Solid-State Battery Interface Patent Landscape 2026
The solid-state battery interface space is moderately concentrated, with LG Energy Solution holding a commanding lead and a Korean-Japanese coalition accounting for most of the top-tier activity. The field expanded substantially on a multi-year basis, though annual filing volume eased from its 2023 peak, and the United States remains the primary protection jurisdiction.
LG Energy Solution leads a concentrated but contested field
LG Energy Solution Ltd sits atop the applicant ranking with 168 patent families, more than double the nearest rival Toyota Motor Corporation at 70 patent families. The top five filers — LG Energy Solution, Toyota, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Samsung SDI, and Hyundai Motor — account for 41% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, signalling meaningful concentration at the apex.
Below the top two, the field narrows gradually rather than sharply: Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (42 patent families), Samsung SDI (41), and Hyundai Motor (35) form a tight second tier separated from the leader by a factor of roughly four. A third tier — Tohoku Techno Arch, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Murata Manufacturing — occupies the 20–35 family range, keeping competitive pressure meaningful across multiple players.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LG Energy Solution Ltd | 168 | |
| 2 | Toyota Motor Corporation | 70 | |
| 3 | Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc | 42 | |
| 4 | Samsung SDI Co. Ltd | 41 | |
| 5 | Hyundai Motor Company | 35 | |
| 6 | Tohoku Techno Arch Co. Ltd | 34 | |
| 7 | Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd | 27 | |
| 8 | Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd | 21 | |
| 9 | Terawatt Technology Inc | 18 | |
| 10 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 18 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd | 16 | |
| 12 | LG Chem Ltd | 16 | |
| 13 | Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd | 15 | |
| 14 | Regents of the University of California | 15 | |
| 15 | Nissan Motor Co. Ltd | 14 | |
| 16 | Honda Motor Co. Ltd | 11 | |
| 17 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 10 | |
| 18 | QuantumScape Battery Inc | 10 | |
| 19 | Ford Global Technologies LLC | 10 | |
| 20 | Korea Electronics Technology Institute | 9 |
LG Energy Solution’s scale advantage, combined with a recent-period filing trajectory showing continued strength, suggests it can set the pace on interface chemistry and electrode-electrolyte contact innovation. Challengers with strong momentum — particularly Toyota and newly active automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia — have the mass to mount credible challenges in specific sub-domains.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are subject to publication lag and will understate true activity levels; trend reads for 2025–2026 should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth with a 2023 peak; H01M dominates the technology mix
Annual filing volumes climbed from a negligible base in 2017 to a peak in 2023, and the technology composition is overwhelmingly anchored in core battery and electrochemical cell classes, with a dispersed set of adjacent chemistry and materials branches accounting for only a small fraction of records.
Annual filing trend
Filings accelerated sharply from 2018 through 2023, reaching a peak in that year, before easing in 2024 and 2025. The 2025 and 2026 bars should be read as provisional minimums given publication lag — the true volumes for those years will be higher once pending applications publish. The multi-year growth window remains positive at 29% recent growth.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01M (batteries, cells and fuel cells) dominates at the patent-record level, reflecting the field’s tight focus on cell-level interface engineering. The next-largest branches — C01G (compounds of other metals), H01B (cables, conductors and insulators), and C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) — each represent only a small fraction, pointing to secondary activity in electrolyte materials and conductor coatings. Branches such as B60L (electric vehicle propulsion), B82Y (nanotechnology), and H01L (semiconductor devices) each hold only a handful of records, marking them as peripheral today.
↗ 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.
