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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/quantum-communication-and-qkd-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Quantum Communication & QKDQuantum Communication and QKD Patents: Filing Trends and Where the Claim Space Sits
- Filing has cooled since 2021. the peak year at 153 filings, with 2022's 133 marking a flat-to-declining midpoint rather than continued growth.
- H04L and H04B dominate the claim space. 1,029 and 839 records respectively, while G06N (AI-based computing) sits far behind at 126 — a gap worth checking before filing there.
- Momentum has stalled even among named leaders. several of the most-cited assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, a pattern distinct from simply having fewer new entrants.
1,295
Published Records
25%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-19%
3-Yr Growth (lag-adjusted)
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the filing record shows
Quantum key distribution and quantum communication patenting sits at the intersection of optical hardware and cryptographic protocol claims, which is why the search string pulls records tagged with both H04L9 (cryptographic mechanisms) and H04B10 (optical transmission). The dataset covers 1,295 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, with receiving-office activity concentrated in the United States, China and the EPO, and meaningful volume also filed through WIPO's PCT route, the UK and India. Filing rose steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021 at 153, and has since flattened — 2022's 133 filings mark the midpoint of a plateau rather than a growth curve.
Because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart understate real filing activity for those years. The technology composition leans heavily on digital transmission and general transmission subclasses, with optical modulation, optical elements and AI-based computing methods forming smaller, more specialised bands beneath them.
Filing volume by year, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Data
Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below separate timing from subject matter: when filings happened, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A plateau after 2021, not a new wave
Filings climbed from 52 in 2017 to a peak of 153 in 2021, then held near that level through 2022 (133) before easing off. Read the final one to two years as incomplete rather than as a genuine drop, given publication lag.
Digital transmission and general transmission carry the bulk of claims
H04L (1,029 records) and H04B (839) dwarf every other subclass, confirming that most claims are anchored in cryptographic key-exchange mechanics and the optical transmission layer that carries them. G06N, G02F, G02B, G06F, H04J and H04K each cover a few dozen to just over a hundred records, marking narrower, more contestable niches.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,295 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited prior art in this corpus
Representative Recent Filing
OAM measurement-device-independent QKD with real-time tracking compensation
NATIONAL QUANTUM COMMUNICATION(GUANGDONG) CO., LTD
The disclosure discloses an OAM measurement device independent quantum key distribution system based on real-time tracking compensation and method thereof, which comprises a user side Alice, a user side Bob and a measuring unit; the user side Alice and the user side Bob realize real-time monitoring and phase distortion compensation of the channel environment by using strong pulse lasers from the measuring unit; the measuring unit utilizes an M-Z interferometer formed by a Dove prism to realize the separation of odd/even orbital angular momentum order photons, and measure Bell states of the photons with orbital angular momentum.Filed by National Quantum Communication (Guangdong) Co., Ltd, published 2025-03-04 — patent number and date rendered separately.
Highest-citation records
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20120177201A1 | Methods and apparatus for use in quantum key distribution | 220 |
| 2 | US20150222619A1 | Multi-factor authentication using quantum communication | 185 |
| 3 | US6748083B2 | Method and apparatus for free-space quantum key distribution in daylight | 173 |
| 4 | US20160352515A1 | Apparatus and methods for quantum key distribution | 167 |
| 5 | US20130251145A1 | Quantum key distribution | 145 |
| 6 | US20130315395A1 | Embedded Authentication Protocol for Quantum Key Distribution Systems | 141 |
| 7 | US20070065154A1 | Methods and system for quantum key distribution over multi-user WDM network with wavelength routing | 138 |
| 8 | US20210105135A1 | Quantum network devices, systems, and methods | 116 |
| 9 | US20050259825A1 | Key bank systems and methods for QKD | 102 |
| 10 | US20170338952A1 | Apparatus for quantum key distribution on a quantum network and method using the same | 99 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and are skewed toward older filings; treat them as historical anchors, not a current-importance ranking.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once volume, timing and citation weight are read together.
Filing Trend
153 → 133
peak (2021) vs. 2022 midpoint
Growth has plateaued, not accelerated
Filing rose for several years and then held flat rather than continuing to climb. A plateau after a peak year typically signals that early movers have staked out core claim territory and later entrants are filing incremental or jurisdictional variants rather than opening new ground.
Trend data, 2017-2026
Technology Composition
1,029 vs. 126
H04L records vs. G06N records
Protocol and transmission claims dominate; AI-assisted methods lag far behind
The eightfold gap between H04L and G06N suggests that applying AI-based computing methods (error correction, key-rate optimisation, anomaly detection) to QKD systems remains comparatively under-filed relative to the core cryptographic and optical-transmission mechanics.
