QKD Photonic Integration Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
- Filing peaked in 2023 at 12 records, then trended down — the field is filing thinner, not accelerating, into the most recent window.
- H04B transmission claims dominate at 31 of 33 records, while adjacent optical-control class G02F sits at just 4, marking a narrow, transmission-heavy claim base.
- UK and US receiving offices lead evenly at 10 filings each, with Europe, Japan and PCT routes trailing well behind — filing strategy is concentrated in two jurisdictions.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 33 patent families filed between 2017 and 2026 that combine quantum key distribution and quantum cryptography claim language with photonic-integration terms — on-chip single-photon sources, silicon photonic QKD, integrated photonics — under IPC classes covering optical transmission, waveguides and cryptographic key handling. The scope is narrow by design: it isolates the hardware layer where QKD protocols meet chip-scale photonics, rather than the broader quantum-communication or key-management literature.
Filing activity is small in absolute terms and concentrated around a handful of transmitter and receiver architectures. Because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months, the apparent decline after 2023 is partly an artefact of the data cut-off rather than a confirmed slowdown.
Filing trend and technology composition
The filing curve and IPC spread below show a field that grew steadily through 2023 and then thinned, with claim activity heavily weighted toward transmission-layer hardware rather than modulation or discrete optical elements.
From 2 filings in 2017 to a 2023 peak of 12
Growth from 2017 to the 2022 midpoint of 3 filings was gradual; the run-up to the 2023 peak was comparatively sharp, and the pull-back afterward should be read against the 18-month publication lag rather than as a confirmed retreat.
H04B and H04L carry almost all of the claim volume
H04B (transmission, 31 records) and H04L (digital information transmission, 22 records) cover nearly every filing in the set, while G02F optical modulation (4), H04J multiplexing (4), G02B optical elements (1) and G06N AI-based computing (1) appear only incidentally — signalling that most applicants are claiming system-level transmission behaviour rather than the underlying optical component design.
Shares are the percentage of the 33 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Quantum Key Distribution Photonic Integration with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about quantum key distribution photonic integration and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
US20240048242A1 — Optical transmitter for a quantum key distribution system
An optical transmitter for a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system, the transmitter comprising: a multi-modal laser; a wavelength tuneable laser arranged to inject light into a cavity of the multi-modal laser, so as to cause the multi-modal laser to output light at a selected wavelength for use in generating pulses to be output by the transmitter; and a modulator for controlling a phase shift between successive pulses output from the transmitter.Filed by Toshiba, published 2024-02-08 — a transmitter architecture built on injection-locked multi-modal lasing rather than a single fixed-wavelength source.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190260478A1 | Transmitter for a quantum communication system, a quantum communication system and a method of generating int… | 34 |
| 2 | US20190013878A1 | Quantum communication component, receiver and system | 24 |
| 3 | WO2019149383A1 | Quantum key distribution apparatus, system and method | 21 |
| 4 | WO2019158195A1 | Transmitter and receiver for quantum key distribution | 8 |
| 5 | US10951324B2 | Transmitter for a quantum communication system, a quantum communication system and a method of generating int… | 7 |
| 6 | US20240048242A1 | Optical transmitter for a quantum key distribution system | 4 |
| 7 | US20230283370A1 | Transmitter for a quantum communication system, a receiver for a quantum communication system and a method of… | 4 |
| 8 | GB2564446B | A quantum communication component, receiver and system | 4 |
| 9 | JP2024021032A | Optical transmitter for quantum key distribution system | 2 |
| 10 | US10313023B2 | Quantum communication component, receiver and system | 2 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for filing strategy
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against filing behaviour: a small but influential cluster of early transmitter patents, a transmission-heavy claim base, and a jurisdictional split that favours the UK and US over multilateral PCT routes.
Early transmitter patents anchor the field
The most-cited record, a transmitter for intensity-modulated photon pulses, sits well ahead of the rest of the corpus on citations, with a related family member also appearing in the top-cited set. New filers building transmitter hardware should expect prior art searches to surface this lineage first.
Transmission claims crowd the center
Almost every record in this set touches H04B transmission classification, and two-thirds also carry H04L digital-transmission classification. That leaves optical-component classes such as G02F and G02B comparatively open, even though they underpin the same hardware.
