Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
A data-backed view of dielectric elastomer actuator patents: filing trends, leading assignees, technology composition and open claim space through 2026.
Filing growth = 2021 (53 records) → 2024 (17); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 726 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What the dielectric elastomer actuator patent record shows
A dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) converts electrical energy into mechanical strain by squeezing a soft elastomer film between compliant electrodes — the mechanism behind much of today’s artificial-muscle and soft-gripper research. The patent record for this space, covering 726 published records from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, is not dominated by a robotics-classified block: the largest IPC groupings are solid-state device and semiconductor classes, which signals that most of the claimed value sits in electrode material, layer fabrication and drive-circuit design rather than in mechanism or end-effector geometry.
Filing rose steadily through the late 2010s, peaked in 2021, and has declined markedly since — a pattern consistent with a first wave of foundational material and actuator-structure claims giving way to narrower application filings. Receiving-office data shows the United States as the single largest venue, with the EPO and WIPO PCT route close behind, indicating that most serious filers are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than staying domestic.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 726-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
A sharp pullback after the 2021 peak
Filings rose from 35 in 2017 to a peak of 53 in 2021, then fell 68% to 17 by 2024 — the last year the data treats as complete. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so the apparent tail should not be read as the technology going quiet.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Electronics classes outweigh robotics classes
H10N (other solid-state devices) covers 30.6% of the 726 records, H01L (semiconductor devices) 24.5%, and H02N (other electric machines) 23.0% — all ahead of B25J (manipulators and robots) at 6.7% and A61B/A61H (surgical and physical-therapy devices) at roughly 5% each. Records can carry more than one class, so these figures do not sum to 100%; the pattern nonetheless shows claim density sitting in materials and drive electronics rather than in mechanism design.
Shares are the percentage of the 726 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Soft Robotics: Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Patent Landscape with Eureka
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Try EurekaA representative filing and the most-cited prior art
Method for manufacturing a rolled dielectric elastomer actuator (Sony, 2026)
Sony's 2026 filing addresses a manufacturing problem rather than a new actuation principle: producing a small rolled DEA (rDEA) by winding paired electrode layers and a dielectric elastomer layer around a core, then chemically or physically altering and removing that core to leave a compact rolled body. The approach targets miniaturisation of actuator form factor for space-constrained applications.Filed by Sony Group Corporation, published 2026-04-30.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5977685A | Polyurethane elastomer actuator | 325 |
| 2 | US20070123809A1 | Extending intrabody capsule | 236 |
| 3 | US20140197936A1 | Flexure, apparatus, system and method | 221 |
| 4 | US5307311A | Microvibratory memory device | 189 |
| 5 | US20190206134A1 | Systems and methods for rendering immersive environments | 134 |
| 6 | US20030210811A1 | Elastomeric actuator devices for magnetic resonance imaging | 134 |
| 7 | WO1998035529A2 | Elastomeric dielectric polymer film sonic actuator | 99 |
| 8 | WO2007029275A1 | Electroactive polymer based actuator, sensor and generator with folded configuration | 88 |
| 9 | US7062055B2 | Elastomeric dielectric polymer film sonic actuator | 84 |
| 10 | US7038357B2 | Stretched rolled electroactive polymer transducers and method of producing same | 79 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations inside this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not as a ranking of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The ranking and citation tables point to a field with one clear leader, a thin group of established filers, and a citation base still anchored in decades-old mechanical and MEMS actuator patents.
One leader, then a fast drop-off
The leading assignee holds 44 records against a fifth-place figure of 19 and a tenth-place figure of 13 — a steep gradient that flattens quickly. The top 5 combined cover 21.5% of all 726 records and the top 10 combined cover 32.2%, meaning two-thirds of the field's activity sits outside the ranked leaders entirely, spread across single- and few-filing entrants.
Past the first wave, not past the field
Annual filings climbed from 35 in 2017 to a peak of 53 in 2021, then fell to 17 by 2024. That drop reads as the closing of a first wave of foundational actuator-structure claims rather than field exhaustion, since 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete under an 18-month publication lag.
