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Who owns quantum computing patents is no longer an idle question: the field now spans 17,514 patent families, and ownership is startlingly concentrated. A handful of companies — led by IBM — control nearly half of it, and that concentration shapes who can build, sell and raise money in quantum. This is the 2026 ownership ranking, drawn from published landscape data and the EPO’s own statistics, and what the numbers mean for anyone entering the field.
Who Owns Quantum Computing Patents? The 2026 Leaderboard
The short answer to who owns quantum computing patents is IBM, and it is not close. On PatSnap’s 2026 landscape data, IBM holds 4,388 patent families — more than 1.8 times second-placed Google. The top five owners together hold roughly 48% of the ranked field, so the market is dominated by a small tier of very large estates rather than a broad spread of small owners.
| Rank | Owner | Patent families |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IBM | 4,388 |
| 2 | 2,385 | |
| 3 | Microsoft | 1,175 |
| 4 | Origin Quantum (Hefei) | 1,135 |
| 5 | D-Wave Systems | 975 |
| 6 | Northrop Grumman | 761 |
| 7 | Baidu | 643 |
| 8 | IonQ | 546 |
| 9 | Fujitsu | 485 |
| 10 | Rigetti | 428 |
The drop between tiers is as telling as the ranks themselves. The gap from IBM to Google is larger than the entire portfolio of any owner outside the top two, and the fall from fifth-placed D-Wave (975) to sixth-placed Northrop Grumman (761) marks the edge of the leading pack. Below the top ten, counts thin out quickly — Intel, for instance, sits around 428 families in eleventh.
IBM’s Commanding Lead Across the Whole Stack
IBM’s 4,388 families do not sit in one corner of the field. They span quantum algorithms, superconducting hardware and quantum error correction, which is what makes the portfolio so formidable: a competitor working almost anywhere in gate-model quantum computing runs into IBM prior art somewhere. That breadth is deliberate. IBM has filed steadily for over a decade and treats patents as part of its roadmap rather than an afterthought.
The practical effect is coverage depth. Where most owners have a cluster of patents around a specific technique, IBM has layered filings — foundational method claims plus narrower implementation claims — across the superconducting-qubit approach that currently leads the industry. For a new entrant, that means IBM is almost always the first portfolio to chart in any freedom-to-operate review.
Google, Microsoft and the Chasing Pack
Google is the clear number two with 2,385 families, and its recent filing has centred on its “Willow” chip — error-correcting-code implementations and the feedback-control loops that stabilise qubits. Google patents where it demonstrates, so its estate tracks the milestones it publishes.
Microsoft, third with 1,175 families, has concentrated on a different bet: topological qubits and the software and control layers around them. Its portfolio reflects a longer-horizon hardware strategy paired with heavy investment in the quantum development stack. Together, IBM, Google and Microsoft account for the overwhelming majority of Western quantum patenting.
China’s Quantum Patent Surge
Two of the top seven owners are Chinese. Origin Quantum, based in Hefei, holds 1,135 families — fourth overall — and Baidu holds 643. Their rise reflects a broader national push: China files heavily at home, and its owners have climbed the global ranking fast over the last five years. Anyone assessing who owns quantum computing patents has to read the field as genuinely global, not a two-country race.
The geographic split matters for strategy. Much of the Chinese filing concentrates in the domestic office, so its blocking effect depends on where a competitor actually sells. A product shipping only in the US and Europe faces a different subset of the field than one targeting Asia.
The Pure-Play Hardware Makers
Beyond the tech giants, the ranking is rounded out by companies whose entire business is quantum. D-Wave (975 families) built its estate around quantum annealing. Northrop Grumman (761) reflects deep defence-sector investment. Among the gate-model pure-plays, IonQ (546) leads on trapped-ion technology, Rigetti (428) on superconducting systems, and Japan’s Fujitsu (485) spans hardware and quantum-inspired computing.
- D-Wave — 975 families: the deepest portfolio in quantum annealing, a distinct architecture from the gate model.
