Smart Window Patent Landscape 2026
Smart Window Patent Landscape in 2026
The smart window patent corpus is heavily concentrated, with View Operating Corp and Lutron Technology Company LLC together commanding the top two positions among the hundred largest filers. Activity expanded strongly through a 2021 peak and has since eased, placing the field in a post-peak phase where deep incumbents face a narrowing set of challengers.
View Operating Corp leads a highly concentrated field
View Operating Corp holds the top position in the ranking, followed by Lutron Technology Company LLC and View Inc — three entities that together account for the bulk of activity among the largest filers. The top five filers collectively represent 57% of the combined total of the hundred largest filers, signaling a markedly concentrated competitive structure.
A clear two-tier gap separates the leaders from the mid-field: the top three applicants each hold substantially more patent records than any entity ranked fourth or below. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s presence in the top four underlines that non-traditional building-technology players have staked significant positions.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | View Operating Corp | 130 | |
| 2 | Lutron Technology Company LLC | 105 | |
| 3 | View Inc | 83 | |
| 4 | State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company | 42 | |
| 5 | Johnson Controls Technology Co | 26 | |
| 6 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 18 | |
| 7 | Smart Window Inc Ltd | 15 | |
| 8 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | 15 | |
| 9 | Inovues Inc | 11 | |
| 10 | Midea Group Co Ltd | 11 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | GD MIDEA HEATING & VENTILATING EQUIP CO LTD | 11 | |
| 12 | Google LLC | 10 | |
| 13 | Alarm.com Inc | 9 | |
| 14 | Reveo Inc | 9 | |
| 15 | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | 9 | |
| 16 | Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | 9 | |
| 17 | Lutron Electronics Co Inc | 9 | |
| 18 | RavenBrick LLC | 8 | |
| 19 | Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 7 | |
| 20 | University of Maribor | 6 |
The incumbents’ depth in core control-systems and electrochromic-glazing branches creates high barriers to replication; challengers seeking differentiation will likely need to address adjacent system-integration or data-processing layers rather than competing directly on established glazing IP.
Filings from approximately 2024 onward are subject to standard patent-publication lag and are likely under-counted; apparent recent softness should not be interpreted as structural decline without accounting for this delay.
Activity peaked in 2021; control systems dominate the technology mix
Annual filing volume grew from 2017 through a 2021 peak before easing, while the technology composition reveals an overwhelming concentration in control and regulating systems with meaningful secondary clusters in glazing structures and optical modulation.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose from 54 records in 2017 to a peak of 88 in 2021, then stepped down through 2022–2024. The 2024 and especially 2025 figures are subject to publication lag and should be treated as provisional floor counts rather than confirmed totals.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G05B (Control & regulating systems) is the dominant branch, reflecting the heavy systems-integration character of smart window deployments. E06B (Doors, windows & shutters) and G02F (Optical control & modulation) form a secondary cluster tied to the physical glazing and electrochromic core, while F24F (Air conditioning & ventilation) and H04L (Digital information transmission) indicate growing integration with HVAC and networked-building infrastructure.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Smart Window for Green Energy Smart Home and Smart…
The smart window for the smart home and smart grid can harvest energy and supply power to the home, grid and window itself. The smart window for the smart home and smart grid has all the Electrochromic panel, Solar panel and Multimedia panel been the same full window wide view and aligned with each other in IGU. To be a home automation system, the smart… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Systems and methods for statistical control and fa… | 490 |
| 2 | Control method for tintable windows | 436 |
| 3 | Systems and methods for controlling energy use in … | 333 |
| 4 | Methods and apparatus for using smart environment … | 285 |
| 5 | Systems and methods for automatically generating a… | 260 |
| 6 | Building management system with fault analysis | 242 |
| 7 | Electro-optical glazing structures having reflecti… | 210 |
| 8 | Load control system responsive to location of an o… | 207 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment
The combination of a post-peak lifecycle, high concentration, limited visible co-filing activity, and a US-dominant jurisdiction profile shapes where new entrants can realistically find differentiated space.
Post-peak field with maturing core IP
The lifecycle stage is assessed as Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2021 peak. The multi-year record from 2017 to 2021 reflects a growth phase now behind the field. New entrants should expect dense prior art in core glazing-control combinations and focus resources on system-level integration layers where the patent density is comparatively lower.
Lifecycle: DeclineTop five hold 57% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total
View Operating Corp, Lutron Technology Company LLC, View Inc, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and Johnson Controls Technology Co collectively dominate. The tier gap between rank three and rank four is significant, suggesting the top three have built defensible moats. Challengers ranked fifth and below hold single-digit or low-double-digit patent records and would need rapid portfolio build-out or licensing strategies to compete at scale.
High concentrationCo-filing activity is sparse, limited to the Midea Group ecosystem
The only identified co-filing relationship in evidence is between Midea Group Co Ltd and GD Midea Heating & Ventilating Equipment Co Ltd, with 11 jointly filed records — consistent with an intra-group R&D structure rather than a broad open-innovation network. The absence of cross-company collaboration outside this pair suggests the field’s leaders are pursuing independent proprietary strategies, which may create partnership opportunities for smaller players seeking scale.
