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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/quantum-random-number-and-key-distribution-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Quantum SecurityQuantum random number and key distribution patents: who is filing, and where the field is still open
- Concentrated but not locked down. the ranked leader holds 137 records, yet the top 5 together account for only 21.2% of all 2,251 records in scope — filing is led by a handful of names but far from closed.
- Filing has cooled from its 2022 peak. activity peaked at 258 records in 2022 and moved from 257 in 2021 to 176 in 2024, a 32% pull-back over that span, though 2025-26 counts are still filling in as publications lag filing.
- Transmission classes dominate the claim space. H04L and H04B together touch a majority of records, while measurement- and optics-heavy classes like G01J and G02B remain comparatively thin — signalling where new claims face less prior art.
2,251
Published Records
21%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-32%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (257 records) with 2024 (176) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 2,251 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··8 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent set covers
This landscape covers 2,251 published records filed against quantum random number generation and quantum key distribution, filtered to documents that also address entropy estimation, health testing, detector side-channel behaviour, secret key rate, single-photon detection or decoy-state protocols. That second filter matters: it excludes generic quantum-communication filings and keeps the set focused on the engineering problems that determine whether a system is secure in practice, not just secure on paper.
Filings run from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, with the heaviest activity clustered around transmission and digital-processing classes. Receiving-office data shows the United States, the European Patent Office and the WIPO PCT route carrying the largest volumes, with China, the United Kingdom and Germany forming a second tier — a spread consistent with a technology still being prosecuted across multiple jurisdictions rather than settled into one home market.
Filings by year and technology class, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Random Number and Key Distribution 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
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,251-record set: how volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares below sum to more than 100% of records — that is expected and reflects genuine claim overlap between transmission, processing and optical hardware.
Filing activity, 2017–2026
Annual counts rose from 99 in 2017 to a peak of 258 in 2022, then eased to 176 by 2024 — a 32% decline across 2021–2024. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete: publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent bars will fill in over time rather than representing a real slowdown yet.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
H04L (digital information transmission) appears in 64.4% of the 2,251 records and H04B (general transmission) in 47.7%, confirming that most filings are framed as communications inventions first. Processing (G06F, 14.7%), AI-based computing (G06N, 9.4%) and optical hardware classes (G02F, G01J, G02B, each under 7%) trail well behind, marking the physical-layer and detection side as comparatively less claimed.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,251 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 Random Number and Key Distribution covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Most-cited records and a recent representative filing
Representative Recent Filing
US12244701B2 — OAM measurement-device-independent QKD system with real-time tracking compensation
NATIONAL QUANTUM COMMUNICATION(GUANGDONG) CO., LTD
Filed by National Quantum Communication (Guangdong) Co., Ltd and granted in 2025, this patent describes a measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution system built around orbital angular momentum (OAM) photon states. It uses strong pulse lasers for real-time channel monitoring and phase-distortion compensation, and an M-Z interferometer built with a Dove prism to separate odd and even OAM order photons for Bell-state measurement.Illustrates how recent filings combine measurement-device-independence with OAM multiplexing rather than claiming either technique alone.
Most-cited patents in this set
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6438234B1 | Quantum cryptography device and method | 272 |
| 2 | US20040109564A1 | High-rate quantum key distribution scheme relying on continuously phase and amplitude-modulated coherent ligh… | 231 |
| 3 | US5764765A | Method for key distribution using quantum cryptography | 229 |
| 4 | US9077577B1 | System and method for communication using orbital angular momentum with multiple layer overlay modulation | 198 |
| 5 | US20150222619A1 | Multi-factor authentication using quantum communication | 186 |
| 6 | US6748083B2 | Method and apparatus for free-space quantum key distribution in daylight | 173 |
| 7 | US20160352515A1 | Apparatus and methods for quantum key distribution | 167 |
| 8 | US20140299751A1 | Superconducting Single Photon Detector | 163 |
| 9 | US5953421A | Quantum cryptography | 150 |
| 10 | US20130251145A1 | Quantum key distribution | 146 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records such as the 1990s-2000s foundational filings on quantum cryptography and key distribution naturally lead this table. High citation count signals influence within this corpus, not current commercial relevance.
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 Random Number and Key Distribution 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 filing data actually indicates
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are set against their proper denominators: concentration at the top is real but partial, class coverage is uneven, and momentum has shifted away from the earliest movers.
Concentration
21.2%
of 2,251 records held by top 5 assignees
Leadership is real but the field stays open
The leading assignee holds 137 records and the top 5 combined reach 478, or 21.2% of all records in scope. That leaves close to four-fifths of filings spread across a long tail of the other 95 ranked assignees and unranked filers, so a newcomer is not entering a closed field.
Based on the full 100-assignee ranking
Filing momentum
-32%
change from 2021 (257) to 2024 (176)
Volume has pulled back from its 2022 peak
Filings peaked at 258 records in 2022 before easing to 176 by 2024, a 32% decline across that three-year window. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025-26 numbers are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a further slide.