- IonQ — 546 families: the leading trapped-ion estate, a different qubit modality with its own IP space.
- Rigetti — 428 families: a superconducting pure-play filing directly against the approach IBM and Google dominate.
- Fujitsu — 485 families: hardware plus quantum-inspired digital-annealer patents.
How Fast the Field Is Growing
Ownership is a moving target because the field is filing faster every year. The EPO and OECD reported in December 2025 that international patent families across quantum technologies grew roughly sevenfold between 2005 and 2024, at a compound annual growth rate near 20% since 2014 — against about 2% across all technologies. Quantum computing specifically has grown nearly twentyfold in a decade and overtook quantum communication as the most active area in 2022.
Annual filings in the landscape data climbed from about 843 families in 2017 to a peak of 3,113 in 2023, with the most recent years under-counted because of publication lag. Geographically the US is the densest jurisdiction — around 10,300 of the records are US filings, against roughly 3,631 at the EPO — so where a patent is held is as important as who holds it.
Patent Count Is Not the Same as Patent Value
A family count answers who owns quantum computing patents, but not whose patents matter most. Raw counts reward volume; they do not weigh how foundational or how cited a portfolio is. On the citation-impact measure — how often other patents reference a portfolio — the leaders are IBM, Google, Microsoft and IonQ, which is a slightly different list from the pure count ranking and tells you where the field itself thinks the important work sits.
That distinction changes strategy. A owner with fewer but heavily cited families can exert more blocking power than a larger but shallower estate, and a value-weighted read often reorders the table — just as it does in wireless, where a company can lead on declared counts yet trail on quality. For anyone pricing a portfolio, raising on the strength of one, or clearing a product against it, the right question is not only how many families an owner holds but how essential and how defensible those families are. Counts start the analysis; they do not finish it.
What the Concentration Means for New Entrants
When half the field sits with five owners and a quarter of the leaders’ families belong to one company, entering quantum is less about avoiding thousands of scattered patents and more about clearing a few concentrated estates. That is good news and bad news: the risk is high per portfolio, but it is also addressable, because a focused freedom-to-operate review can chart the dominant owners first and resolve most exposure deliberately.
We walk through exactly how that is done — scoping the field to in-force claims and designing around the blocking ones — in our quantum computing freedom-to-operate case study, and we offer it as a service through our freedom to operate analysis and quantum computing patent intelligence work. For how the ownership picture is shifting over time, see our analysis of quantum computing patent trends, and for the comparable story in wireless, who owns the 5G patents.
How PerspireIP Can Help
At PerspireIP, our team helps innovators and businesses protect what they build. Whether you need a patent or trademark search, prior-art analysis, or an IP strategy tailored to your goals, we can help. Contact our team to discuss your next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns the most quantum computing patents?
IBM owns the most, with about 4,388 patent families on PatSnap’s 2026 landscape data — more than 1.8 times second-placed Google’s 2,385. Microsoft (1,175), China’s Origin Quantum (1,135) and D-Wave (975) complete the top five.
How concentrated is quantum computing patent ownership?
Very. The field spans 17,514 patent families, and the top five owners hold roughly 48% of the ranked portfolios. Ownership is dominated by a small tier of large estates rather than spread across many small owners.
Are Chinese companies major quantum patent owners?
Yes. Origin Quantum, based in Hefei, ranks fourth globally with 1,135 families, and Baidu holds 643. Much of their filing is domestic, so the blocking effect depends on where a competitor sells.
How fast is quantum computing patenting growing?
The EPO and OECD found quantum patent families grew about sevenfold from 2005 to 2024, near a 20% annual rate since 2014. Quantum computing specifically grew nearly twentyfold in a decade and became the most active area in 2022.
What does patent concentration mean for a quantum startup?
It means freedom-to-operate risk is concentrated in a few owners rather than scattered. A focused FTO review can chart the dominant portfolios first — IBM, Google, Microsoft — and resolve most exposure through design-arounds or licensing deliberately, before launch.