Solid-State Battery Solid Electrolyte Patent Landscape in 2026
The solid-state battery solid electrolyte space is in an active growth phase, with annual filings still rising and a 43% increase over the recent multi-year window. Toyota Motor Corporation holds a commanding lead at the top of a concentrated field dominated by Asian automotive and electronics incumbents.
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Published byPatSnap Insights Team··7 min readVerified by PatSnap Eureka data
Overview
Toyota leads a concentrated field with a clear tier gap to challengers
Toyota Motor Corporation sits atop the ranking with 1,060 patent families, nearly 1.3 times the count of the second-ranked LG Energy Solution (843 patent families). The top five filers collectively account for 43% of the combined total across the hundred largest filers, signaling meaningful concentration at the summit.
The top tier — Toyota, LG Energy Solution, and Murata Manufacturing — is separated from the mid-tier players by a substantial gap. Hyundai Motor (287 patent families) and Samsung SDI (248 patent families) anchor a dense second tier, while the remainder of the top twenty each hold under 250 patent families.
Toyota's and LG Energy Solution's positions reflect vertically integrated strategies spanning cell architecture, electrolyte materials, and manufacturing processes. The breadth of their portfolios means late entrants face both volume and coverage barriers in the core H01M class.
Note that the most recent 18–24 months of filing data are under-counted due to publication lag; the 2025–2026 figures should be read as lower-bound estimates rather than absolute totals. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Chart shows the top applicants ranked by patent families. Applicant counts can overlap where a patent family lists several applicants, so they need not sum to the total in scope.Explore deeper in Eureka →
Trends & Structure
Filings climbing steadily; battery cell patents dominate but materials branches are growing
The annual filing trend and the technology composition chart together show a field still in expansion, anchored by core battery cell innovation but with growing activity in upstream materials and adjacent functional branches.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings grew from 159 in 2017 to a recorded high of 1,364 in 2024, reflecting sustained double-digit year-on-year expansion over the period. The 2025 figure (1,160) and the 2026 stub (106) are affected by publication lag and should not be interpreted as a slowdown; the field's lifecycle stage is assessed as Growth with a 43% recent-window increase.
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Technology composition
H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells) dominates the IPC composition by a wide margin, reflecting the field's primary focus on cell-level electrolyte integration. Secondary branches — H01B (conductors and insulators), C01B (inorganic compounds), and C01G (metal compounds) — capture materials-focused work at substantially lower shares, indicating that upstream chemical and conductor research remains a smaller but structurally distinct segment.
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Source: PatSnap Eureka. Technology-branch counts are measured in patent records; a single patent family can carry several IPC classes, so class totals can exceed the family total in scope.Explore deeper in Eureka →
Key Patents
Highly 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.
Featured patent
US20240194934A1Published 2024-06-13
Solid electrolyte composition for triple-doped gar…
The Industry & Academic Cooperation In Chungnam National University (IAC)
The present disclosure relates to a solid electrolyte composition for a triple-doped garnet-type all-solid-state battery, a solid electrolyte for a triple-doped garnet-type all-solid-state battery using the same, and a method for preparing the solid electrolyte for a triple-doped garnet-type all-solid-state battery and, more particularly, to a solid… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Representative drawings from the patent document.
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Highly cited patent families surfaced by this query
#
Patent
Citations
1
Integrated thin film batteries on silicon integrat…
145
2
Solid-State Battery Electrodes
126
3
Method for producing solid-state battery
125
4
All-solid-state battery
124
5
All-solid-state battery and manufacturing method t…
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.
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Citation-ranked patent families surfaced by this query.Open in Eureka →
Insights
What the patent structure means for R&D strategy
China-led geographic split has direct implications for where incremental R&D investment is most and least defensible.
Growth
Growth stage: filings still rising from a broad base
The lifecycle assessment places this field firmly in Growth, with annual filings having expanded 43% over the recent window and no evidence of a peak-year pullback. The 2017–2024 ramp from 159 to 1,364 annual filings suggests the core technology frontier is still being actively staked out. New entrants can still establish meaningful positions in specific electrolyte sub-classes, but the window for foundational claims is narrowing as the corpus deepens.
Growth · 43% recent window
Concentration
Top five hold 43% of the leading-hundred filers' combined total
The top five filers — Toyota Motor Corporation, LG Energy Solution, Murata Manufacturing, Hyundai Motor, and Samsung SDI — together account for 43% of the combined patent families among the hundred largest filers. This degree of concentration means the incumbents' portfolios create broad freedom-to-operate constraints. Mid-tier players (Honda, TDK, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Nissan) each hold between 127 and 220 patent families, representing a reachable but still substantial second barrier.
High concentration
Collaboration
Hyundai–Kia and Toyota–Panasonic anchor the co-filing ecosystem
The most active co-filing pair is Hyundai Motor and Kia (209 joint patent families), reflecting a tightly coordinated OEM R&D strategy. Toyota and Panasonic have co-filed 72 patent families, consistent with their joint-venture battery activities. LG Energy Solution co-files with the University of California Board of Regents (66 families) and with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (11 families), and also with Hanyang University (10 families), illustrating a university-anchored open-innovation approach. Engineers assessing freedom to operate should map these joint portfolios carefully, as co-filed families may carry shared ownership constraints.
Ecosystem co-filing
Geography
China leads filings; US, EPO, and PCT form the second tier
China is the dominant filing jurisdiction, followed by the United States, Europe (EPO), and WIPO PCT. Japan and South Korea round out the top six. This distribution means that market-entry strategies for solid electrolyte products in China require navigating the deepest local patent thicket, while EPO and PCT routes remain the primary vehicles for multi-jurisdictional protection by leading applicants. India (127 filings) is an emerging validation market worth monitoring.
