1.0 Executive Summary

 

Unlocking the Multi-Billion-Dollar Quantum Computing Race

Quantum computing has reached a historic inflection point. Production systems exist today, real workloads are being run, and early demonstrations of quantum advantage have been peer-reviewed. The shift from prototypes to commercial systems is underway, with IP positioning now the decisive battleground.

The Capital Surge: Funding the Next Wave of Quantum Leaders

The sector is attracting extraordinary capital. Public quantum firms (IonQ, D-Wave, Rigetti, QCI) trade at multi-billion valuations despite minimal revenues, with 2025 alone delivering more than $2 billion in new raises. Private challengers like PsiQuantum ($750M) and Quantinuum ($300M) remain heavily funded. Investors are betting across multiple modalities, assuming that whoever wins hardware leadership will dominate trillion-dollar markets.

The Competing Paths: Multiple Modalities Racing Toward Advantage

Six core modalities – superconducting, trapped-ion, neutral-atom, photonic, silicon-spin, and annealing – offer different scaling curves. None solve speed, fidelity, and scalability simultaneously.

• Superconducting: fast and manufacturable, but short coherence
• Trapped Ion: highest fidelity, but slow
• Neutral Atom: naturally scalable, but laser-limited
• Photonic: room-temperature, but photon loss
• Silicon Spin: CMOS-compatible, but coherence challenges
• Annealing: commercial revenue today, but not universal

The Value Curve: From NISQ to Fault Tolerance

The industry will evolve in three phases:

• NISQ era (now–late 2020s): narrow use cases, $5–10B
• Quantum Advantage (~2030s): consistent outperformance, $80–170B
• Fault Tolerance (post-2040): universal computing, $450–850B

High-value early domains include simulation (drug discovery, catalysts), optimization (logistics, finance), machine learning (AI training), and cryptography/security (encryption and QKD).

The Race for Leadership: Meet the Quantum Innovators Defining the Future

This report profiles 38 companies across superconducting, trapped-ion, neutral-atom, photonic, silicon-spin, and annealing modalities. Leadership is concentrating where validated performance, platform IP, commercial adoption, and capital align.

• D-Wave: Commercial leader in quantum annealing with the largest IP estate, first to market, and hybrid quantum–classical platforms.
• Origin Quantum: China’s government-backed superconducting full-stack developer with a 72-qubit chip and extensive fabrication/control IP.
• IonQ: Trapped-ion fidelity leader with cloud distribution (AWS, Azure, Google) and broad IP in traps, lasers, and error correction.
• PsiQuantum: Silicon photonics company targeting million-qubit, fault-tolerant machines using fusion-based architectures.
• Quantinuum: Honeywell spinout with H-Series trapped-ion hardware and TKET software, focusing on chemistry, AI, and security.
• IQM: European superconducting company delivering modular, co-designed processors integrated into HPC systems.
• Rigetti Computing: Public superconducting startup developing modular QPUs and hybrid orchestration software.
• Infleqtion: Neutral-atom hardware and Superstaq software provider, with adjacencies in sensing and clocks.
• Pasqal: Neutral-atom Rydberg processor developer, reconfigurable arrays for optimization, AI, and simulation.
• Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC): Australian venture building atomically precise silicon spin qubits using CMOS processes.

The Moat That Matters: Mapping Strategic Quantum Patent Ownership

An in-depth analysis of 14,762 families from 1,743 assignees highlights the top organizations in the IP landscape:

• Corporate IP Leaders: IBM, Alphabet, Hefei Origin Quantum, Microsoft, Baidu, Intel, IonQ, Honeywell, Tencent, Huawei, Rigetti, Fujitsu, D-Wave, Alibaba, Bank of America.
• Academic IP Foundations: Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, MIT, USTC, Delft University of Technology, and other leading universities and national research centers control foundational patents and serve as licensing and spinout engines.

The Decisive Factor: From Promise to Power in Quantum Leadership

Quantum is noisy, crowded, and often over-hyped, but the IP map cuts through the confusion. The path to leadership is clear:

1. Validated results (peer-reviewed proof points)
2. Defensible IP estates aligned with core modalities
3. Capital and partnerships to scale quickly

The company that owns strong IP protecting validated technology will capture the commercial opportunity. Everything else is optional.

 

2.0 Funding & Valuations

Quantum computing is red hot in public and private markets. The pure play public names are trading at multi-billion dollar valuations. The rally is being driven by technical milestones, investor excitement about long-term potential, and the belief that whoever wins on hardware will dominate trillion-dollar industries. 

