Quantum Communications Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
Quantum Communications & Networking Patents: Who Is Filing, and Where
Filings grew 54% from 2021 to 2024 (323 to 499) the last three-year span with complete publication data, confirming sustained investment rather than a one-off spike. Annual filings rose from 140 in 2017 to a peak of 694 in 2023, with the 2021-2024 span showing 54% growth (323 to 499). 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in as publications catch up, so treat the apparent recent dip as a data-lag artefact rather than a slowdown.
- 1LG ELECTRONICS INC12.4%
- 2KK TOSHIBA5.4%
- 3ARQIT LTD4.5%
- 4PSIQUANTUM CORP4.2%
- 5IONQ INC4.0%
See the full quantum communications & networking patent landscape 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 quantum communications patents
Who holds the most patents in quantum communications and networking?
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 489 of the 3,950 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place assignee at 159. The top 5 assignees combined account for 30.4% of all records, showing meaningful concentration at the top even though the ranking includes 100 companies. Below the top ten, filing counts drop quickly into a long tail of smaller filers, so the field is not a two-horse race but it is also not evenly distributed.
Is patent filing in quantum communications still growing?
Yes, based on the last span with complete publication data: filings rose from 323 in 2021 to 499 in 2024, a 54% increase. The apparent decline in 2025 and 2026 in raw filing counts is a publication-lag artefact, since patent applications typically take about 18 months to publish. A peak of 694 filings occurred in 2023, and the underlying trend since 2017 has been upward overall.
What technology areas do quantum communications patents cover?
The largest IPC subclass is H04L, digital information transmission, present in 48.2% of the 3,950 records, followed by G06N (AI-based computing) at 36.1% and H04B (general transmission) at 28.3%. Narrower classes tied to the physical optical and hardware layer, such as G02F, B82Y and G02B, each appear in under 7% of records. Because records often carry multiple IPC codes, these shares overlap rather than summing to 100%.
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 Quantum Communications & Networking Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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.