SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France – July 22, 2026 │ KnowMade has released its Q2 2026 update of the Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor, providing an updated view of worldwide intellectual property activity across solid-state Li-ion battery cells, packs, electrodes, solid electrolyte materials and associated manufacturing technologies.
More than 2,250 new patent families related to solid-state Li-ion batteries were published during the quarter. Established IP leaders continued to reinforce their portfolios, while several companies (including CATL, Gotion, POSCO and Chery Automobile) substantially intensified their patenting activity compared with the quarterly averages observed in 2025.
The Q2 2026 data reveal different strategic priorities among these fast-growing applicants. CATL is building a geographically broad portfolio centered primarily on battery cells, whereas Gotion remains more focused on China and is particularly active in solid electrolytes and their integration into electrodes. Posco is expanding internationally with support from South Korea’s research ecosystem, while Chery Automobile is rapidly developing a China-centered portfolio covering electrolytes, electrodes and battery cells.
At the same time, more than 750 solid-state Li-ion battery patent families reached the granted stage, confirming the progressive maturation of intellectual property portfolios across the sector.
More Than 2,250 Solid-state Li-ion battery Patent Applications in Q2 2026
Asian battery and automotive groups dominate new patent publications
Samsung was one of the leading patent applicants in Q2 2026, with its activity standing 76% above its average quarterly level for 2025. Other established solid-state Li-ion battery IP leaders also maintained or increased their activity, including Toyota at +35%, Nissan at +24%, Geely at +46%, and LG Chem/LG Energy Solution at +2%.
However, the most pronounced changes came from CATL, Gotion, Posco and Chery Automobile. Compared with their respective quarterly averages for 2025, CATL increased its patenting activity by 430%, Gotion by 173%, POSCO by 358% and Chery Automobile by 561%.
These percentages measure activity relative to each company’s own average quarterly value in 2025. They should therefore be interpreted as indicators of acceleration rather than direct comparisons of absolute portfolio size. Nevertheless, the scale of the increases shows that several major Chinese and South Korean players are assigning substantially greater importance to solid-state Li-ion battery patents.
Toyota, Samsung, LG Energy Solution, Panasonic/Sanyo, CATL, Gotion and Nissan remain among the principal solid-state Li-ion battery IP leaders. Their Q2 2026 activity indicates that established assignees continue to strengthen their positions, although with markedly different levels of intensity.
Granted portfolios continue to expand
Source: Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor
In addition to newly published applications, KnowMade identified more than 750 newly granted solid-state Li-ion battery patent families during Q2 2026.
LG Chem/LG Energy Solution led the principal assignees in this category, with its number of new granted families standing 53% above its 2025 quarterly average. Panasonic/Sanyo recorded an increase of 31%, Samsung 6%, Nissan 39%, and Renault/Ampere 76%.
Toyota remained a major owner of granted solid-state Li-ion battery patents, although its number of newly granted families during the quarter was 44% below its average quarterly value for 2025. This decrease concerns the flow of newly granted families during the period and does not imply a corresponding reduction in Toyota’s existing solid-state Li-ion battery patent portfolio.
The monitor also identified more than 80 newly dead patents, corresponding to granted rights that lapsed or expired. Monitoring these changes is essential because application and grant counts alone do not provide a complete picture of the enforceable IP landscape. Patent lapse, expiration, geographical coverage and remaining lifetime must also be considered when assessing competitive positions and freedom-to-operate conditions.
Source: Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor.
CATL, Gotion, Posco and Chery Intensify Patenting
CATL builds a worldwide solid-state Li-ion battery cell portfolio
CATL has almost doubled its number of solid-state Li-ion battery patent families since the beginning of 2026, with a particularly strong increase in Q2.
The company’s newly published patent families show a worldwide IP strategy, indicating that CATL is seeking protection beyond its domestic market. This geographical approach suggests a willingness to secure a significant IP position in solid-state Li-ion batteries and supports the hypothesis that the technology is being integrated into the company’s longer-term technological roadmap.
CATL’s newly published solid-state Li-ion battery patents are primarily related to battery cells. The company has also filed a smaller number of patent families concerning solid electrolytes and their use in electrode structures.