Limited co-filingUS-centric filing with limited Asian and European depth
The United States accounts for the largest share of patent records by a wide margin, followed by Europe (EPO), India, China, and WIPO (PCT). South Korea and Japan each show modest counts. The relative thinness of Chinese and Korean filings is notable given the manufacturing strength of Midea, Haier, and Samsung Electronics in adjacent categories — suggesting either a deliberate US-market focus by all major filers or an underserved opportunity to build non-US portfolio positions.
US-dominantGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Midea Group Co Ltd | GD Midea Heating & Ventilating Equipment Co Ltd | 11 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
View Operating Corp leads on glazing IP; Lutron Technology accelerates on controls
The top two applicants pursue complementary but distinct technology strategies: View Operating Corp anchors in electrochromic glazing and optical modulation, while Lutron Technology Company LLC has built momentum in control systems and lighting circuits integrated with HVAC.
View Operating Corp
View Operating Corp holds 130 patent records — the largest single-applicant count in the corpus — concentrated in G05B control systems, G02F optical modulation, and E06B window structures. This three-pillar focus reflects full-stack ownership from the glazing material layer through the building-control interface. Momentum is declining (recent-period trend: ▼ –34%), consistent with a maturing core portfolio rather than active expansion, which may signal a shift toward defending existing IP rather than building new coverage.
130 patent recordsLutron Technology Company LLC
Lutron Technology Company LLC holds 105 patent records, focused on G05B control systems, H05B lighting circuits, and F24F air conditioning and ventilation — a system-integration profile that differs from View’s material-layer emphasis. Recent-period momentum is strongly positive (▲ +73%), making Lutron the most actively growing major filer in the corpus. This trajectory positions Lutron as the primary challenger to View’s leadership and suggests continued portfolio expansion in building-automation integration.
105 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| View Operating Corp | 59 | ▼ -34% |
| Lutron Technology Company LLC | 38 | ▲ +73% |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company | 26 | ▲ new entrant |
| Johnson Controls Technology Co | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant control-systems core
Several IPC branches appear in the smart window corpus at relatively low share, sitting alongside a dominant G05B cluster. These are observations of relative sparsity; entry feasibility depends on technical fit and competitive context in each branch.
G06Q · Business, commerce & admin data processing
G06Q accounts for approximately 3% of branch records in this corpus — notably low given the commercial value of energy-cost management, occupancy analytics, and demand-response billing that smart windows enable. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s patent records in G06Q 40 suggest that insurance and risk-analytics applications of smart-building data are being explored, but the branch remains sparse relative to its plausible scope. An entrant with data-platform or SaaS capabilities could find less incumbent competition here than in core glazing or control IP.
Search this in Eureka →H05B · Electric heating & lighting circuits
H05B holds approximately 3% of branch records despite the direct relevance of dynamic tinting to lighting-energy management and circadian-lighting integration. Lutron Technology’s presence in H05B 47 is the primary signal of activity, but the branch is otherwise sparse. As building codes increasingly couple daylight harvesting with artificial-lighting control, the intersection of electrochromic glazing and smart-lighting circuit management represents a technically motivated, under-filed space for players with lighting-system expertise.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ across technology routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | G05B 15 · Control & regulating systems | E06B 9 · Doors, windows & shutters | G02F 1 · Optical control & modulation | F24F 11 · Air conditioning & ventilation | H04L 12 · Digital information transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Operating Corp | Strong · 204 | Strong · 156 | Strong · 182 | Emerging · 8 | Emerging · 28 |
| Lutron Technology Company LLC | Strong · 71 | Moderate · 18 | Absent | Moderate · 31 | Emerging · 5 |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company | Strong · 42 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 33 |
| Lutron Electronics Co Inc | Strong · 36 | Strong · 20 | Absent | Moderate · 9 | Absent |
| King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | Strong · 18 | Strong · 18 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Johnson Controls Technology Co | Strong · 15 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 8 | Moderate · 5 |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 555 patent families in scope, spanning global filings across the smart window technology domain.
View Operating Corp holds the top position with 130 patent records, followed by Lutron Technology Company LLC with 105 and View Inc with 83.
Annual filing volume reached its highest point in 2021 at 88 records, after growing from 54 records in 2017. Volume has eased since then, and the lifecycle is assessed as post-peak. Figures for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and are provisional.
The United States is the dominant jurisdiction, followed by Europe (EPO), India, China, and WIPO (PCT). Germany and Canada also appear with meaningful counts, while South Korea and Japan show more limited activity.
G05B (Control & regulating systems) is the dominant branch, reflecting the systems-integration character of the field. E06B (Doors, windows & shutters) and G02F (Optical control & modulation) form the core glazing cluster, with F24F (Air conditioning & ventilation) and H04L (Digital information transmission) representing building-system integration layers.
Identified co-filing activity is limited. The only confirmed collaboration in evidence is between Midea Group Co Ltd and GD Midea Heating & Ventilating Equipment Co Ltd, with 11 jointly filed records — an intra-group relationship. No broader cross-company co-filing networks are evident from the available data.
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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.