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)
#	Company	HQ	Patents	Focus Areas
1	Huawei	🇨🇳 CN	2,847	Massive MIMO, THz
2	Samsung	🇰🇷 KR	2,391	AI-RAN, mmWave
3	Qualcomm	🇺🇸 US	1,876	Spectrum sharing, modem
4	Nokia	🇫🇮 FI	1,654	Open RAN, NTN
5	Ericsson	🇸🇪 SE	1,521	Cloud RAN, network slicing
6	LG Electronics	🇰🇷 KR	1,203	V2X, RIS
7	ZTE	🇨🇳 CN	1,087	Massive MIMO, core network
8	Intel	🇺🇸 US	934	Edge compute, vRAN
9	NTT DoCoMo	🇯🇵 JP	812	HAPS, THz
10	Apple	🇺🇸 US	756	mmWave, modem design
11	MediaTek	🇹🇼 TW	698	NR-NTN, Wi-Fi 7/8
12	InterDigital	🇺🇸 US	645	Standards-essential patents
13	Sharp	🇯🇵 JP	589	RIS, antenna design
14	CATT/Datang	🇨🇳 CN	534	TD-LTE evolution, 6G core
15	Panasonic	🇯🇵 JP	478	IoT, industrial wireless
16	Xiaomi	🇨🇳 CN	423	Device-side, AI optimization
17	OPPO	🇨🇳 CN	398	Device antenna, NR
18	Sony	🇯🇵 JP	367	Sensing, imaging over wireless
19	Fujitsu	🇯🇵 JP	312	Photonics, O-RAN
20	Deutsche Telekom	🇩🇪 DE	287	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

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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.

6G/7G Patent Landscape

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