Lithium-ion batteries are integral to modern life, powering our smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles and countless other gadgets and devices. As the world moves towards renewable energy and electric transportation, the demand for better performing and cheaper lithium-ion batteries is skyrocketing.
Patent analysis reveals that South Korean companies are likely to dominate the lithium-ion battery patent landscape in the near future, surpassing Chinese, Japanese and US firms in both quantity and quality.
Analysis of patent filings and grants provides a window into R&D activities and technological competitiveness. However, studies show that only 20 to 40% of all patents have commercial value. For this reason, in addition to quantity metrics, the Patent Asset Index was applied as a quality measure to investigate market forces in this space.
Analytics show that the global lithium-ion battery invention space has expanded massively in terms of portfolio size and strength over the past 20 years – both have increased 14-fold. The rising gap between the quantity and the quality line suggests that the average quality of lithium-ion patents has increased over time and is indicative of a technology race to improve battery performance.
Through heavy R&D investment and high-quality patenting, South Korea has moved from a portfolio strength contribution of only 8% in 2004 to 31% at the end of 2023. China''s aggressive increase in the relative share of portfolio strength is also noteworthy, especially in recent years. South Korea and China show similar dynamics in development of strength and are evolving faster than Japan, with Germany and the United States progressing at an even slower rate.
South Korea''s rise to becoming a key player in this space has been steady but rapid. If this trend continues, the country is likely to take the top position from Japan very soon; we will, at least, see a highly competitive head-to-head race between China, Japan and South Korea within the next few years.
The analysis further highlights that leading Korean companies like LG Chem and Samsung SDI have strong positions in both metrics – quantity (a-axis) and average quality (y-axis) – contributing to an overall increase of their portfolio strength (bubble size) of patents over time (see Figure 3). LG Chem has the largest and strongest patent portfolio, while CATL''s portfolio has the highest average patent quality (competitive impact).
There are several promising South Korean firms among the top 100 players. LG Chem and Samsung SDI have built large high-quality patent portfolios that continue to expand, which defies the trend of patent quality decreasing as portfolios grow – Hyundai Motor and Kia have seen their patent quality decline slightly in recent years as their portfolio sizes increase. However, Samsung, Posco and Ecopro are demonstrating impressive momentum. Despite having smaller patent portfolios, they have rapidly increased patent quality in the past few years.
With both veteran and emerging innovators, South Korea is well represented in the top 100 global lithium-ion battery patent holders. The country appears to have a diverse base of companies driving progress in this critical technology.
These technological advances strongly align with several of the UN''s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Lithium-ion innovation is incredibly relevant for SDG 9 (building resilient infrastructure and promoting sustainable industrialisation) and SDG 13 (urgent climate change action). Widespread adoption of lithium-ion storage supports expanded renewable energy and electric transportation, helping to curb emissions.
Lithium-ion patents also contribute to SDG 7 (ensuring access to affordable and clean energy) and SDG 12 (responsible production and consumption). By driving progress in green energy and electric vehicles, lithium-ion patent holders play a key role in sustainable development and have the potential to accelerate the global transition to an equitable low-carbon future, which supports the UN''s 2030 agenda.
With lithium-ion batteries sitting at the heart of this global energy transition, leadership in this space yields major economic and competitive advantages. Japan and South Korea''s battery companies appear poised to leverage their hard-won patent dominance into further success.
While large patent portfolios grab attention, smaller players can also drive meaningful innovation. For example, Posco, Ecopro and Daejoo Electronic Materials have relatively modest lithium-ion battery patent holdings, but analysis of quality benchmarks (eg, the Patent Asset Index) reveals that these companies are rapidly increasing patent competitiveness.
By only assessing portfolio size, it is easy to overlook threats from focused players that are making quantum leaps through high-impact R&D. Tracking quality indicators exposes the rising stars – even those with smaller portfolios.
A holistic and nuanced analysis that considers both patent quantity and quality will provide a more accurate map of the competitive landscape. This will foreground genuine technology frontrunners and hidden IP disruptors, regardless of portfolio size.
High-capacity anode materials such as silicon are essential for creating high-energy density lithium-ion batteries; they can offer at least 10 times the capacity of graphite or other anode materials now available. The challenge here is that the volume expansion of high-capacity anode materials during the reaction with lithium poses a threat to battery performance and stability. To mitigate this issue, researchers have been investigating polymer binders that can effectively control the volumetric expansion.
However, research to date has focused solely on chemical crosslinking and hydrogen bonding. Chemical crosslinking involves covalent bonding between binder molecules, making them solid but has a fatal flaw: once broken, the bonds cannot be restored. On the other hand, hydrogen bonding is a reversible secondary bonding between molecules based on electronegativity differences, but its strength (10-65 kJ/mol) is relatively weak.
Professor Soojin Park explained, "The research holds the potential to significantly increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries through the incorporation of high-capacity anode materials, thereby extending the driving range of electric vehicles. Silicon-based anode materials could potentially increase driving range at least tenfold."
This study was conducted with the support from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Nano-Material Technology Development Program, and the National Research Laboratory for Future Technology of Korea.
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