Piezoelectric MEMS Thin Films Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Piezoelectric MEMS thin film patents: mapping who leads and where claim space is still open
One filer dominates. the leading assignee holds 4,821 of 6,475 records in scope, with the top 5 combined at 81.0% of the field. Annual filings climbed from 436 in 2017 to a peak of 549 in 2022. The complete-year comparison shows 309 filings in 2021 against 246 in 2024, a -20% change — read this as normalising after a filing surge, not as the technology losing relevance, since 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete.
- 1SEMICON ENERGY LAB CO LTD4,821
- 2YAMAZAKI SHUNPEI127
- 3SEIKO EPSON CORP119
- 4TAIYO YUDEN KK111
- 5QXONIX INC64
See the full piezoelectric mems thin films 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 about piezoelectric MEMS thin film patents
Who holds the most patents on piezoelectric MEMS thin films?
One assignee dominates this field, holding 4,821 of the 6,475 records in scope, far ahead of any other filer. The next four assignees combined bring the top 5 to 81.0% of all records, so the field is best described as a single large portfolio holder plus a long tail of smaller filers. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should start with that leading portfolio rather than assuming a fragmented competitive landscape.
Is piezoelectric MEMS thin film patent filing growing or slowing down?
Filing volume rose from 436 records in 2017 to a peak of 549 in 2022, then eased to 246 by 2024, a -20% change from 2021’s 309 filings. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures in any trend chart are still incomplete and should not be read as a decline in interest. The more accurate read is that filing is normalizing after a surge around 2022, not exiting the technology.
What does aluminum scandium nitride add over standard aluminum nitride films?
The evidence in this dataset includes filings, such as Qualcomm’s low-noise piezoelectric sensor application, that specify scandium content above 15% in an aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) layer to achieve a low dissipation factor, below about 0.1%. This composition detail is a common axis for differentiating claims within an otherwise dense aluminum nitride filing space. Scandium content thresholds and gradient control are recurring technical levers across the corpus rather than a one-off design choice.
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 Piezoelectric MEMS Thin Films 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.