Verifiable Credential Formats Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Verifiable credential format patents: who holds the core claims and where the field is still open
39.0% concentration at the top. The top 5 assignees combined hold 69 of 177 records in scope — a leader at 17 filings, then a long tail of single-filing entrants. Annual filings rose from 6 records in 2017 to a peak of 36 in 2025, with 2021-2024 alone showing a 78% increase from 9 to 16 records. The 2026 figure of 14 is a partial year and should not be read as a slowdown; publication lag means the true 2025-2026 totals will keep rising as more records surface.
- 1THALES DIS FRANCE SA17
- 2KL DATA SECURITY PTY LTD16
- 3INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION15
- 4SEALANCE CORP15
- 5SITA ADVANCED TRAVEL SOLUTIONS LTD6
See the full verifiable credential formats analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Frequently asked questions
How many patents exist for verifiable credential formats?
This dataset contains 177 published records in scope, covering filings from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off date. That figure includes documents matching search terms for selective disclosure, holder binding, blind signature, credential revocation and related mechanisms. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true count for the most recent one to two years will be higher than currently shown once later filings publish.
Who are the leading patent holders in verifiable credential formats?
The ranking is led by a single assignee with 17 records, with the top 5 assignees combined holding 39.0% of all 177 records in scope. Past the top 10 (53.1% combined), the field spreads into a long tail of entrants with only one or a few filings each. This shape means the core credential-issuance and binding mechanisms are contested at the top, while many implementation details remain open to newer filers.
What patent classes cover verifiable credential technology?
The dominant IPC subclass is H04L (digital information transmission), appearing in 73.4% of the 177 records, followed by G06F (electric digital data processing) at 49.2% and G06Q (business, commerce and admin processing) at 35.6%. Smaller but distinct classes include G06K (data recognition and presentation), G07F (vending and kiosk apparatus), G16H (healthcare informatics), G09C (ciphering) and G06N (AI-based computing). Because a record can carry multiple classes, these shares do not sum to 100%.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Verifiable Credential Formats covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.