China-led · 6-jurisdiction core
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Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Collaboration counts, jurisdiction tallies, and lifecycle data are drawn from PatSnap Eureka co-applicant and jurisdiction analytics.Explore insights →
Leaders
Toyota and LG Energy Solution lead; Samsung SDI accelerating fastest
The top two players are separated from the field in both volume and technical breadth. Within the second tier, Samsung SDI's momentum stands out as the fastest acceleration among established filers.
Leader · Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota leads with 1,060 patent families, concentrated almost entirely in H01M (battery cell and fuel cell) sub-classes, with primary focus on H01M 10 (1,038 filings) and H01M 4 (680 filings). Recent momentum shows a measured +7% increase versus the prior three-year period, consistent with a mature, broad-based portfolio being selectively extended rather than rapidly expanded. Toyota's position reflects decades of all-solid-state battery investment and remains the benchmark for scope in this space.
families: 1,060
Challenger · LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution ranks second with 843 patent families and is the fastest-growing among the top two, posting a +98% increase in recent filings versus the prior three-year period. Its technology focus mirrors Toyota's H01M orientation (H01M 10: 677; H01M 4: 434) but is complemented by an active academic co-filing program with the University of California (66 joint families). At its current trajectory, LG Energy Solution is closing the gap to Toyota and represents the most credible challenger for portfolio leadership in the near term.
families: 843
Patent Assignee
Additional Assignee
Additional applicant evidence is available when the corpus is large enough for comparison.
Undisclosed
Patent Assignee
Additional Assignee
Additional applicant evidence is available when the corpus is large enough for comparison.
Undisclosed
🔍
See the full applicant breakdown
Access ranked profiles, technology focus maps, and momentum scores for all top-100 filers in the solid-state battery solid electrolyte space.
Samsung SDI (▲ 5.4× vs prior 3-yr)Hyundai Motor Corporation (▲ +71%)+ more
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Patent family counts and momentum figures are drawn from PatSnap Eureka applicant ranking and three-year trend analytics.Explore players →
Adjacent Branches
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant H01M core
Several IPC classes appear at lower relative shares within the corpus, indicating that activity in those branches is sparse compared to the core battery-cell class. Two of these branches have plausible technical relevance and identifiable entry paths for solid electrolyte innovation.
C04B · Ceramics, cement and refractories
C04B accounts for only 99 filings, representing roughly 1% of the IPC composition — sparse relative to the dominant H01M branch. Ceramic electrolyte processing (sintering, densification, grain-boundary engineering) is a recognized technical bottleneck for oxide-type solid electrolytes such as LLZO and NASICON. An entrant with expertise in advanced ceramics manufacturing could differentiate by claiming novel sintering aids, co-firing profiles, or tape-casting formulations that are currently under-represented in the corpus.
B33Y appears with only 41 filings, making it one of the sparsest branches in the corpus despite growing academic interest in printing solid electrolyte layers directly onto electrode substrates. Additive manufacturing of thin, conformal solid electrolyte films could address interfacial contact resistance — a key engineering challenge — in a way that conventional slurry casting cannot. The combination of sparse existing claims and a clear technical problem statement makes this an adjacent branch worth monitoring for freedom-to-operate and potential first-mover positioning.
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Branch counts reflect IPC-level patent records across the corpus; lower counts indicate relative sparsity versus the dominant H01M class.Explore emerging →
Route Matrix
How leading filers differ across technology sub-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
C01B 25 · Non-metallic elements & inorganic compounds
Toyota Motor Corporation
Strong · 1,038
Strong · 680
Emerging · 137
Emerging · 50
Absent
LG Energy Solution
Strong · 677
Strong · 434
Emerging · 65
Emerging · 15
Emerging · 23
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Strong · 401
Strong · 243
Moderate · 167
Emerging · 71
Absent
Hyundai Motor Company
Strong · 286
Strong · 190
Absent
Absent
Emerging · 15
Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
Strong · 245
Strong · 167
Emerging · 35
Absent
Emerging · 14
LG Chem, Ltd.
Strong · 276
Moderate · 121
Absent
Absent
Emerging · 17
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Strong · 220
Moderate · 103
Moderate · 82
Absent
Absent
Source: PatSnap Eureka. Matrix values are measured in patent records and should not be compared directly with family-level applicant totals.Compare in Eureka →
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 7,733 patent families globally. This figure represents the in-scope dataset and is subject to ongoing updates as recently filed applications clear publication lag.
Toyota Motor Corporation leads with 1,060 patent families, nearly 1.3 times the count of the second-ranked LG Energy Solution at 843 patent families. The top five filers account for 43% of the combined total among the hundred largest filers.
China leads all jurisdictions, followed by the United States, Europe (EPO), WIPO PCT, Japan, and South Korea. Companies pursuing broad market protection should plan for prosecution in at least these six jurisdictions.
The field is assessed as Growth stage. Annual filings expanded from 159 in 2017 to a recorded 1,364 in 2024, a 43% increase over the recent window, with no peak-year pullback identified in the evidence.
Among established top filers, Samsung SDI shows the strongest acceleration at 5.4 times its prior three-year filing rate. LG Energy Solution is up +98% and Hyundai Motor is up +71% versus their respective prior periods. Murata Manufacturing and LG Chem show declining recent momentum.
The C04B (ceramics and refractories) and B33Y (additive manufacturing) branches appear at low relative shares — 99 and 41 filings respectively — compared to the dominant H01M class. Both have plausible technical relevance to solid electrolyte processing challenges such as sintering and thin-film deposition, making them worth monitoring for potential freedom-to-operate and differentiation 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.
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.