Old mechanical patents still anchor the citation graph
The most-cited record in the corpus, a polyurethane elastomer actuator patent, carries 325 citations, well ahead of newer filings. Several of the other heavily-cited records predate the DEA-specific search terms and cover general microactuator or flexure mechanisms, meaning influence in this graph is inherited from adjacent MEMS and actuator lineages, not built inside a DEA-only literature.
US-first, multi-jurisdiction second
The United States receives the largest single share of filings at 244, with the EPO (126) and WIPO PCT route (124) close together behind it, and South Korea, Germany and China each in the mid-30s to low-40s. That spread indicates most active filers treat US protection as a baseline and add European or PCT coverage rather than filing narrowly in one jurisdiction.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to soft robotics: dielectric elastomer actuator patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| ANDERSON IAIN ALEXANDER | OBRIEN BENJAMIN MARC | 15 |
| ANDERSON IAIN ALEXANDER | GISBY TODD ALAN | 15 |
| Auckland UniServices Ltd | ANDERSON IAIN ALEXANDER | 14 |
| OBRIEN BENJAMIN MARC | GISBY TODD ALAN | 14 |
| Auckland UniServices Ltd | OBRIEN BENJAMIN MARC | 13 |
| Auckland UniServices Ltd | GISBY TODD ALAN | 13 |
| Auckland UniServices Ltd | MCKAY THOMAS GREGORY | 7 |
| Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH | BIGGS SILMON JAMES | 7 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest links (15 shared records each) sit between individual named inventors rather than between corporate entities — a sign that most DEA patent activity is filed by a single owner rather than through formal joint-development arrangements.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next questions for freedom-to-operate work and for spotting where claim space is still open.
Map the leader's claim scope in detail
With 44 records, the top assignee's portfolio is large enough to contain multiple claim families covering material, electrode and manufacturing variants. A claim-by-claim review of that portfolio against your own design is the fastest way to find out whether a specific product feature is actually blocked.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTrack the post-2024 filings as they publish
Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 records are still arriving. Rechecking the trend in six to twelve months will show whether the 2021-2024 pullback continues or whether a new filing wave is already underway but not yet visible.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaTest under-claimed application classes
Robotics-specific classes like B25J and medical classes like A61B and A61H each sit well below the electronics-heavy classes that dominate this corpus. That gap is worth testing directly against your own application area before assuming it is crowded.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions about dielectric elastomer actuator patents
The dataset's assignee ranking shows one clear leader with 44 of the 726 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 19 and the tenth at 13. Beyond the top 10, which together hold 32.2% of all records, the field spreads into a long tail of organisations with only a handful of filings each. That structure means a freedom-to-operate review should start with the leader's portfolio but cannot stop there, since two-thirds of filing activity sits outside the ranked leaders.
No — filings peaked at 53 in 2021 and fell to 17 by 2024, a 68% decline over that span, the most recent period the dataset treats as complete. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so it is too early to read the very latest years as a continued decline. The safest reading is that a first wave of foundational filings has passed its peak, not that the underlying technology has stalled.
The largest IPC subclass is H10N (other electric solid-state devices) at 30.6% of the 726 records, followed by H01L (semiconductor devices) at 24.5% and H02N (other electric machines) at 23.0%. Robotics-specific class B25J and medical classes A61B and A61H each cover only 5-7% of records. Because a single record can carry multiple classes, these shares add to more than 100%, but the pattern is consistent: most claimed value sits in materials, layer fabrication and drive electronics rather than in mechanism or application-specific design.
The United States receives the largest share of filings at 244 records, followed by the European Patent Office at 126 and the WIPO PCT route at 124. South Korea, Germany and China each receive a smaller but meaningful share, in the mid-30s to low-40s. The pattern suggests most active filers use the US as a baseline jurisdiction and add European or PCT coverage for broader protection rather than filing in a single market alone.
US20260123286A1, filed by Sony Group Corporation and published in April 2026, claims a manufacturing method for a rolled dielectric elastomer actuator: winding electrode and dielectric elastomer layers around a core, altering the core's state, then removing it to leave a compact rolled body. It is a process and form-factor claim aimed at miniaturisation, not a claim over the general dielectric elastomer actuation principle. Designs using flat, stacked or non-rolled actuator geometries, or different core-removal methods, would need a separate freedom-to-operate check rather than being automatically blocked by this filing.
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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.