 

Public Market Comps 

 

Public Raises in 2025

In 2025, the same companies went back to investors and pulled in over $2 billion in fresh equity. IonQ raised $1 billion, D-Wave $400 million, Rigetti $350 million, and QCI $200 million. This is not survival cash. It is fuel to hire, build, and grab market share before quantum systems hit full scale.

 

 

Public Market Surge

The sector has delivered some of the biggest stock runs in tech. Investors who bought near the 2022–2023 lows have seen 10× to 65× returns.

*Since quantum pivot in 2018

 

Private Market Raises

Private funding shows the next wave of competitors is well-capitalized. Many are scale-ups building toward commercial systems, across photonics, trapped-ion, neutral atom, superconducting, and spin qubit architectures.

Why It Matters

Billions in fresh capital and surging market caps show that investors are no longer waiting for full fault-tolerant systems to arrive. Public names are using massive raises to extend their lead, and well-funded private challengers are still entering the race. Capital is chasing multiple technical paths at once, and any company that can prove a scalable advantage in a valuable domain could see its valuation explode.

3.0 Market Opportunity – Why Quantum Matters Now

Quantum computing is entering its first true commercial cycle, driven by measurable performance gains and a surge of targeted capital. Once hardware crosses critical thresholds, problems that take classical supercomputers centuries can be solved in minutes, unlocking value in industries from pharma to finance.

Proof It’s Already Starting
Peer-reviewed results from 2023–2025 now show narrow but industrially relevant quantum advantage in certain domains:

• D-Wave 2025 (Science) – Completed a programmable materials simulation in minutes that would take the Frontier supercomputer nearly one million years and the world’s annual electricity consumption – the first clear demonstration of quantum supremacy on an industrially relevant task.
• D-Wave 2023 (Nature) – Demonstrated scaling advantages on 5,000+ qubit systems for optimization-relevant problems, with related tasks running up to three million times faster than the best-known classical algorithms.
• IBM 2023 (Nature) – Achieved “utility-scale” results on a 127-qubit device using error mitigation to enter classically challenging regimes.
• Google 2023 (Nature) – Showed logical error suppression that improves with code size, a required step toward fault tolerance.
• Quantinuum 2024–2025 – Set trapped-ion performance records and demonstrated multi-logical-qubit operations, advancing error-corrected computation.

These results are domain-specific, not universal. But they prove the premise: once scale, noise, and control cross certain thresholds, the performance gap can jump from incremental to astronomical and that gap is monetizable.

 

Technical Milestones and Market Phases

The path from experimental prototypes to market dominance follows three clear stages:

Where the First Real Value Will Emerge

Early breakthroughs will cluster in four domains where quantum mechanics provides a structural advantage:

• Simulation – Molecule and material modeling for faster drug discovery, new catalysts, and advanced manufacturing.
• Optimization – Complex logistics, financial, and industrial planning where small gains create large economic returns.
• Machine Learning – Faster training and inference for complex models, enabling AI capabilities beyond current limits.
• Cryptography & Security – Breaking current encryption and creating quantum-resistant standards, with national security implications.

Estimated Market Value by Domain Once Quantum Advantage Is Achieved

Figures represent projected annual economic value creation for leading use cases in each domain once commercially viable quantum systems are deployed.

4.0 Technology Overview

What a Quantum Computer Is

A quantum computer uses quantum mechanical effects such as superposition and entanglement to perform computation. Unlike classical bits, which are strictly 0 or 1, qubits can exist in a combination of states, with probabilities shaped by algorithms to amplify correct outcomes. Once systems cross certain thresholds, they can solve specific problems orders of magnitude faster than classical supercomputers.

From Centuries to Minutes

Example of the computational gap once key thresholds are met:

This gap is not universal – it applies to problem types where quantum algorithms have structural advantages. But it defines the long-term target for all modality research.

Quantum Computing Modalities

Quantum computing is not a single technology but a set of competing hardware approaches, each with its own physical basis for creating and controlling qubits. These approaches are referred to as modalities, distinct technological pathways that aim to achieve scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computation. The leading modalities include superconducting circuits, trapped ions, neutral atoms, photonics, quantum annealing, and emerging spins-in-silicon. Each modality offers unique strengths and faces different engineering challenges, but all pursue the same goal: building systems capable of outperforming classical supercomputers on useful tasks.

