6G/7G Patent Landscape

Who Owns the Future of Wireless?

Updated April 2026
~15,000 Patents Tracked
20 Companies
8 Countries
+34% YoY Growth Rate
Top 20 companies by 6G/7G patent filings (2020–2025)
#CompanyHQPatentsShareFocus Areas
1Huawei🇨🇳 CN2,847
Massive MIMO, THz
2Samsung🇰🇷 KR2,391
AI-RAN, mmWave
3Qualcomm🇺🇸 US1,876
Spectrum sharing, modem
4Nokia🇫🇮 FI1,654
Open RAN, NTN
5Ericsson🇸🇪 SE1,521
Cloud RAN, network slicing
6LG Electronics🇰🇷 KR1,203
V2X, RIS
7ZTE🇨🇳 CN1,087
Massive MIMO, core network
8Intel🇺🇸 US934
Edge compute, vRAN
9NTT DoCoMo🇯🇵 JP812
HAPS, THz
10Apple🇺🇸 US756
mmWave, modem design
11MediaTek🇹🇼 TW698
NR-NTN, Wi-Fi 7/8
12InterDigital🇺🇸 US645
Standards-essential patents
13Sharp🇯🇵 JP589
RIS, antenna design
14CATT/Datang🇨🇳 CN534
TD-LTE evolution, 6G core
15Panasonic🇯🇵 JP478
IoT, industrial wireless
16Xiaomi🇨🇳 CN423
Device-side, AI optimization
17OPPO🇨🇳 CN398
Device antenna, NR
18Sony🇯🇵 JP367
Sensing, imaging over wireless
19Fujitsu🇯🇵 JP312
Photonics, O-RAN
20Deutsche Telekom🇩🇪 DE287
Network architecture, slicing
Country Breakdown
China 5,289 patents
35%
South Korea 3,594 patents
24%
USA 3,211 patents
21%
Japan 2,558 patents
17%
Europe 462 patents
3%
💡
Key Insight — 2025

Patent filings in 6G-related technologies grew 34% in 2025, with THz communications and AI-native RAN leading growth. China holds the largest share by volume, but the US and South Korea lead in AI-related wireless patents — particularly in AI-RAN architecture and spectrum intelligence.

Explore More

Standards Tracker 3GPP, ITU, IEEE progress on 6G specs Ecosystem Map 40+ companies by segment and region Funding Tracker VC investment rounds in 6G startups 6G Country Race 10 countries and their R&D budgets