IPC composition, all records
Assignee Momentum
0 in latest year
for several previously active assignees
Several established filers have gone quiet
Multiple assignees with strong historical citation and filing counts show no filings in the most recent tracked year. Combined with publication lag, this does not necessarily mean exit from the field, but it does mean recent competitive activity from these names cannot be confirmed from the public record yet.
Recent-year momentum by assignee
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to quantum communication and qkd, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who holds the ground, and where it is still open
Citation weight and recent filing activity point to different names, which matters when deciding who to watch versus who to design around.
Historical Influence
220 citations
highest-cited record in corpus
Early filings still anchor the field
The most-cited records in this corpus date to the early 2010s and cover foundational apparatus and protocol claims for quantum key distribution, including free-space and daylight operation. Their citation weight reflects age and foundational status more than current competitive relevance.
Most-cited records table
Collaboration Pattern
10 co-assignee pairs
strongest pair: 6 shared filings
Co-filing is concentrated in a handful of tight partnerships
Co-assignee activity is limited to ten pairs across the whole corpus, with the strongest single pairing sharing six filings. This is a field where most patenting happens under a single corporate name rather than through joint ventures.
Co-assignee pair analysis
Recent Activity
0% latest-year filings
across several top historical assignees
The current leaderboard may not reflect who is filing now
Several assignees with the strongest historical filing records show no activity in the latest tracked year. Given the eighteen-month publication lag, some of this is reporting delay rather than a real slowdown, but it means fresh entrants are harder to spot from citation rankings alone.
Recent-year momentum by assignee
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Toshiba Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| ARQIT LTD | 0 | — |
| TOSHIBA RES EURO | 0 | — |
| MagiQ Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| QuantumCTek Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Los Alamos National Security, LLC | 0 | — |
| Corning Incorporated | 0 | — |
| Eagle Technology, LLC | 0 | -100% |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this next
The dataset raises questions that are best worked through claim by claim rather than at the landscape level.
Check freedom-to-operate against the densest subclasses
H04L and H04B carry the bulk of claims in this corpus. Before filing anything touching key-exchange protocol mechanics or the optical transmission layer, a claim-level search within those subclasses is worth running rather than relying on the landscape summary alone.
Run a claim search in EurekaTrack assignees whose recent-year activity has gone quiet
Several previously active filers show no filings in the latest tracked year. Confirming whether this reflects publication lag, strategic pause or exit takes a closer look at their filing history rather than the summary trend line.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches for a first-filer position
AI-assisted key-rate methods and repeater loss-compensation sit well behind the core subclasses in filing volume. A narrowly drafted first claim in one of these branches may face less prior art than a claim filed against the crowded transmission layer.
Explore white space in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
This landscape tracks 1,295 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from filings tagged with quantum key distribution, quantum communication or QKD system language alongside technical terms such as single-photon detector, secure key rate, decoy state, quantum repeater or channel loss. Because families rather than raw document counts are used, the figure accounts for continuations and multi-jurisdiction filing of the same underlying invention. The true number covering the field more broadly is likely somewhat higher, since search strings can never capture every phrasing an applicant uses.
Citation and filing history point to a small group of established names, but several of the assignees with the strongest historical records show no filings in the most recent tracked year. That makes it worth distinguishing between historical influence — measured by citation counts on older foundational filings — and current filing momentum, which the same names do not necessarily hold today. Co-assignee data also shows most patenting happens under single corporate ownership rather than joint ventures, with only ten identified co-filing pairs across the whole corpus.
Filing volume rose from 52 in 2017 to a peak of 153 in 2021, then flattened, with 2022 sitting at 133. That pattern reads as a plateau rather than continued growth, though the final one to two years in any such trend are understated because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months. A clearer read on 2025-2026 activity will only be possible once those cohorts finish publishing.
Relative to the core subclasses, filing density is much thinner in areas such as AI-assisted secure key-rate optimisation, quantum repeater channel-loss compensation and decoy-state protocol variants for free-space links. IPC composition shows G06N (AI-based computing methods) at 126 records against 1,029 for H04L, an eightfold gap that suggests these adjacent applications remain comparatively under-claimed. That does not guarantee an easy filing, but it does mean less prior art density to search against.
The United States leads with 417 filings by receiving office, followed by China at 224 and the European Patent Office at 193. WIPO's PCT route accounts for 130 filings, with the UK at 111 and India at 60. This spread indicates the field is being pursued across multiple major markets simultaneously rather than concentrated in a single jurisdiction, which matters for anyone assessing freedom to operate globally rather than in one country alone.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Communication and QKD covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.