SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France – October 2, 2026 │ KnowMade’s Q2 2026 Lateral Power GaN Patent Monitor is now available, providing an updated view of inventions, patent grants and emerging players across the power GaN supply chain. The quarter was led by industrial patent assignees, while several Chinese universities maintained a strong presence in GaN power device innovation.
Around 500 power GaN inventions published in Q2 2026
Around 500 patent families were published in the power GaN patent landscape during Q2 2026, and approximately 300 patent families received a grant for the first time. At the individual patent level, around 800 new patents were granted. Meanwhile, close to 120 patent families had patents that expired or were abandoned by their assignees.
Assignees focused their patent protection efforts primarily on China and the United States. Europe and South Korea also showed positive filing dynamics during the quarter, in contrast with Japan and Taiwan.
Across the supply chain, newly published inventions concentrated on power GaN devices, particularly enhancement-mode transistors, and on circuits and applications incorporating these devices. Thermal management remained a recurring technical theme, spanning wafers, devices, packaging, modules and circuits.
Power GaN patent landscape: Leading companies and newcomers in Q2 2026
In power GaN devices, Innoscience stood out for its newly published and newly granted inventions. Measured by the number of individual patents newly granted during the quarter, however, Innoscience, Texas Instruments and Samsung reached similar levels. Among academic assignees, UESTC and Xidian University showed strong device IP activity; UESTC has also recently accelerated its filings related to circuits and applications.
Upstream, WaveLord led wafer and epiwafer activity by both newly published and newly granted patent families. Its number of newly granted individual patents also placed it ahead of Soitec, Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor and Siltronic in this segment.
In packaging and modules, Nexperia and Mitsubishi Electric shared the lead in newly published and newly granted patent families. Further downstream, automotive companies were prominent among the most active assignees for circuits and applications, including General Motors, Volkswagen, Marelli and Bosch, alongside Infineon.
Figure 1: The chart compares newly published and newly granted patent families; bubble size represents the patent families analyzed during the quarter.
The landscape also gained around 100 new entrants, approximately 70% of them being Chinese companies. Roughly 75% of newcomers entered through circuits and applications, the most downstream part of the power GaN supply chain. This includes all identified newcomers from the United States—four companies and one state-backed organization—and Europe—two universities and three companies.
Follow power GaN IP developments quarter by quarter
KnowMade’s Power GaN Patent Monitor helps R&D, IP and strategy teams follow changes across the power GaN supply chain. By bringing together new publications, first grants, patents that have expired or been abandoned, geographic filing strategies and emerging assignees, the Q2 2026 update provides a structured basis for tracking competitors and identifying shifts in technical focus.
The quarter’s results show why continuous monitoring matters: leadership changes depending on whether the analysis concerns devices, wafers, packaging or downstream applications—and whether it measures inventions or individual patent grants. Contact KnowMade to learn more about the Q2 2026 Power GaN Patent Monitor and its findings.
Press contact
contact@knowmade.fr
Le Drakkar, 2405 route des Dolines, 06560 Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, France
www.knowmade.com
About the author
Rémi Comyn, PhD. works at KnowMade as Senior Analyst in the field of Compound Semiconductors and Electronics. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (France) in partnership with CRHEA-CNRS (Sophia-Antipolis, France) and the University of Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada). Rémi previously worked in compound semiconductors research laboratory as Research 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.