Core engineering challenges apply to every modality:

• Isolation – Prevent qubits from losing state due to interference (decoherence)
• Control – Apply precise operations with minimal noise
• Connectivity – Link qubits in ways that support complex algorithms
• Error Correction – Combine many imperfect physical qubits into fewer reliable logical qubits

Progress is measured by a common set of performance metrics.

High counts without fidelity are useless; long coherence without scalability stalls progress; temperature requirements shape cost and deployment options.

How Modalities Work and Differ

All quantum computers share a quantum core, control stack, and an engineered environment to keep qubits stable. They differ in how qubits are physically implemented. The choice of modality determines operation speed, stability, and ease of scaling – and sets the path toward fault tolerance.

Representative Modalities

Comparison of Modalities by Key Metrics

Current Proof Points by Modality

While no universal, fault-tolerant system exists yet, certain modalities have already demonstrated domain-specific quantum advantage in peer-reviewed studies. These proof points show how quickly performance gaps can widen once scale, noise, and control align.

• Annealing (D-Wave) – First industrially relevant quantum supremacy claim (Science, 2025): completed a programmable materials simulation in minutes that would take the Frontier supercomputer nearly one million years and the world’s annual electricity consumption. Built on 2023 Nature results showing scaling advantages on 5,000+ qubits for optimization-relevant problems, with related tasks running up to three million times faster than the best-known classical algorithms.
• Superconducting Gate Model (IBM) – Nature, 2023: “Utility-scale” results on a 127-qubit device using error mitigation to explore classically challenging regimes.
• Superconducting Gate Model (Google) – Nature, 2023: Demonstrated logical error suppression that improves with code size, a required step toward scalable fault tolerance.
• Trapped Ion (Quantinuum) – 2024–2025: Record two-qubit fidelities, highest measured Quantum Volume, and demonstrations of multi-logical-qubit operations.
• Neutral Atoms (QuEra) – Nature, 2025: Two-dimensional programmable simulator observing string breaking in gauge theory, advancing scalability and control benchmarks for neutral-atom platforms.

These results remain domain-specific – optimization, quantum simulation, or error-corrected subroutines – but they validate the core thesis: quantum performance gains move from incremental to exponential once critical technical thresholds are crossed.

Why This Matters

No single modality has solved speed, fidelity, and scalability at once. Superconducting and trapped-ion systems lead in maturity and performance; photonics, neutral atoms, and spin qubits are attracting capital for scalability potential; annealing is delivering revenue in narrow domains.. Companies holding the strongest technology and IP positions in the winning modalities will capture the highest-value markets in quantum computing.

5.0 Competitive Landscape

 

Competitive Landscape: Who’s Positioning to Win

Quantum computing is entering a stage where leadership will be determined less by raw research output and more by the ability to secure and defend critical positions ahead of commercialization. The companies that matter now are not simply chasing qubit milestones – they are building platforms that combine intellectual property, capital, and partnerships to create lasting competitive moats.

The emerging leaders in this space understand that winning in quantum means knowing what they own, what they should own, and what they can own. They are aligning their patent portfolios, hardware architectures, and market-entry strategies so that when quantum advantage is demonstrably achieved, they will already control the high-value problem classes and architectures that matter most.

Patent activity reveals early claims across processor design, error correction, quantum networking, software integration, and domain-specific applications. This is not passive positioning – these companies are actively shaping the technical and commercial boundaries of the category. Those with the deepest, most defensible portfolios will be best positioned to dictate standards, secure enterprise adoption, and capture outsize returns as the field transitions from promise to inevitability.

The following tables rank leading public and private quantum computing companies by patent document volume, highlighting where IP strength is already concentrated and which players are making the most aggressive early claims.

