Rare Earth Phosphor Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing has cooled since 2020. the peak year at 91 filings, with the trend down to single digits by the most recent (partial) year — publication lag means the last year or two will fill in somewhat.
- The top 10 hold just over half the field. 977 of 1,841 records (53.1%) sit with the ranked leaders, with the single largest filer alone accounting for 255 records.
- Semiconductor integration dominates the claim mix. H01L (semiconductor devices) appears on 50.6% of records alongside the core C09K materials class, showing most phosphor claims are written with a device context attached.
What the rare earth phosphor patent record shows
Rare earth phosphors and luminescent materials sit at the intersection of inorganic chemistry and solid-state lighting: claims in this dataset combine host lattice and activator chemistry (C09K11) with device-level integration into LEDs and displays (H01L33) and, less often, rare earth compound chemistry itself (C01F17). The search spans quantum efficiency, thermal quenching, emission spectrum tuning, particle morphology and rare earth supply as the technical anchors, which is why so many records carry both a materials class and a lighting or semiconductor class at once.
The 1,841 records in scope run from 2015 through the mid-2026 data cut-off. Filing activity peaked in 2020 and has declined since, a pattern consistent with a technology area where the core host-lattice chemistries are well staked out and recent effort has shifted toward incremental tuning and device integration rather than new base compositions.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,841-record corpus: the filing trend by year, and the IPC subclasses that make up the technology mix. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the composition shares add up to more than 100%.
Filings 2017–2026: a 2020 peak followed by decline
Filings rose to 64 in 2017 and climbed to a peak of 91 in 2020, then eased back through the low 70s at the 2022 midpoint before falling toward single digits by the most recent partial year. Given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, the final one to two years will fill in as more records publish, but the multi-year decline from the 2020 peak predates that lag effect.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C09K (materials for miscellaneous applications, including phosphor chemistry) covers 89.5% of the 1,841 records, confirming this is the anchor class for the field. H01L (semiconductor devices) follows at 50.6%, and smaller shares in H10K (organic semiconductors/OLED), C07F (organometallic compounds), H01J (electron and discharge tubes), H05B (lighting circuits), C07D (heterocyclics) and F21V (lighting components) mark the secondary claim territories where phosphor chemistry meets device engineering.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,841 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Rare Earth Phosphors and Luminescent Materials with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about rare earth phosphors and luminescent materials and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative claim
Nitride phosphor and method for manufacturing the same (US20140246623A1)
Filed by Mitsubishi Chemical, this record targets a nitride phosphor with improved luminance and internal and external quantum efficiency over conventional formulations, defined by a general formula LnxSiyNn:Z where Ln is a rare earth element (excluding the activator) and Z is the activator, with composition ratios and infrared-spectroscopy characterisation conditions specified as part of the claim.Composition and characterisation approach are typical of how nitride phosphor claims are drafted in this corpus: a formula with bounded stoichiometric ratios, plus a measurable physical signature used to distinguish the claimed material from prior art.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20040137267A1 | Organic electroluminescent device | 1,108 |
| 2 | US20040137268A1 | Organic electroluminescent device | 1,092 |
| 3 | US6234648B1 | Lighting system | 852 |
| 4 | US6791259B1 | Solid state illumination system containing a light emitting diode, a light scattering material and a luminesc… | 628 |
| 5 | US20080128726A1 | Red Nitride Phosphor and Production Method Thereof | 432 |
| 6 | US6621211B1 | White light emitting phosphor blends for LED devices | 392 |
| 7 | JP1990247278A | Electroluminescence element | 323 |
| 8 | US20040135504A1 | Nitride phosphor and method for preparation thereof, and light emitting device | 316 |
| 9 | US20090108269A1 | Illumination device having one or more lumiphors, and methods of fabricating same | 251 |
| 10 | US5756224A | Organic electroluminescent component | 246 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations; treat this table as a signal of influence on the field rather than a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once volume, concentration and technology mix are read together.
Filing is concentrated but not closed
The top 5 filers alone account for 40.5% of the 1,841 records in scope, and the top 10 add up to 53.1%. That leaves close to half the field held by a long tail of single- or low-volume filers, which is unusual concentration for a materials chemistry area and suggests core host-lattice claims are well guarded by a small number of incumbents.
Filing momentum has reversed since 2020
Volume rose steadily to a 2020 peak of 91 filings, held near 72 at the 2022 midpoint, then declined toward single digits by the latest partial year. Recency should be read cautiously given the roughly 18-month publication lag, but the multi-year downward slope from 2020 is a real signal, not an artefact of the cut-off.
