ChinaCATL has the largest portfolio of battery patent families in the world, ahead of South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, according to data released on 6 October by the intellectual-property consultancy PatSnap and reported by CarNewsChina. Over the period from October 2016 to September 2026, CATL holds 26,574 simple patent families to LG Energy Solution’s 22,597, a lead of about 3,900.
What a simple patent family counts
A simple patent family groups identical inventions filed in different countries or regions into one entry. A battery maker that files the same cell design in China, Europe and the US therefore counts once, which makes the family total a closer measure of distinct inventions than a raw patent count. We have not seen the PatSnap report itself, so every figure here is as CarNewsChina reported it.
CATL’s patent count by area
Counted as individual patents rather than families, CATL holds 27,402 in battery technology, and 16,722 of them (61%) were filed in the last three years. Of the total, 19,539 cover power batteries for vehicles. In solid-state batteries CATL holds 3,538, which the report says is more than double the next-ranked Chinese competitor; it does not name that company.
Patent counts measure how much a company has filed, not how well its cells perform. CATL’s recent results, including its first-quarter profit, say more about what that portfolio is worth commercially.
