Smart Textile Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Flat, not growing. Filings peaked at 7 in 2023 and the 2022 midpoint of 4 shows no sustained climb through the period tracked.
- No single owner dominates. The most-cited records date back to the early 2000s woven-electronic-textile family, but recent-year momentum shows every tracked assignee at zero or -100% YoY.
- Garments and diagnostics overlap heavily. A41D outerwear (43) and A61B diagnosis (44) run almost neck and neck with D03D weaving (40), meaning most filings sit at the intersection of wearable structure and sensing, not in either alone.
What the smart textile patent record actually shows
The dataset covers 83 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 against a search built on conductive yarn, washability, stretchable interconnects, signal quality and power supply claims within woven fabrics, textile finishing and biomedical sensing IPC classes. Filing activity is thin by the standards of a mainstream electronics field: the entire tracked period never exceeds single-digit annual counts, and the peak year so far is 2023 at 7. That is consistent with a technology area still defined by a small number of foundational filings rather than a broad, fast-moving industry.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts in any trend line understate real filing activity; treat the most recent one to two years as a floor, not a ceiling. The composition data below matters more than the raw trend for deciding where to look: it shows where claim density is concentrated across garment structure, weaving, printed-circuit integration and clinical sensing.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 83 families: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A flat filing curve with one visible peak
Annual filings rose from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 7 in 2023, but the 2022 midpoint of 4 and the modest 2026 partial-year count of 4 do not describe sustained growth. This reads as a field with periodic bursts of activity around specific product cycles rather than compounding year-on-year interest.
Garment structure, weaving and diagnostics carry the most claims
A61B (diagnosis and surgery, 44 records) and A41D (outerwear and garments, 43) lead, closely followed by D03D (woven fabrics and weaving, 40) and H05K (printed circuits and assemblies, 34). A61N (electrotherapy, 19), D02G (yarn texturing, 17), H01R (connectors, 8) and G02F (optical control, 7) trail well behind, marking those as the thinner, less-contested branches of the same search.
Shares are the percentage of the 83 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Smart and Electronic Textiles with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about smart and electronic textiles and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe records other filings build on
Electronic textile with local energy supply devices (EP2481268A1)
The filing describes a textile substrate carrying at least one substrate conductor and multiple electronic energy-consuming devices, each wired to that conductor for power from a main supply. It adds a set of local energy supply devices arranged on the same substrate, positioned to supply power to those devices independently of the main feed.Filed by Koninklijke Philips N.V., published 2012-08-01.
View full filing| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20030211797A1 | Plural layer woven electronic textile, article and method | 396 |
| 2 | US20040009729A1 | Woven electronic textile, yarn and article | 271 |
| 3 | US7144830B2 | Plural layer woven electronic textile, article and method | 184 |
| 4 | US7592276B2 | Woven electronic textile, yarn and article | 148 |
| 5 | WO2010032173A1 | Electronic textile and method for determining a functional area of an electronic textile | 78 |
| 6 | CN1650057A | 复数层编织电子纺织品、物品和方法 | 54 |
| 7 | US20120118427A1 | Electronic textile, article and method | 53 |
| 8 | US20070049147A1 | Plural layer woven electronic textile, article and method | 51 |
| 9 | WO2014001577A1 | Electronic textile assembly | 44 |
| 10 | CN1649539A | 编织电子纺织品、纱和物品 | 44 |
Citation counts reward age inside a searched corpus: the two most-cited pairs date to the early 2000s woven-electronic-textile filings and their continuations, so treat these as markers of foundational influence rather than current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns worth acting on rather than just noting.
Bursts, not a curve
The trend from 2 filings in 2017 to a peak of 7 in 2023, with 2022 sitting at 4, does not describe compounding growth. Activity looks tied to discrete product or research cycles rather than an accelerating race for claim space, which changes how urgently a competitor needs to respond to any single filing.
Three classes, one claim zone
Diagnosis (A61B), garments (A41D) and woven fabrics (D03D) sit within five records of each other. Filings that only address one of the three without touching the others are likely narrower than they need to be to block competitors working across the full garment-to-sensor pipeline.
No current leader by recent activity
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum shows zero filings in the latest year, several with a -100% year-on-year drop from prior activity. Historical citation leaders are not the same organisations showing recent filing behaviour, which is a signal that the field's active filers may not yet be visible in this window.