Composite cathode active material for all-solid-st…
A composite cathode active material for an all-solid-state battery including a sulfide solid electrolyte, a preparation method thereof, a cathode layer for an all-solid-state battery, and an all-solid-state battery including the cathode layer, the composite cathode active material including a secondary particle including a plurality of primary particles… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solid-state battery and method for manufacturing e… | 90 |
| 2 | Anodeless coating layer for all-solid-state batter… | 64 |
| 3 | Solid-state battery | 55 |
| 4 | Hybrid and solid-state battery architectures with … | 47 |
| 5 | 原位复合固态电解质及其应用、全固态电池及其制备方法 | 44 |
| 6 | Solid electrolyte, all-solid-state battery includi… | 43 |
| 7 | Method for producing all-solid-state battery, and … | 43 |
| 8 | 一种聚合物电解质的制备方法及其在全固态电池中的应用 | 42 |
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 decisions
Four structural readings — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — frame the strategic context for teams deciding where to direct interface R&D resources and freedom-to-operate analysis.
Growth stage, easing from a 2023 peak
The field sits in a Growth life-cycle stage. Recent three-year filings sit well above the prior three-year window, confirming that the multi-year expansion is real. However, annual volume has eased from the 2023 peak, so the field is past its steepest acceleration phase. Teams entering now face an established prior-art base but not yet the saturation dynamics typical of a mature domain.
Growth stageApex is held by one dominant player with a competitive second tier
LG Energy Solution’s 168-family position is more than twice Toyota’s 70 families, creating a clear leader. The top five filers collectively hold 41% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, indicating moderate-to-high concentration at the top. The second and third tiers — Samsung SDI, Hyundai Motor, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Murata Manufacturing — remain close enough in scale to exert competitive pressure on specific interface sub-problems, so the field is not a duopoly.
Moderate-high concentrationCo-filing partnerships reveal tight bilateral alliances, not open consortia
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Tohoku Techno Arch are the most active co-filers with 34 joint patent families, forming the field’s deepest bilateral pair. Hyundai Motor and Kia (formerly Kia Motors) follow with 30 co-filed families, reflecting an automotive group IP strategy. LG Energy Solution co-files with Korea Electronics Technology Institute (8 families), KAIST (4 families), and the Regents of the University of California (4 families), spanning both domestic and international academic channels. These are bilateral pairings rather than broad open-innovation structures.
Bilateral alliances dominantUS-centric protection; Europe and China are secondary but significant
The United States leads all jurisdictions at the patent-record level, followed by Europe (EPO) and China. WIPO PCT filings suggest applicants are sustaining international prosecution pipelines. India appears as the fifth-largest jurisdiction, an early signal of emerging protection interest in that market. South Korea and Japan, home to most of the top assignees, rank below these larger office counts — likely reflecting applicants who file first domestically and then extend internationally through PCT.
US-led, global spreadGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc | Tohoku Techno Arch Co. Ltd | 34 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Kia Corporation | 30 |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | Korea Electronics Technology Institute | 8 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Panasonic Corporation | 8 |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 4 |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | Regents of the University of California | 4 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Kia Corporation | 4 |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Hanyang University | 4 |
| Kia Corporation | Hanyang University | 4 |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | Kyung Hee University | 3 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
LG Energy Solution and Toyota lead by volume; automakers are accelerating
The top two players share a focus on core H01M battery cell classes but diverge in momentum — Toyota has doubled its recent-period output while LG Energy Solution has grown strongly from an already large base. Several automotive entrants are filing for the first time in the most recent window.
LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution leads with 168 patent families, concentrated in H01M 10 (secondary cells) and H01M 4 (electrodes), reflecting deep investment in full-cell interface engineering. Its recent-period filing trend is ▲ +68% versus the prior three-year window, confirming that the leadership position is actively defended rather than legacy-built. Co-filing links to KAIST and the University of California signal that academic partnerships are part of the IP strategy.
families: 168Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota holds 70 patent families, also concentrated in H01M 10 and H01M 4, with a meaningful presence in H01M 50 (battery enclosures and ancillaries). Its recent-period filing trend is ▲ +100%, the strongest growth rate among the top-ranked players, though this should be read in the context of starting from a smaller prior base. A co-filing relationship with Panasonic (8 joint families) indicates continued collaboration on cell-level interface problems.
families: 70| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | 64 | ▲ +68% |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | 30 | ▲ +100% |
| LG Chem Ltd | 10 | ▼ -77% |
| Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc | 7 | ▼ -50% |
| Samsung SDI Co. Ltd | 15 | ▲ +7% |
| Hyundai Motor Company | 27 | ▲ new entrant |
| Kia Corporation | 23 | ▲ new entrant |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd | 16 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC classes adjacent to the dominant H01M core carry only a small share of records in this corpus. These observations of relative sparsity may point to areas where technical activity has not yet translated into a substantial patent position, but they are not validated commercial opportunities without further investigation.
