Optical Thin Film Coatings Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing has declined since a 2020 peak of 55. 2017 opened at 44 and the trend runs down to a single filing in the still-partial most recent year — a maturing, not a growing, claim space.
- G02B dominates the composition at 908 of 972 records. C23C deposition (210) and C03C glass/enamel compositions (186) are the next largest subclasses, well behind the optics classification itself.
- The United States leads receiving offices with 351 filings. Europe follows at 205 and WIPO PCT filings sit at 107 — filing strategy here is still substantially US-anchored.
Filing growth compares 2021 (32 records) with 2024 (13) — 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 972 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the dataset covers
This landscape draws on 972 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine optical thin film, optical coating or interference coating language in the title with claims language on multilayer stacks, reflectance, deposition uniformity, laser damage threshold or spectral design, filtered to the G02B1, C23C14 and G02B5 IPC subclasses. The corpus spans coatings work that sits at the intersection of optics, vacuum deposition and glass science rather than a single narrow niche.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 and has trended down since, with the most recent year understated because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months. Citation leaders in this corpus date to the 1980s and 1990s, reflecting how citation counts favour older, longer-indexed records rather than current commercial relevance.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 972 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how the underlying technology splits across IPC subclasses.
A post-2020 decline
From 44 filings in 2017, activity climbed to a peak of 55 in 2020, sat near the midpoint at 26 in 2022, and has fallen off sharply toward the most recent, still-partial year. Read the tail years with the publication lag in mind rather than as a sign the field has stopped moving.
Optics-led, deposition and glass close behind
G02B (optical elements & systems) covers 908 of 972 records, making it close to universal in this corpus. C23C (coating & surface deposition, 210) and C03C (glass & enamel compositions, 186) mark the two largest adjacent process disciplines, with B32B laminates, G02C lenses, B05D coating processes, G02F optical control and G09F signage each present at smaller scale.
Shares are the percentage of the 972 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Optical Thin Film Coatings with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about optical thin film coatings and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art in this space
Optical element, optical thin film forming apparatus, and optical thin film forming method
In forming an optical thin film on a curved surface of a material to be deposited, a specific space, which is part of a space in a processing chamber and is a space between an arrangement part and a target, is surrounded by a shielding part. In this state, when deposition is performed by a sputtering step in which a voltage is applied to the target in the processing chamber which is in a vacuum state and supplied with an active gas and an inert gas, an optical thin film of a substantially equal optical thickness is formed on the curved surface.Filed by HOYA CORPORATION, published 2015-01-08 — an early entry in this dataset addressing uniform thin-film deposition on curved substrates.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4838648A | Thin film structure having magnetic and color shifting properties | 815 |
| 2 | US4705356A | Thin film optical variable article having substantial color shift with angle and method | 581 |
| 3 | US5877895A | Multicolor interference coating | 469 |
| 4 | US6010751A | Method for forming a multicolor interference coating | 446 |
| 5 | US5535056A | Method for making elemental semiconductor mirror for vehicles | 385 |
| 6 | US5751489A | Elemental semiconductor mirror for vehicles | 358 |
| 7 | US6286965B1 | Elemental semiconductor mirror for vehicles and method for making same | 333 |
| 8 | JP2010086684A | Optical thin film with transparent conductive wiring film | 318 |
| 9 | US6193378B1 | Electrochromic device having a self-cleaning hydrophilic coating | 315 |
| 10 | US3247392A | Optical coating and assembly used as a band pass interference filter reflecting in the ultraviolet and infrar… | 305 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records lead this table by default — treat it as a map of influential prior art, not of current filing activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-throughs from the trend, composition and citation data.
The field has cooled since 2020
Filing volume ran from 44 in 2017 up to a peak of 55 in 2020, then declined through the midpoint of 26 in 2022 down toward a single record in the latest, still-partial year. Even allowing for publication lag, the multi-year downward slope is a real signal that core claim territory here is well staked out.
Optics classification dominates, deposition process is secondary
G02B appears in the overwhelming majority of records, with C23C deposition and C03C glass compositions trailing well behind at 210 and 186 respectively. That gap suggests most claims are framed around the optical element or coating design itself rather than the deposition process used to make it.
US-anchored, with a real European presence
The United States leads receiving offices at 351, Europe at 205 and WIPO PCT filings at 107, with Japan, Canada and China each in the tens. Strategy here still runs primarily through US and European offices rather than broad multi-jurisdiction PCT coverage.
