile and Samsung — recorded zero filings in the latest year, while Ericsson posted positive year-over-year momentum on a small base. Co-assignee filing pairs in the dataset link entities within the same corporate group, such as Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony affiliates, rather than joint ventures between unrelated companies.
No — the trend data shows filings peaked at 39 families in 2022 and declined toward a partial count of 3 by 2026. Even accounting for the 18-month publication lag understating the most recent years, the decline from the 2022 midpoint is steep enough to indicate a maturing filing wave rather than continued growth. This suggests the core architectural claim space was substantially staked out in the 2020-2022 window.
The receiving-office data shows the United States is by far the most-used office for this technology, with 76 filings compared with 34 through the WIPO/PCT route, 22 at the EPO, 13 in India, 5 in Japan and 2 in Spain. A freedom-to-operate or clearance search should therefore begin with USPTO file histories, since the majority of enforceable claims in this field are likely to sit there, before extending to EPO or India national-phase equivalents of the same families.
Relative to the dense core of H04W and H04L filings, IPC composition shows thinner coverage in AI-driven slice orchestration (G06N, 18 records), general data processing support (G06F, 10) and control-of-non-electric-variable applications (G05D, 2). Cross-slice resource isolation enforcement, multi-vendor O-RAN interface conformance and slice-aware control-plane trade-offs are technically specific branches that appear under-claimed relative to the core radio-resource management cluster. These are reasonable areas to scout for new filing angles rather than assuming the space is fully occupied.
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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.