Two offices carry the bulk of filings
The UK and US each account for 10 filings, roughly matched, while EPO, Japan, WIPO and AT receive markedly fewer. Applicants filing only through PCT or national Japanese routes are working against a corpus concentrated elsewhere.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to quantum key distribution photonic integration, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity has stalled
Recent-year momentum across tracked assignees, including major electronics and telecom groups, has flattened to zero in the latest year — consistent with the corpus-wide decline after the 2023 peak rather than any single company retreating.
Toshiba's activity has paused
Toshiba appears in the most-cited table and in the representative filing, but its recent-year count sits at zero, mirroring the broader dataset's post-2023 pull-back and the publication lag affecting the newest filings.
Huawei and Ericsson show the same pattern
Both groups register zero filings in the latest tracked year. Given the small size of this corpus, a handful of unpublished applications could shift this picture once the publication lag clears.
Academic filer drops to zero
Chandigarh University shows a -100% year-on-year change, falling to zero filings in the latest year after prior activity — typical of single-institution academic filing, which tends to be sporadic rather than sustained.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Toshiba Corporation | 0 | — |
| Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH | 0 | — |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Sweden) | 0 | — |
| CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this
The transmission-layer claim density and the thinning post-2023 filing trend both point to specific next checks before committing engineering or legal resources.
Search the top-cited transmitter lineage
Before designing a new intensity-modulated or multi-modal laser transmitter, check the top-cited transmitter and receiver records directly — their claim scope shapes what counts as novel in this narrow field.
Explore prior art in EurekaMap the optical-component white space
G02F modulation and G02B optical-element classes carry a fraction of the filings that H04B does, despite covering the same physical hardware — a candidate area for freedom-to-operate review.
Run a white space analysis in EurekaWatch for the publication-lag rebound
The apparent drop after 2023 will partly reverse as filings from 2024-2026 publish; revisit assignee momentum in six to twelve months rather than treating the current trend as final.
Track filing trends in EurekaQuestions practitioners ask about this landscape
This landscape identifies 33 patent families published between 2017 and 2026 that combine quantum key distribution or quantum cryptography claim language with photonic-integration terms such as on-chip single-photon sources or silicon photonic QKD. That is a small, specialised corpus compared to broader quantum-communication patent sets, reflecting how narrow the hardware-integration niche still is. Filing peaked in 2023 at 12 records and has declined since, though the most recent years are understated because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months.
The corpus includes filings from major electronics and telecom groups including Toshiba, Huawei and Ericsson, alongside academic filers such as Chandigarh University. All of the tracked assignees show zero filings in the most recent tracked year, which is consistent with the corpus-wide slowdown after 2023 rather than any one company exiting the field. The most-cited individual records, covering intensity-modulated transmitter designs, trace back to filings associated with Toshiba's transmitter and receiver architecture line.
The dominant classes in this dataset are H04B (transmission, appearing in 31 of 33 records) and H04L (digital information transmission, 22 records), meaning most claims describe system-level transmission behaviour. Supporting classes G02F (optical control and modulation) and H04J (multiplex communication) each appear in only 4 records, and G02B (optical elements) and G06N (AI-based computing) appear just once each. This distribution shows claim activity is concentrated on transmission-layer system claims rather than on the underlying optical components.
Transmitter designs based on intensity-modulated or multi-modal pulse generation sit on the densest, most-cited prior art in this corpus, led by a record cited 34 times and a related family member cited 7 times. Filing narrow variations on that architecture invites the heaviest prior-art scrutiny. Conversely, optical-component-level claims under G02F and G02B remain comparatively open, since they carry only a handful of records despite underpinning the same physical hardware.
Filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 12 in 2023, then declined toward 2026, but this drop should be read cautiously. Patent publication typically lags the actual filing date by around 18 months, so 2024-2026 filings are still arriving in the public record and the true recent trend is understated. The flattening seen across nearly all tracked assignees, including Toshiba, Huawei and Ericsson, is more consistent with a data-lag effect than a genuine retreat from the technology.
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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.