Switchable Automotive Glazing Patents: Top Filers & Trends 2026
- 55.3% concentration. The top 5 of 100 ranked assignees hold 2,656 of the 4,804 records in scope — over half the field sits with a handful of filers.
- Filing has cooled from its 2020 peak. 735 records published in 2020, the high point, with the last complete year (2024) at 295 — down 32% from 432 in 2021.
- Optical control claims are a minority share. G02F (optical control & modulation) covers only 10.7% of records — most of the corpus is wireless and display-control infrastructure around the glazing, not the electrochromic stack itself.
Filing growth compares 2021 (432 records) with 2024 (295) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 4,804 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Switchable and smart glazing patents span the electrochromic or suspended-particle glass stack itself, the busbar and power-supply hardware that drives transmittance changes, and the control electronics — sensors, wireless links, display integration — that decide when and how the glass switches. This search pulls 4,804 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine glazing terms like switchable glazing or electrochromic automotive glass with functional claims around switching speed, transmittance range, busbar integration, power consumption, durability cycling or cost per part.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity — treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional rather than a sign of decline.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 4,804 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 319 in 2017 to a peak of 735 in 2020, then eased to 432 by 2021 and 295 by 2024 — a 32% decline over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under publication lag and should not be read as a continued fall.
IPC subclass composition
H04W (wireless communication networks) leads at 30.2% of the 4,804 records, ahead of G06F (electric digital data processing) at 19.4% and H04N (pictorial communication) at 15.9%. G02F (optical control & modulation), the subclass closest to the electrochromic material and switching mechanism itself, covers 10.7%. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 4,804 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Switchable and Smart Automotive Glazing with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about switchable and smart automotive glazing and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim
US20210096438A1 — Smart glass transmittance control system and method
A smart glass transmittance control system that decreases transmittance in response to incoming light and increases it when electric power is applied, coordinated by a control unit that adjusts power supply to the smart glass according to the vehicle's driving environment and user request.Filed by Hyundai Motor Company, published 2021-04-01.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20130278631A1 | 3D positioning of augmented reality information | 2,102 |
| 2 | US20130127980A1 | Video display modification based on sensor input for a see-through near-to-eye display | 1,897 |
| 3 | US20050046584A1 | Asset system control arrangement and method | 1,779 |
| 4 | US20110213664A1 | Local advertising content on an interactive head-mounted eyepiece | 1,602 |
| 5 | US20120075168A1 | Eyepiece with uniformly illuminated reflective display | 1,186 |
| 6 | US20050192727A1 | Sensor Assemblies | 1,179 |
| 7 | US7103460B1 | System and method for vehicle diagnostics | 1,175 |
| 8 | US20060025897A1 | Sensor assemblies | 1,056 |
| 9 | US20200284883A1 | Component for a lidar sensor system, lidar sensor system, lidar sensor device, method for a lidar sensor syst… | 1,012 |
| 10 | US20150326570A1 | Systems and methods for discerning eye signals and continuous biometric identification | 985 |
Citation counts favour older filings within the searched corpus and should be read as a signal of influence, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns worth acting on before drafting a freedom-to-operate opinion or a new filing strategy in this space.
Filing is concentrated, not fragmented
Five assignees out of the 100 ranked account for 2,656 of the 4,804 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 62.4%. A new entrant is filing into a field where claim space around core switching and control functions is already dense.
Peak filing has passed, for now
Activity peaked at 735 records in 2020 and has since eased to 295 in 2024, the last year that can be treated as complete. Recent-year momentum data also shows several individual assignees down sharply year over year, though 2025-2026 counts are still incomplete under publication lag.
Most claims sit around the glass, not in it
The dominant IPC subclasses are wireless communication (H04W, 30.2%) and data processing (G06F, 19.4%), not the optical modulation class most directly tied to electrochromic or SPD glazing itself. That gap suggests the connectivity and control layer is where competitive filing pressure is heaviest.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to switchable and smart automotive glazing, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders hold the majority share, but momentum data shows even the largest recent filers pulling back — leaving several functional sub-areas comparatively open.
One filer well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 2,128 records, nearly double the combined total of positions five through ten. That scale reflects sustained filing across the control-electronics side of the stack as much as the glazing material itself.
A steep drop-off past the top ten
Filing volume falls from 2,128 at the top to 56 by tenth place, and continues thinning across the remaining ranked assignees. That drop-off is where smaller and newer filers can still stake claims without going head-to-head with the largest holders.
Recent-year activity is pulling back across the board
Several assignees tracked for recent-year momentum show sharp year-over-year declines, including one falling to zero filings in the latest year. Co-assignee filing pairs remain limited to a small set of ten recorded collaborations, concentrated among a handful of individual inventors rather than corporate joint filings.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| LG Electronics | 8 | -78% |
| WANG BEIBEI | 1 | — |
| LIU K J RAY | 1 | — |
| Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) | 1 | -95% |
| AU OSCAR CHI LIM | 1 | — |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Dell Products L.P. | 0 | — |
| Osterhout Group, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with dense control-layer filing and thinner coverage on the electrochromic and durability side. Two directions follow from that.
Map claim scope in the under-claimed branches
Busbar integration, durability cycling and cost-per-part claims sit outside the wireless and display-control crowding that dominates this landscape, making them worth a closer freedom-to-operate check before drafting.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack the leading assignee's recent filings
With the top assignee holding 2,128 records but recent-year momentum data showing declines across several tracked filers, a fresh pull of 2025-2026 filings once publication catches up will clarify whether the pullback is real or a lag artefact.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
One assignee leads the ranked field with 2,128 of the 4,804 records in scope, well ahead of the rest of the top five, which together hold 2,656 records (55.3% of all records). The top ten extend that to 2,996 records, or 62.4% of the total. This is a concentrated field: a small number of filers hold the majority of the documented claim space, and volume drops sharply after the top ten positions.
Filing peaked in 2020 at 735 records and has since declined to 295 in 2024, a 32% drop from the 432 records filed in 2021 — the last three years that can be treated as complete. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 are still filling in and should not be read as continued decline. The honest read is that the field has cooled from its 2020 peak but the most recent trajectory is not yet fully visible.
Wireless communication networks (H04W) appear in 30.2% of the 4,804 records, followed by electric digital data processing (G06F) at 19.4% and pictorial communication (H04N) at 15.9%. Optical control and modulation (G02F), the subclass most tied to the electrochromic or particle-based switching mechanism itself, covers only 10.7% of records. This means most patent activity in this space is claimed around the glazing — in the sensors, connectivity and control logic — rather than in the switching material itself.
US20210096438A1, filed by Hyundai Motor Company and published 2021-04-01, covers a smart glass transmittance control system that automatically decreases transmittance in response to incoming light and increases it when electric power is applied, with a control unit that adjusts power supply based on the vehicle's driving environment and a user request. The claim sits at the intersection of the power-supply hardware and the control logic rather than the electrochromic material itself. Anyone building an automated transmittance system tied to ambient light and driving conditions should review this record closely before finalising a control architecture.
The composition data shows heavy filing density in wireless communication and digital data processing classes but comparatively thin coverage in busbar integration, durability cycling and cost-per-part claims — functional areas named directly in the search criteria but underrepresented in the IPC breakdown. These branches sit outside the crowded control-electronics core and are worth checking for open claim space before drafting. A first claim there would likely combine a specific durability or manufacturing metric with the switching mechanism, rather than restating general transmittance control already well covered by leading assignees.
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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.