Terahertz Communication Patent Landscape 2026
Terahertz Communication Patent Landscape in 2026
LG Electronics holds an exceptional commanding position in terahertz communication patenting, accounting for the largest single-applicant share among the top hundred filers by a wide margin, with filings concentrated in wireless network resource management. The field expanded sharply on a multi-year basis, though annual volume eased from its 2023 peak and recent years remain understated by publication lag.
LG Electronics leads a highly concentrated field with a pronounced tier gap
LG Electronics ranks first with 786 patent families, a total that dwarfs every other filer. Qualcomm follows at 82, Samsung Electronics at 66, Huawei at 48, and Sony Group at 28, making the top five collectively responsible for 68% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output.
The gap between the leader and the second-ranked applicant is structurally large: LG’s portfolio is roughly 9.6 times the size of Qualcomm’s. Below the top five, Chinese universities and device makers cluster in the 10–24 patent-family range, signalling a second tier of emerging contributors rather than genuine challengers.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LG Electronics Inc. | 786 | |
| 2 | Qualcomm Incorporated | 82 | |
| 3 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 66 | |
| 4 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 48 | |
| 5 | Sony Group Corporation | 28 | |
| 6 | UNIV OF ELECTRONICS SCI & TECH OF CHINA | 24 | |
| 7 | Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. | 24 | |
| 8 | Canon Inc. | 20 | |
| 9 | Intel Corporation | 19 | |
| 10 | Lenovo (Beijing) Co., Ltd. | 19 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Beijing Institute of Technology | 17 | |
| 12 | KOREA ADVANCED INST OF SCI & TECH | 14 | |
| 13 | Voice Life Inc. | 13 | |
| 14 | Ericsson | 12 | |
| 15 | Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | 11 | |
| 16 | BEIJING UNIV OF POSTS & TELECOMM | 11 | |
| 17 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 10 | |
| 18 | Southeast University | 10 | |
| 19 | InterDigital Patent Holdings Inc. | 9 | |
| 20 | Voice Life Holdings Ltd. | 8 |
LG’s depth in wireless network resource scheduling (H04W 72 and H04W 74) suggests a deliberate strategy to control the air-interface and resource-management layers of terahertz systems, a position that could make it a standard-essential-patent holder as 6G standards coalesce.
Filing counts for 2024–2026 are understated due to typical 18–24 month publication lag; the apparent slowdown in those years should not be read as a real decline in activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Rapid multi-year growth led by wireless-network IPC classes, with emerging AI and antenna branches
The annual filing trend and technology composition together reveal a field that mobilized quickly after 2019 and is now broadening beyond its core wireless-protocol base into adjacent areas including AI-assisted beamforming and antenna design.
Annual filing trend
Filings were minimal through 2018, accelerated sharply from 2019 onward, and peaked in 2023 at the highest single-year volume in the dataset. The 2024 and 2025 bars are depressed by publication lag and should not be interpreted as a structural decline; the three-year recent window is 182% above the prior equivalent window.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04W (Wireless communication networks), H04L (Digital information transmission), and H04B (Transmission, general) account for the dominant share of classified records, confirming that the current patent effort centers on protocol and channel-layer innovation. G06N (AI models), H01Q (Antennas), and G01S (Radar and positioning) are present but at materially lower volumes, identifying branches where the technology is active but coverage is thinner.
↗ 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.
Method of receiving channel state information for …
A method of receiving, by a base station, channel state information (CSI) for a THz communication system based-CoMP operation may comprise the steps of: on the basis of beam information of each TRP, each panel, each BWP, or each cell, transmitting CSI association information of each TRP, each panel, each BWP, or each cell to a terminal; transmitting a first… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method for Intelligent Reflecting Surface Aided Te… | 187 |
| 2 | 基于智能反射面的定位信息辅助波束控制方法 | 156 |
| 3 | Receiver device for facilitating wireless power re… | 139 |
| 4 | 一种智能反射表面辅助的太赫兹安全通信系统设计方法 | 80 |
| 5 | New wireless communication paradigm: realizing pro… | 72 |
| 6 | 一种基于量子效应的无线电调幅信号接收方法及调幅量子接收机 | 51 |
| 7 | 一种用于太赫兹通信的伪码辅助载波同步实现方法 | 33 |
| 8 | Method and apparatus for estimating channel in wir… | 31 |
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 observations — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — shape where differentiated R&D investment can create defensible positions in terahertz communication.
Growth stage, past its 2023 volume peak on an annual basis
The lifecycle assessment places terahertz communication firmly in the Growth stage: the recent three-year filing window sits 182% above the prior equivalent window. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, but this partly reflects publication lag in 2024–2026. The window for staking foundational positions remains open, though the most obvious wireless-protocol claims are increasingly occupied.
Growth · past 2023 peakTop five filers hold 68% of the hundred largest filers’ output
The top five applicants — LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Huawei, and Sony Group — account for 68% of the hundred largest filers’ combined patent families. LG’s position alone is structurally dominant. New entrants and universities fill a long tail, meaning differentiated positions in adjacent branches (AI integration, antennas, sensing) face less incumbency pressure than the core wireless-protocol space.
Highly concentratedLG–KAIST is the most active co-filing partnership in the field
LG Electronics and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recorded 11 co-filed patent families, by far the most active collaboration pair. Samsung Electronics partnered with Yonsei University on 3 families and with Seoul National University R&DB Foundation on 2. Sony Group Corp and Sony Corporation of America co-filed 2 families. These pairings point to an industry-academic model where device makers anchor fundamental research through university relationships.
