SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France, 21 November 2025 │ KnowMade is pleased to announce the release of its Q3 2025 GaN Patent Monitor, providing an in-depth analysis of global intellectual property (IP) activity in the gallium nitride (GaN) industry. This new edition highlights major Q3 2025 GaN innovation trends, the evolving competitive IP landscape, and the technological advances shaping future power and RF electronics.
As GaN technology continues to gain momentum in power conversion, RF devices, electric mobility, and next-generation consumer electronics, timely and precise IP intelligence is essential for anticipating competitors’ moves and securing strategic positioning. This quarterly monitor delivers exactly that.
Global IP Dynamics Highlight Surging Innovation Activity
The Q3 2025 patent landscape confirms GaN’s accelerating industrial expansion. During the quarter, 599 new patent families were published, maintaining a high innovation pace. Notably, 70% of these inventions originated from Chinese players, demonstrating China’s continued drive to lead GaN development.
A detailed application-based breakdown reveals strong momentum in power electronics:
- 376 new patent families targeted power applications, significantly outpacing RF technologies.
- 107 patent families focused on RF applications.
- Over 110 patent families addressed multiple application fields, reflecting the transversal relevance of GaN materials and devices.
This sustained IP flow illustrates the robust global interest in GaN technologies across energy efficiency, fast-charging systems, EV powertrains, telecom infrastructure, and high-frequency components, all central drivers of Q3 2025 GaN innovation.
Key Players, Newcomers, and Breakthrough Innovations
Newcomers Joining the GaN IP Landscape
Q3 2025 saw a high number of IP newcomers filing their first GaN-electronics-related patents, most of them being Chinese companies. Several notable non-Chinese new entrants introduced meaningful contributions:
- Alpsemi (France) disclosed a high-voltage HEMT epitaxial structure dedicated to advanced power conversion.
- SK Foundry introduced a GaN transistor structure designed to mitigate current collapse, improving device reliability.
- Atomera (USA) unveiled a superlattice structure enabling enhanced stress and strain control in GaN-on-Si epitaxy while facilitating self-separation from the growth substrate — a key manufacturing advantage.
Breakthrough Collaborative Innovation
A standout highlight of Q3 2025 GaN innovation is a prominent US-based academic-military collaboration between the University of California, University of Maryland, University of Virginia, and the US Navy. The partners introduced carbide “phonon bridge layers,” engineered to reduce thermal boundary resistance between an integrated diamond heat spreader and an AlGaN HEMT. This development could unlock dramatic improvements in GaN device thermal management.
Strengthening IP Positions Among Established Players
Q3 2025 also recorded 426 patent families being granted for the first time, confirming the competitive consolidation of the GaN ecosystem:
- Over 230 newly granted families concerned power applications, versus 90 for RF.
- Around 100 newly granted families covered multi-application inventions.
Among power GaN market players, Infineon stands out as the quarter’s strongest GaN IP performer, securing 15 newly granted patent families, well ahead of Innoscience (7) and Rohm (3). Infineon’s newly granted patents span GaN transistors, manufacturing methods, low-inductance packaging, power ICs, and DC/DC converter-based systems.
Major foundries also reinforced their IP position:
- UMC obtained 8 granted patents.
- TSMC and GlobalFoundries each strengthened their IP portfolios with 3 additional granted patent families.
This competitive dynamic underscores a rapidly maturing industry in which both integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and foundries are investing heavily in foundational GaN technologies.
A Strategic Tool for R&D, IP, and Market Intelligence Teams
KnowMade’s GaN Patent Monitoring Service is designed for innovation-driven companies navigating the fast-evolving GaN ecosystem. Updated quarterly, it enables R&D managers, IP departments, business strategists, and investment teams to:
- Track GaN innovation trends and anticipate future technology shifts
- Identify key competitors and newcomers entering the GaN space
- Monitor patenting strategies, portfolio expansions, and emerging collaboration patterns
- Detect disruptive technologies early
- Strengthen IP-driven strategic decision-making
With detailed patent-level insights, technical classifications, and competitor profiling, the monitor provides the clarity needed to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.
KnowMade supports companies in building robust IP strategies to secure innovation leadership across power electronics, RF devices, semiconductor materials, and packaging technologies.
Press contact
contact@knowmade.fr
Le Drakkar, 2405 route des Dolines, 06560 Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, France
www.knowmade.com
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.