China Is Now Driving RF GaN Patenting

The RF GaN market is experiencing impressive growth, driven by telecom and military applications. Market research firm Yole predicts a GaN RF market increase from $740 million in 2019 to more than $2 billion in 2025, with a CAGR of 12 percent. As the market has grown, a change has occurred RF GaN patenting: activity is now focused on China.

In its latest RF GaN patent landscape report, covering everything from epitaxial
structures to RF semiconductor devices, circuits, packages, modules and systems,
Yole sister company Knowmade has analysed more than 6,300 patents,
representing more than 3,000 patent families (inventions) filed by more than 500
different organisations. “This 2020 edition comprises two times more patent
families and more than 100 new players compared to the 2019 edition”, says
Nicolas Baron, CEO and co-founder of Knowmade.

The first RF GaN patent applications were filed in the 1990s. The level of
activity took off in 2004 and accelerated significantly from 2015. Today,
the IP dynamics are driven by two major factors: (1) China, and (2) the
shift of IP further down the value chain.

Chinese patenting activity has been accelerating since 2015. Over the
last two years, we witnessed a remarkable increase in patents coming
from China and many Chinese newcomers entering the RF GaN IP
landscape. In 2019-2020, the Chinese organisations represented more
than 40 percent of the patent applicants (Americans = 23 percent,
Japanese = 10 percent, Europeans = 3 percent).

“The rise in RF GaN patents from Chinese companies follows a more general trend
as the country transitions from a manufacturing to an innovation-driven economy”,
says Nicolas Baron. “This trend also reflects the situation in the RF industry, with a
Chinese market that shows exploding demand for commercial wireless telecom
applications and Chinese companies already developing next-gen telecom
networks. Moreover, following the US-China trade war, numerous China-based
companies are trying to develop GaN RF for 5G infrastructures internally”, he adds.

The RF GaN patent landscape is currently dominated by American and Japanese
companies such as Cree, Fujitsu, Sumitomo Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Intel,
MACOM, Toshiba, Qorvo and Raytheon. The IP competition has been stronger in
the US, as demonstrated by a much higher number of granted patents (1,200+) in
contrast with China (640+), Japan (440+) and Europe (250+). However, the
patenting activity is now focused on China.

Cree has the stronger IP position thanks to numerous fundamental patents,
especially for GaN-on-SiC technology. Over the past 5 years, inventive activity at
Cree, Sumitomo Electric and Toshiba stalled. These IP leaders have developed
broad patent portfolios covering a wide range of RF GaN technology nodes. “The
reduced IP activity could be a sign of confidence in their already robust RF GaN
patent portfolio”, comments Nicolas Baron.

Intel and Macom have strongly increased their IP activity since 2017, especially for
GaN-on-Silicon technology. Intel is currently the most active patent applicant in the
RF GaN field, with a record-high level of activity of patenting new inventions over
the last couple of years which could, down the road, position it ahead of Sumitomo
Electric, Fujitsu or Cree in terms of IP leadership.

In China, CETC and Xidian University have the most prolific inventive activity.
Other players such as HiWafer, Dynax, Hanhua and China's top public research
entities UEST, IMECAS, SCUT and Institute of Semiconductors have built sizeable
RF GaN IP portfolios, and numerous new players are entering the IP landscape
(Boxin, Reactor Microelectronics, TUS - Semiconductor, Hatchip, Nexgo, Bosemi,
HC Semitek, A-INFO, RDW, Chippacking, China Mobile, Gaxtrem, etc.).“The China
IP rise should be taken seriously as it changes the landscape in which
international companies operate”, says Nicolas Baron.

While China currently emphasises quantity over quality, many RF GaN patents
from top Chinese organisations are up to international quality standards (CETC,
Xidian University, HiWafer, Dynax, etc.). Furthermore, some Chinese companies
which have global ambitions are filing or acquiring patents in key countries (Dynax,
Hanhua, Zhuhai Crystal Resonance, ZTE, Huawei, CCT, Nexgo). Foreign
companies are also now increasingly applying for patent protection in China
(Mitsubishi Electric, NXP). For domestic or foreign businesses operating in China,
this increases the risk of patent infringement which also becomes hard to manage.

European RF players Thales, BAE Systems, Infineon, Ampleon, Ericsson, etc. are
only playing a small part in the current RF GaN IP dynamics. In Taiwan, the
foundries Win Semiconductors, TSMC and GlobalWafers entered the RF GaN IP
landscape first in the mid-2010s, followed by others such as VIS and Wavetek in
2018. South Korean entities are not very active in terms of patent filings. ETRI
continued to file few new patents every year over the past decade. In 2016, RFHIC
acquired GaN-on-Diamond-related patents from Element Six, then we observed
the entry of Wavice, U-Tel and Wavepia more recently.

Over the last few years, the level of creativity to address all the technology and
manufacturing roadblocks for GaN RF devices has been impressive.

“More recently, IP developments are accelerating on topics further down the value
chain to address manufacturing and technology issues related to monolithic
integration, packaging, RF circuits and modules/systems. This trend is expected to
accelerate as more mature RF products implement GaN technology”, affirms
Nicolas Baron. The current patenting activity suggests that manufacturing and
technology issues still need to be solved in monolithic integration of different RF
semiconductor devices; thermal management at epi-stack, semiconductor device
and package levels; linearity at semiconductor device and circuit levels; and
protection, matching and distortion compensation at circuit level.

GaN-related patenting activity is prolific; more and more players are entering the
playground and the GaN IP landscape is evolving. On the one hand, some GaN
startups and pure-play companies remain on the lookout for promising business
opportunities and are developing transversal GaN IP portfolios to address not only
RF applications but also power electronics.GaN on diamond will do a lot.

On the other hand, RF companies from outside the GaN industry, and OEMs, are
seeking to take leading positions on RF GaN by developing patents claiming the
use of GaN technology in RF modules/systems. There are now enough companies
with transversal portfolios, and enough enforceable patents worldwide which
address most technology issues in the whole value chain, to say that the
freedom-to-operate of practicing entities is shrinking, and to predict that complex
licensing and legal battles will likely arise once GaN RF devices enter the
high-volume commercial markets.

Now the questions are: will Chinese IP shape the future of the GaN RF industry?
And which IP owners will be the GaN RF leaders in the 5G, post-COVID world?