B82Y · Nanotechnology applications
This branch holds only 7 patent records in the corpus, representing roughly 1% of the technology composition. Nanostructured interface coatings and nano-scale interlayer engineering are plausible technical levers for reducing interfacial resistance and dendrite formation — problems central to solid-state battery performance. The sparse patent position here suggests that nanomaterial-based interface solutions remain an early-stage area. Teams with nano-coating or thin-film deposition expertise may find relatively open prior-art space, but should verify freedom-to-operate against the dominant H01M filings before committing resources.
Search this in Eureka →B60L · Electric vehicle propulsion
B60L accounts for only 7 patent records in this corpus, a notably low count given that electric vehicles are the primary end market for solid-state batteries. This sparsity indicates that system-level integration of solid-state cell interfaces into EV powertrains — thermal management, mechanical contact under vibration, pack-level sealing — has not yet attracted a concentrated patent position in this corpus. Automakers filing as new entrants (Hyundai, Kia) are increasing their cell-level H01M filings but have not yet built a visible EV-system-level interface position here. This is an observation of where patent activity is thin, not a confirmed white space, and warrants investigation into whether relevant EV integration IP is filed under other classes.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ across technology routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H01M 10 · Batteries, cells & fuel cells | H01M 4 · Batteries, cells & fuel cells | H01M 50 · Batteries, cells & fuel cells | H01B 1 · Cables, conductors & insulators | C01G 53 · Compounds of other metals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | Strong · 119 | Strong · 94 | Emerging · 10 | Absent | Emerging · 9 |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | Strong · 64 | Strong · 45 | Emerging · 7 | Absent | Absent |
| LG Chem Ltd | Strong · 61 | Strong · 42 | Emerging · 10 | Absent | Absent |
| Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc | Strong · 42 | Strong · 32 | Absent | Strong · 23 | Absent |
| Samsung SDI Co. Ltd | Strong · 38 | Strong · 33 | Emerging · 7 | Absent | Emerging · 5 |
| Tohoku Techno Arch Co. Ltd | Strong · 34 | Strong · 30 | Absent | Moderate · 17 | Absent |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Strong · 28 | Strong · 30 | Absent | Emerging · 1 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 827 patent families. This is the base count for total scope; applicant rankings within the analysis are expressed in patent families for the top-ranked players.
LG Energy Solution Ltd leads with 168 patent families, more than double the second-ranked filer Toyota Motor Corporation at 70 patent families. The top five filers together account for 41% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers.
The field is in a Growth life-cycle stage on a multi-year basis, with the recent three-year window sitting 29% above the prior three-year window. However, annual filing volume has eased from its 2023 peak, so the steepest acceleration phase appears to have passed. The 2025 and 2026 data are further understated by publication lag.
The United States is the leading jurisdiction at the patent-record level, followed by Europe (EPO) and China. WIPO PCT filings indicate sustained international prosecution. India ranks fifth, suggesting growing interest in that market for future protection.
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Tohoku Techno Arch are the most active co-filers with 34 joint patent families. Hyundai Motor and Kia follow with 30 co-filed families. LG Energy Solution maintains academic co-filing links with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (8 families), KAIST (4 families), and the Regents of the University of California (4 families).
B82Y (nanotechnology applications) and B60L (electric vehicle propulsion) each hold only 7 patent records, and C01G (compounds of other metals), H01B (cables, conductors and insulators), and C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) collectively account for a small share of records compared with the dominant H01M class. These branches are observations of relative sparsity and require further investigation before being treated as confirmed entry opportunities.
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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.
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