2024 is the latest complete filing year
Claim geography
64.4% vs 3.9%
H04L share vs G02B share of 2,251 records
Transmission claims dominate over optical hardware
H04L (digital transmission) touches 64.4% of records and H04B 47.7%, while optical-element claims under G02B sit at just 3.9% and radiation measurement under G01J at 4.4%. The gap suggests protocol- and network-layer claims are far more crowded than the physical detection and optics hardware that make those protocols work.
Class shares overlap because records carry multiple IPC codes
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 random number and key distribution, 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 Random Number and Key Distribution 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
Who Is Filing
Assignee landscape and where the gaps sit
The ranking covers 100 assignees across all 2,251 records — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, but the full set the data endpoint returns. A handful of names, largely device makers and telecom-linked labs, account for the bulk of the top 10's 32.5% share, but recent-year momentum data shows even some of the largest historical filers posting no new records in the latest year.
Leader
137
records
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 137 records, well clear of fifth place at 58 and tenth place at 44. That gap between first and fifth suggests one organisation built an early, broad portfolio while the rest of the leading group filed at a materially slower pace.
Leader vs 5th (58) vs 10th (44)
Top 10 share
32.5%
of 2,251 records
A third of filings sit with ten organisations
The top 10 assignees combine for 731 records, 32.5% of everything in scope. The remaining two-thirds is distributed across 90 more ranked assignees plus filers outside the ranking, consistent with a technology still attracting new entrants rather than consolidating.
Top 10 combined, all records
Momentum
0% to -100%
YoY change among tracked leaders
Recent-year activity has gone quiet at the top
Several of the historically largest assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, with year-over-year changes at -100% for some and 0% for others holding at a low base. This is consistent with the broader pull-back after 2022 and with publication lag rather than the leaders exiting the field outright.
Latest-year counts are provisional due to publication lag
Filing momentum by assignee, latest tracked year
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| ID Quantique SA | 2 | 0% |
| Toshiba Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| ARQIT LTD | 0 | -100% |
| TOSHIBA RES EURO | 0 | — |
| NxGen Partners IP, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | 0 | — |
| MagiQ Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| NEC Corporation | 0 | -100% |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Random Number and Key Distribution 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
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claim language and the assignees behind the densest classes.
Map claims against the H04L and H04B core
With 64.4% and 47.7% of records touching these two classes, a new filing in protocol or key-exchange design needs a clause-level check against the most-cited records here before drafting.
Explore claims in EurekaWatch the under-claimed optics and detection branches
G02F, G01J and G02B sit well below the transmission classes in density, which is where hardware-side claims may face less crowded prior art.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack leader momentum before committing R&D
Several top assignees show flat or declining latest-year activity; confirming whether that reflects publication lag or a genuine pivot matters before allocating budget against them.
Set up assignee alerts in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Random Number and Key Distribution 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 on this landscape
Filing in this space is led by a single assignee holding 137 of the 2,251 records in scope, with the gap to fifth place (58 records) and tenth place (44 records) showing a steep drop-off after the top few names. Even so, the top 5 assignees combined account for only 21.2% of all records, and the top 10 for 32.5%, so leadership is real but far from exclusive. The remaining filings are spread across a long tail of smaller and single-filing entrants, which matters for anyone assessing freedom to operate rather than assuming a closed field.
Filings rose from 99 in 2017 to a peak of 258 in 2022, then declined to 176 by 2024 — a 32% drop across that three-year window. Counts for 2025 and 2026 appear lower still, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those recent years are undercounted rather than necessarily reflecting a real slowdown. The safest read is that filing activity has cooled from its 2022 high, with the true 2025-26 trajectory not yet visible in published data.
H04L (digital information transmission) appears in 64.4% of the 2,251 records and H04B (general transmission) in 47.7%, making protocol- and network-layer claims the most heavily contested part of the field. Processing-related classes like G06F (14.7%) and G06N (9.4%) trail well behind, and optical hardware classes such as G02F, G01J and G02B each sit under 7%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares overlap rather than summing to 100%, but the ranking itself is a reliable guide to where claim density is highest.
Based on receiving-office data, the United States leads with 718 records, followed by the European Patent Office at 352 and the WIPO PCT route at 260. China (232), the United Kingdom (215) and Germany (84) form a second tier. This spread indicates applicants are pursuing protection across multiple major jurisdictions rather than concentrating filings in a single home market, which is typical for a technology tied to national security and telecom infrastructure procurement.
US12244701B2, assigned to National Quantum Communication (Guangdong) Co., Ltd and granted in 2025, claims a measurement-device-independent QKD system that uses orbital angular momentum (OAM) photon states with real-time tracking compensation, built around an M-Z interferometer using a Dove prism to separate photon orders. Anyone designing an OAM-based or measurement-device-independent QKD system with similar real-time phase-compensation architecture should review this claim scope closely. It represents one of the more recent, technically specific filings in a field where most historical citation weight still sits with much older foundational patents.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Quantum Random Number and Key Distribution 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.