Influential prior art predates the current filing window
The most-cited records in this corpus, including the leading 815-citation family, date from the late 1980s and 1990s. That pattern is typical of citation counts inside a searched corpus: older records accumulate citations simply by being indexed longer, not because they remain the commercially active claims today.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to optical thin film coatings, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active, and where momentum has gone quiet
Assignee activity in this corpus is led by a small set of glass, optics and eyewear firms, several of which show zero filings in the latest tracked year rather than sustained output.
Corning anchors the strongest co-filing pairs
Corning Incorporated (Corning) appears in the three strongest co-assignee pairs in the dataset, partnered with Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. and with individually named co-inventors, at four to five joint filings each. Co-assignment activity elsewhere in the corpus is thin, with only ten pairs identified overall.
Even the most active named assignees show a flat latest year
Corning Incorporated recorded zero filings in the latest tracked year, a -100% year-on-year change, and the same zero-filing pattern shows up across Essilor International, Nikon Corporation, Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc., Raytheon Company and Gentex Corporation. Read this alongside the publication lag rather than as an immediate exit signal, but it does mark a visible pause in disclosed activity.
A long tail behind a small set of named leaders
The assignee ranking spans the full 972-family corpus, and the co-assignment and momentum data point to a small cluster of glass, ophthalmic and optical-coating specialists sitting above a much longer tail of single- or few-filing entrants. That shape is consistent with a field where the foundational claim territory was staked out earlier in the window.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Corning Incorporated | 0 | -100% |
| Essilor International | 0 | — |
| Nikon Corporation | 0 | — |
| Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Raytheon Company | 0 | — |
| Gentex Corporation | 0 | — |
| PARKER LTD | 0 | — |
| Sony Group Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The trend and composition data point to specific next steps for teams deciding where to file or where to look for freedom to operate.
Map claims against the under-claimed branches
Laser damage threshold, curved-substrate deposition uniformity and narrowband spectral design show comparatively light dedicated claim coverage relative to the dense G02B core. Confirm that read against full claim text before committing a filing strategy.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch for renewed activity from paused filers
Several named assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year. Given the publication lag, a resumption may already be in the pipeline; tracking new publications from these assignees is a cheap early-warning signal.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaTreat citation leaders as prior art, not current threats
The highest-cited records in this corpus date to the 1980s and 1990s. Use them to understand foundational technique, then check current-decade filings separately for the claims that actually constrain new work today.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaCommon questions about optical thin film coating patents
In this dataset, Corning Incorporated (Corning) stands out for its co-assignment activity, appearing in the strongest partnered filing pairs alongside Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. and individual co-inventors. Other named active assignees include Essilor International, Nikon Corporation (Nikon), Raytheon Company (Raytheon) and Gentex Corporation (Gentex), spanning glass, ophthalmic, defence-optics and automotive-mirror applications. The ranking itself covers all 972 families in the corpus, and the pattern is a small named cluster sitting above a much longer tail of low-volume filers, so no single company holds a dominant share.
No — filing volume peaked at 55 in 2020 and has declined since, falling through 26 at the 2022 midpoint down to a single record in the most recent, still-partial year. Some of that recent drop is publication lag, since filings typically take about eighteen months to appear in the record. Even accounting for that lag, the multi-year downward trend from the 2020 peak indicates the field has moved past its most active filing period rather than into renewed growth.
G02B (optical elements & systems) is by far the largest classification, present in 908 of the 972 records, meaning the great majority of filings are framed as optical-element or coating-design claims. C23C (coating & surface deposition) and C03C (glass & enamel compositions) are the next largest at 210 and 186 respectively, reflecting the process and materials side of the same coatings. Smaller but present categories include B32B laminates, G02C spectacle lenses, B05D coating processes, G02F optical modulation and G09F signage, showing the coatings find use across a fairly wide set of end applications.
The United States receives the most filings in this corpus at 351, followed by the European Patent Office at 205 and WIPO PCT filings at 107. Japan, Canada and China follow at smaller volumes in the tens. That distribution suggests filing strategy in this field is still substantially anchored to US and European protection rather than broad simultaneous multi-jurisdiction PCT coverage.
It mostly reflects age, not current relevance. The most-cited records in this corpus, including one cited 815 times, date from the late 1980s and 1990s and have simply had decades longer to accumulate citations than recent filings. Citation counts inside any searched patent corpus systematically favour older documents, so a high count should be read as a marker of historical influence on the field's foundational technique, not as a signal that the patent is the one currently blocking new work.
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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.