PV Encapsulant Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Photovoltaic module encapsulant materials patents: mapping who holds EVA and polyolefin elastomer claim territory
28.3% concentration at the top. the five leading assignees hold 1,417 of the 5,004 records in scope, but the next ranked group thins out fast into a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants. Publications rose to a peak of 315 in 2017, then declined; the confirmed comparison is 192 records in 2021 against 98 in 2024, a 49% drop over that span. Counts from 2025 onward are still incomplete because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent bars understate true filing activity and should not be read as a further slowdown.
- 1DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC13.0%
- 2BOREALIS AG5.8%
- 3EI DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO5.3%
- 4TORAY PLASTICS (AMERICA) INC2.2%
- 5XEROX CORP2.0%
See the full photovoltaic module encapsulant materials analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on this landscape
Who holds the most patents on PV module encapsulant materials?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 650 of the 5,004 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place assignee at 102 records. The top five combined hold 28.3% of all records, meaning the field has a clear volume leader but is not tightly controlled by a small cluster — concentration drops off quickly beyond the leading few. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should treat the leader’s portfolio as the first thing to clear, then check the long tail for narrower blocking claims rather than assuming the top five cover everything.
Is EVA or polyolefin elastomer (POE) more heavily claimed in current filings?
The dataset does not split claim volume cleanly between EVA and POE chemistries alone, since the search spans both plus adjacent additive and processing classes. What is clear is that C08L (polymer compositions) and C08K (additive use) are the two largest IPC categories, at 30.1% and 23.5% of the 5,004 records respectively, showing formulation-level claims — crosslinking agents, stabilisers, resistivity control — dominate over device-integration claims in H01L or H01B. A chemistry-specific search within this corpus would be needed to separate EVA-specific from POE-specific density precisely.
Why has patent filing on encapsulant materials declined since 2017?
Filings peaked at 315 records in 2017 and confirmed data shows a 49% decline from 192 records in 2021 to 98 in 2024. This could reflect a maturing formulation space where core chemistry claims are already staked out, a shift in R&D investment toward other module components, or normal cyclicality in a specialty materials field. It is not safe to extend this trend into 2025 or 2026, because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months and those years are still filling in on the record.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Photovoltaic Module Encapsulant Materials covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.