Materials claims are rarely filed without device context
Almost 9 in 10 records touch C09K phosphor chemistry, but more than half also carry an H01L semiconductor-device class. That co-occurrence signals that most recent filers are claiming phosphor compositions together with an LED or display integration path, rather than filing pure materials-chemistry claims in isolation.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to rare earth phosphors and luminescent materials, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape and recent momentum
The ranked leaders in this corpus span major lighting and semiconductor incumbents alongside several affiliated entities that file under related but distinct corporate names, which the co-assignee pairs in this dataset make visible.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 255 records, nearly triple the fifth-place filer's 80 and more than seven times the tenth-place filer's 34. That gap at the very top, combined with a fast drop-off by fifth place, points to one dominant patent estate rather than a tightly bunched leading group.
Affiliated entities file jointly and separately
The strongest co-assignee pairs in the data link a parent lighting group with its regional or IP-holding affiliates, and a separate pair links a Chinese lighting group with its own engineering and technology subsidiaries. Reading assignee shares without accounting for these pairings understates how concentrated ownership actually is once affiliates are grouped.
Recent-year activity has gone quiet across most leaders
Several of the most active historical filers, including major lighting and chemical incumbents, show zero filings in the latest year, and one shows a full drop to zero after a prior year of activity. This is consistent with the broader post-2020 decline in the filing trend rather than any single company exiting the field.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Signify Holding B.V. | 1 | -75% |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | — |
| Oceans King Lighting Science & Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Philips Intellectual Property & Standards GmbH | 0 | — |
| Shenzhen Oceans King Lighting Engineering Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Nichia Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation | 0 | — |
| General Electric Company | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, white-space filing or competitive tracking.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the leading estate
With one filer holding 255 of 1,841 records and a fast drop-off after the top 5, any new nitride or oxynitride phosphor composition should be checked against that estate's claims before drafting.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaScope claims around the under-claimed branches
OLED-compatible blends and rare earth organometallic precursor chemistry show lighter overlap with the dominant C09K/H01L combination, which may leave room for narrower, more defensible claims.
Map white space in EurekaTrack momentum, not just historical volume
Several top-ranked filers show zero or sharply reduced activity in the latest year; a filing strategy built only on historical leaderboard position risks missing where activity is actually shifting now.
Monitor filer momentum in EurekaCommon questions on rare earth phosphor patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 255 of the 1,841 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place filer at 80 and the tenth-place filer at 34. The top 5 filers combined hold 40.5% of all records, and the top 10 combined hold 53.1%. That leaves roughly half the field spread across a long tail of smaller filers, so leadership at the top does not mean the field is closed to new entrants.
Filings rose from 64 in 2017 to a peak of 91 in 2020, then declined toward single digits by the most recent partial year, with 2022 sitting near the midpoint at 72. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one or two years are undercounted and will rise somewhat as more records publish. Even allowing for that lag, the multi-year decline from the 2020 peak is a genuine slowdown, not just a cut-off artefact.
The filing, assigned to Mitsubishi Chemical, claims a nitride phosphor defined by a general formula with bounded rare earth and silicon stoichiometric ratios, combined with an infrared-spectroscopy characterisation method used to distinguish the claimed material. It does not block all nitride phosphor work; it constrains compositions falling within its specific stoichiometric window and characterised the way the claim specifies. Formulations outside those bounds, or characterised by different physical signatures, sit outside its literal scope, though a full freedom-to-operate review should check dependent claims too.
C09K (materials for miscellaneous applications, the home of phosphor host-lattice and activator chemistry) covers 89.5% of the 1,841 records in this dataset, making it the anchor class. H01L (semiconductor devices) follows at 50.6%, reflecting how often phosphor claims are filed together with LED or display integration. Smaller but still meaningful shares appear in H10K, C07F, H01J, H05B, C07D and F21V, which mark where phosphor chemistry meets specific device or circuit contexts.
Branches that overlap less with the dominant C09K/H01L combination show lighter claim density, including OLED-compatible phosphor blends under H10K, rare earth organometallic precursor chemistry under C07F, and discharge-tube phosphor coatings under H01J. These are not empty categories, but their overlap with the core materials and semiconductor classes is smaller than the field average, which is where a narrower, better-differentiated claim is more likely to clear prior art. Any white-space filing decision should still be checked against the specific claims of the leading assignee's estate.
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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.