No patent family newly published by CATL in Q2 2026 was co-assigned with another organization. Although the absence of co-assignment does not rule out technical collaboration, it indicates that CATL has retained sole ownership of the rights covered by this quarterly selection.
Gotion concentrates on electrolytes and electrodes
Gotion has regularly increased its patenting activity in solid-state Li-ion batteries since 2022. The Q2 2026 results continue this upward trajectory, with activity 173% above the company’s average quarterly level for 2025.
Unlike CATL, Gotion’s current patenting activity remains predominantly focused on China. However, several international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty have appeared since 2025, suggesting the beginning of broader geographical protection for selected inventions.
Gotion’s new solid-state Li-ion battery patent families principally concern solid electrolytes and their integration into electrodes. A smaller proportion addresses complete battery cells and battery packs. This distribution highlights a strong emphasis on the material and component-level challenges that must be addressed before solid-state Li-ion battery architectures can be manufactured at scale.
As with CATL, none of Gotion’s patent families newly published in Q2 2026 was co-assigned.
Posco combines international protection with R&D partnerships
Posco has strongly accelerated its solid-state Li-ion battery patenting activity since 2025. In Q2 2026, its activity was 358% above its 2025 quarterly average.
Its new patent portfolio is mainly directed toward solid electrolytes and their use in electrodes, consistent with Posco’s position as a major materials supplier. Unlike Gotion’s predominantly Chinese filing profile, Posco is implementing a worldwide IP strategy for its solid-state Li-ion battery inventions.
Collaboration with the South Korean research ecosystem is also visible in the patent data. Five of Posco’s patent families newly published during Q2 2026 were co-assigned with Korean research organizations: Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), the Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
Chery Automobile rapidly expands in China
Chery Automobile has almost tripled its number of solid-state Li-ion battery patent families since the beginning of 2026. Its activity in Q2 stood 561% above its average quarterly level for 2025.
Chery’s solid-state Li-ion battery patents have so far been published exclusively in China. The company’s newly disclosed inventions mainly address solid electrolytes, the integration of these materials into electrodes, and battery-cell technologies.
The absence of foreign publications at this stage means that the available data primarily reflects a domestic IP strategy. Continued monitoring will be required to determine whether Chery intends to expand the geographical scope of its portfolio.
More Than 240 Newcomers Enter the Solid-State Li-ion Battery IP Landscape
Chinese organizations account for most new entrants
More than 240 newcomers were identified in the supplied quarterly dataset, with a large majority originating from China. This continuing influx demonstrates that solid-state Li-ion battery patents are no longer concentrated exclusively among a limited group of established battery manufacturers, automotive companies and Japanese or South Korean electronics groups.
New entrants include material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, universities, research institutes, start-ups and companies whose historical activities lie outside conventional battery-cell manufacturing. Their patent activity can reveal the emergence of new technical approaches and potential future suppliers well before commercial products reach the market.
Among the notable non-Chinese newcomers highlighted in Q2 2026 are CarbonX, Borealis, BTRY and LT Metal. Their inventions cover carbon networks, polymer electrolytes, thin-film battery manufacturing and solid-electrolyte production.
CarbonX applies interconnected carbon networks to solid-state batteries
CarbonX is a Dutch advanced-material company spun out of Delft University of Technology. The company develops structured carbon materials intended to provide an alternative to conventional natural and synthetic graphite while remaining compatible with existing lithium-ion electrode and cell-manufacturing processes.
CarbonX published one solid-state Li-ion battery patent family in Q2 2026. The invention concerns porous carbon networks comprising chemically interconnected carbon nanofibers. These networks may be used as an electrochemically active material in a solid-state Li-ion battery anode, as a cathode material in an anode-free solid-state Li-ion battery, or as a matrix material within a solid electrolyte.
Borealis develops a solid-state polymer electrolyte
Borealis, whose activities are now integrated into Borouge International following the combination of Borealis, Borouge and NOVA Chemicals in 2026, is historically active in polyolefins and base chemicals. Its battery-related products include polymer grades and concepts for battery housings, structural components and pouch-cell laminates.