US and PCT routes dominate filing strategy
United States filings lead at 18, with WIPO PCT applications close behind at 13 and Europe at 11; China, India and Australia each sit in single-to-low-double digits. A PCT-first strategy appears common among the more active filers, suggesting multi-jurisdiction intent even from a modest base of 83 families.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to smart and electronic textiles, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignees and where they are not filing
Co-assignee pairs point to a small number of collaborative clusters rather than a dispersed field of solo filers, but recent momentum data shows none of them currently active at pace.
A handful of tight collaborations
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings each recording 5 shared filings. These cluster around a university-and-institute pairing and a corporate-and-individual-inventor pairing, suggesting the field advances through specific research partnerships rather than broad industry participation.
Past leaders have gone quiet
Assignees with historically notable activity, including university and corporate research groups, show zero filings in the latest tracked year and year-on-year drops of -100% where prior-year activity existed. That does not mean the technology is abandoned; publication lag means the most recent 12-18 months of real filing activity are not yet visible in this data.
Early filings still anchor the field
The two most-cited record pairs, both centred on woven electronic textile and yarn constructions, carry citation counts far above the rest of the corpus. Newer filers are working in the shadow of that foundational IP whether or not they cite it directly, particularly on conductive-yarn and woven-substrate claims.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligent Solutions Technology Corporation | 0 | — |
| Sarnoff Corporation | 0 | — |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | — |
| The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | 0 | -100% |
| Royal College of Art | 0 | -100% |
| Artificial Intelligence Design Research Institute Limited | 0 | -100% |
| TEXAVIE TECHNOLOGIES INC | 0 | — |
| BHATTACHARYA RABIN | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The dataset flags where claim density sits today; deciding whether to file, license or design around it needs a closer read of the specific claims.
Map your concept against the near-tied IPC classes
If a design touches garment structure, weaving and sensing at once, check A61B, A41D and D03D together rather than treating them as separate searches.
Run a claim map in Eureka →Watch for filings publishing behind the lag
Recent-year momentum reads as flat because of the roughly 18-month publication lag; re-check assignee activity once 2025-2026 filings clear examination.
Set an alert in Eureka →Test the under-claimed branches
Stretchable interconnects, washable connectors and fabric-level optical modulation carry noticeably fewer records than the core garment and weaving classes.
Explore white space in Eureka →Questions practitioners ask about this space
This dataset identifies 83 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, built from a search combining smart/electronic textile terminology with conductive yarn, washability, stretchable interconnect and power supply claims. That is a modest count compared with mainstream electronics fields, reflecting a technology area still anchored by a small set of foundational filings. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true current total is somewhat higher than what is visible today.
Citation leadership and recent filing activity point to different players: the most-cited records trace back to early-2000s woven-electronic-textile filings, while recent-year momentum shows every tracked assignee, including Philips, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Royal College of Art, at zero filings or a -100% year-on-year drop. That gap suggests the field's currently active filers are not yet the same organisations that built its foundational IP, and any answer should be treated as provisional until more recent filings publish.
Conductive yarn claims typically cover the yarn or fibre construction itself, how conductive material is spun, coated or woven into a textile substrate. Stretchable interconnect claims instead cover how that conductive path survives mechanical deformation, routing, strain relief and connection points as the fabric flexes or stretches. In this dataset, D02G (yarn texturing) and H01R (connectors) each carry far fewer records than the core weaving and garment classes, meaning the interconnect and connection layer is comparatively under-claimed relative to the base conductive-yarn material.
The tracked filing trend rises from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 7 in 2023, with the 2022 midpoint at 4, which does not describe sustained year-on-year growth. This pattern is typical of a technology still driven by specific research programmes or product cycles rather than broad commercial adoption. It does not necessarily mean interest is declining; it means the field has not yet entered a compounding filing race, and the most recent one to two years are understated by publication lag regardless.
The composition data shows A61B, A41D and D03D carrying the bulk of claim density, while G02F (optical modulation in fabric), H01R (washable or fabric-integrated connectors) and elements of local energy supply integration carry noticeably fewer records. A first claim in these areas would likely combine a specific mechanical integration method, such as a washable connector interface or a fabric-embedded optical signal path, with a defined performance criterion like signal integrity after a stated number of wash cycles, rather than claiming the general concept of an electronic textile.
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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.