Industry-academic modelEurope (EPO) leads filings, with the US and China as key secondary venues
Europe (EPO) is the lead jurisdiction by patent-record count, followed by the United States and China. WIPO (PCT) and India also feature prominently. The EPO lead is notable given that most top applicants are Korean, American, or Chinese, suggesting deliberate international prosecution strategies targeting European 6G standardization markets. Japan and the UK are secondary venues with considerably lower volumes.
EPO-first prosecutionGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| LG Electronics Inc. | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | 11 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Yonsei University | 3 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Seoul National University R&DB Foundation | 2 |
| Sony Group Corporation | Sony Corporation of America | 2 |
| LG Electronics Inc. | University of Hong Kong | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
LG Electronics and Qualcomm lead by distinct technology routes
The two largest filers diverge markedly in technical focus: LG concentrates on wireless network resource scheduling, while Qualcomm emphasizes general transmission methods and digital information protocols — a split that could drive complementary rather than purely head-to-head competition.
LG Electronics
LG Electronics holds 786 patent families, a position built overwhelmingly on wireless network resource management (H04W 72, H04W 92, H04W 74). Its recent three-year filing pace is 4.0× the prior three-year window, indicating that this portfolio is not legacy-heavy but actively expanding. The scale and recency of LG’s filings position it as a probable standard-essential-patent candidate as 6G air-interface specifications mature.
families: 786Qualcomm
Qualcomm holds 82 patent families, ranked second, with primary focus on H04B 7 (Transmission, general) and H04L 1 and H04L 5 (Digital information transmission). Its recent filings grew 121% versus the prior three-year window, confirming sustained momentum. Qualcomm’s route — general transmission and link-layer coding — is technically complementary to LG’s resource-scheduling emphasis and reflects its established chipset and modem IP strategy.
families: 82| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| LG Electronics Inc. | 596 | ▲ 4.0× vs prior 3-yr |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 53 | ▲ +121% |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 39 | ▲ +105% |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 42 | ▲ new entrant |
| Sony Group Corporation | 19 | ▲ new entrant |
| University of Electronic Science and Technology of China | 15 | ▲ new entrant |
| Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. | 12 | ▲ +9% |
| Canon Inc. | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches in AI integration, antenna hardware, and sensing
Five IPC branches sit at the margins of the current terahertz communication corpus, each with low patent-record counts relative to the dominant wireless-protocol classes. Three stand out for plausible technical relevance and lower incumbency.
G06N · AI-assisted terahertz channel management
G06N (Computing based on AI models) accounts for 73 patent records, representing roughly 3% of the whitespace-assessed branches — sparse relative to the dominant wireless classes. Terahertz channels are highly directional and sensitive to blockage, making AI-driven beam prediction and channel estimation a technically motivated entry point. Most top filers have not yet built concentrated AI-method portfolios here, so a focused filing program in machine-learning-based channel modeling could establish a differentiated position with limited head-to-head conflict against the dominant wireless-protocol estates.
Search this in Eureka →H01Q · Terahertz antenna and reconfigurable surface design
H01Q (Antennas) holds 63 patent records, corresponding to approximately 2% of assessed branches — low given that highly directional antenna arrays and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces are physical prerequisites for practical terahertz links. The most-cited patents in the corpus already reference intelligent reflecting surface methods, suggesting that the antenna hardware layer is technically critical but patent coverage is thin. Entrants with expertise in sub-millimeter-wave antenna fabrication or metasurface design could occupy this branch before it is claimed by the wireless-protocol incumbents.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across IPC subgroups
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | H04W 72 · Wireless communication networks | H04B 7 · Transmission (general) | H04L 5 · Digital information transmission | H04W 92 · Wireless communication networks | H04W 24 · Wireless communication networks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG Electronics Inc. | Strong · 433 | Moderate · 125 | Strong · 240 | Strong · 294 | Moderate · 210 |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | Moderate · 10 | Strong · 46 | Moderate · 13 | Emerging · 2 | Emerging · 7 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Moderate · 11 | Strong · 35 | Emerging · 6 | Absent | Absent |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Strong · 14 | Strong · 9 | Strong · 12 | Absent | Emerging · 2 |
| Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. | Strong · 12 | Absent | Strong · 10 | Absent | Moderate · 6 |
| Lenovo (Beijing) Co., Ltd. | Strong · 8 | Strong · 7 | Absent | Absent | Moderate · 3 |
| Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Absent | Strong · 11 | Strong · 7 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 1,486 patent families in terahertz communication, spanning filings from 2017 through 2026 across global jurisdictions.
LG Electronics is the dominant filer with 786 patent families, roughly 9.6 times the portfolio of the second-ranked applicant, Qualcomm, which holds 82 patent families.
The field is assessed as being in the Growth stage. Recent three-year filings are 182% above the prior three-year window. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, partly due to publication lag in 2024–2026, so the multi-year growth trajectory remains positive.
Europe (EPO) leads with 551 patent records, ahead of the United States at 487 and China at 173. WIPO (PCT) and India also feature prominently.
The three dominant IPC classes are H04W (Wireless communication networks), H04L (Digital information transmission), and H04B (Transmission, general), reflecting the field’s current emphasis on protocol and channel-layer innovation for next-generation wireless systems.
G06N (AI models, 73 patent records) and H01Q (Antennas, 63 patent records) are the most technically motivated adjacent branches with relatively low coverage. G01S (Radar and positioning, 50 records) is a third area worth monitoring, particularly given sensing-communication integration trends.
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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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