In Q2 2026, Borealis published one patent family concerning a solid-state polymer electrolyte composition for electrochemical cells. The composition includes an ethylene copolymer containing at least 20 wt% of an oxygen-containing comonomer, together with at least one lithium salt.
BTRY protects thin film production processes
BTRY is a Swiss start-up founded in 2023 as a spin-off from EMPA and ETH Zurich. It is developing ultra-thin solid-state lithium-ion batteries manufactured through vacuum-deposition processes. The company targets space-constrained applications including sensors, active labels, smart cards, Internet of Things devices, wearables and medical or consumer electronics.
Two BTRY patent families were published in Q2 2026, both co-assigned with EMPA.
The first concerns a thin-film solid-state Li-ion battery and its manufacturing process. It uses targeted flash-lamp annealing to crystallize the cathode layer. The second describes the manufacture of cathode, electrolyte and battery-layer arrangements using direct-current sputtering..
LT Metal enters through solid-electrolyte manufacturing
LT Metal is a South Korean materials manufacturer established in 1974 as Heesung Metal Industry and renamed LT Metal in 2019. Its activities include precious-metal and electronic materials, electrical contacts, bonding wires, sputtering targets, brazing alloys, plating chemicals, conductive products, catalysts, and precious-metal recovery and refining.
Its established commercial exposure to batteries appears less direct than that of dedicated cell or electrode-material manufacturers. Nevertheless, the company published two patent families in Q2 2026 concerning solid-electrolyte manufacturing processes. The available patent classification does not identify a single specific solid-electrolyte chemistry as the exclusive focus of these inventions.
Monitor Solid-state Li-ion battery Patents and Competitor Strategies
Source: Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor.
The rapid expansion of solid-state Li-ion battery patent filings makes manual monitoring increasingly difficult. More than 2,250 new applications in a single quarter must be assessed not only by applicant and publication date, but also by technology, legal status, geographical coverage, patent-family structure and ownership.
KnowMade’s Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor provides continuous access to:
- New patent applications and granted patent families
- Changes in patent ownership and legal status
- Dead, lapsed and expired patent rights
- Established IP leaders and fast-growing applicants
- New entrants to the solid-state Li-ion battery landscape
- Solid electrolytes and their integration into electrodes
- Battery cells, modules and packs
- Collaborative patenting between industrial companies and research organizations
- Applicant strategies across China and international markets
Through structured patent data and regular analyst review, the service enables R&D and IP teams to identify competitors, benchmark portfolio development, detect emerging materials and processes, monitor newcomers, and investigate potential partners or acquisition targets.
As CATL, Gotion, Posco, Chery Automobile and other companies accelerate their patenting activity, quarterly monitoring provides an early view of technological priorities that may not yet be visible through product announcements or commercial deployment.
Explore the Solid-state Li-ion batteries Patent Monitor to track emerging technologies, applicants and competitive IP strategies.
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About the author
Fleur Thissandier, PhD, works as Senior patent and technology analyst at KnowMade in the field of Materials Chemistry and Energy storage. She holds a PhD in Materials Chemistry and Electrochemistry from CEA/INAC, (Grenoble, France). She also holds a Chemistry Engineering Degree from the Superior National School of Chemistry (ENSCM Montpellier, France). Fleur previously worked in battery industry as R&D Engineer.
About KnowMade
KnowMade is a technology intelligence and IP strategy firm specializing in the analysis of patents and scientific publications. We assist innovative companies, investors, and research organizations in understanding the competitive landscape, anticipating technological trends, identifying opportunities and risks, improving their R&D, and shaping effective IP strategies.
KnowMade’s analysts combine their strong technology expertise and in-depth knowledge of patents with powerful analytics tools and methodologies to transform patent and scientific data into actionable insights to support decision-making in R&D, innovation, investment, and intellectual property.
KnowMade has solid expertise in Semiconductors and Packaging, Power Electronics, Batteries and Energy Management, RF and Wireless Communications, Photonics, MEMS, Sensing and Imaging, Medical Devices, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, and Agri-Food.