 

IP LEADERBOARD

While these rankings show who controls the largest and broadest patent estates, raw volume alone does not determine competitive strength. The real advantage comes from how those patents map to commercially valuable problem classes, protect differentiated hardware approaches, and block rivals from pursuing similar architectures. In the following company profiles, we move beyond the numbers to examine each player’s technology modality, funding position, and strategic moves. This context reveals not only who is leading today, but also who is most likely to convert their IP and capital into a defendable share of the first commercial quantum markets

D-Wave
D-Wave Quantum Inc., founded in 1999 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is a public company that develops and delivers quantum computing systems, software, and services based on annealing technology. The company has raised $1.285 billion and offers products like the Advantage and Advantage 2 quantum computers, Ocean open-source tools, and the Leap quantum cloud service for real-time access to quantum hybrid solvers. Its flagship system, Advantage2, provides annealing quantum computing optimized for real-world applications such as logistics, drug discovery, and portfolio optimization. D-Wave’s disruptive approach demonstrates quantum supremacy on practical problems, with systems used by commercial enterprises and government organizations. As of 2025, D-Wave is in the commercial stage, with systems available via cloud and on-premises deployments, supported by partnerships and a Wakefield Research study on ROI. D-Wave patent portfolio includes 1338 patent publications across 262 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, JP, CN, CA, AU, KR, GB, DE. The portfolio spans 26 years, from 2000 to 2025. D‑Wave’s patents cover the full architecture of its quantum annealing processors. Core claims protect superconducting flux‑qubit networks (Chimera, Pegasus topologies), annealing schedule control, bias and coupler tuning, and tunable SQUID‑based coupling. Other filings address fabrication of superconducting circuits, cryogenic infrastructure, low‑noise control and readout electronics, automated calibration routines for large qubit arrays, and hybrid algorithms that combine classical preprocessing with quantum annealing for optimization and machine‑learning tasks. Together these filings secure the hardware, control, calibration, and software stack for D‑Wave’s quantum annealing platforms.

Origin Quantum
Origin Quantum, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hefei, China, is a private company that develops superconducting quantum chips and full-stack hardware/control systems, including cloud platforms for simulations. The company has raised $294 million, including a $148 million Series B round from the Anhui provincial government and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its flagship system, Origin Wukong, is a 72-qubit superconducting processor designed for full-stack development. Origin Quantum’s unique approach integrates scalable qubit architectures with control electronics for large-scale processors, supported by government partnerships. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with 72-qubit systems and cloud platforms available. Origin Quantum maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 1,326 patent publications across 1,234 families, with filings in CN, WO, EP, US. The portfolio spans 8 years, from 2018 to 2025. Origin Quantum’s portfolio spans all layers of a superconducting quantum computer. Claims encompass fabrication methods for superconducting qubit junctions and chip integration, probe structures and automated calibration devices for junction quality control, and architectures that integrate qubits with scalable control electronics and cryogenic signal distribution. Measurement and readout patents describe multiplexed resonator‑based state detection, low‑noise measurement chains, and pulse‑shaping routines. Algorithmic filings include quantum topology optimization, error‑correction methods, and qubit control signal optimization. Collectively the IP protects qubit devices, control and readout subsystems, fabrication workflows, and algorithmic frameworks for fault‑tolerant superconducting processors.

IonQ
IonQ, founded in 2015 and headquartered in College Park, MD, USA, is a public company that develops trapped-ion quantum computers for high-fidelity, scalable quantum computing. The company has raised $455 million, including a $350 million public offering. Its flagship system, Forte, uses trapped-ion technology for universal quantum computing. IonQ’s unique approach focuses on high-fidelity gates and cloud access via AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with systems deployed and applications in optimization and cryptography. IonQ’s intellectual property portfolio comprises 1,224 patent publications across 261 families, with filings in US, EP, WO, JP, CN, KR, GB, AU, CA, ES over 21 years (2005–2025). The portfolio focuses on trapped-ion quantum computing, covering ion trap designs, laser-based control, and quantum error correction. Key protections include RF electrode configurations, laser cooling techniques, and integrated photonic systems for scalable qubit control. Additional claims address fault-tolerant algorithms and hybrid quantum-classical workflows, ensuring broad coverage across hardware, control, and software integration for high-fidelity quantum systems.

PsiQuantum
PsiQuantum, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, USA, is a private company that develops silicon photonic quantum computing for fault-tolerant hardware systems, aiming at million-qubit scales using semiconductor fabrication processes. The company has raised $1.3 billion, including a $614 million Series E round from investors like the Australian Government, BlackRock, Microsoft M12, Mitsubishi, and GlobalFoundries. Its flagship system, Omega, leverages a photonics-based architecture with fusion-based quantum computing (FBQC) to reduce error tolerance requirements, enabling utility-scale fault-tolerant machines. PsiQuantum’s unique approach focuses on silicon photonics for scalable, manufacturable systems, with partnerships like DARPA’s US2QC program highlighting its progress toward 1 million qubits by the mid-2020s. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype/integration stage, advancing utility-scale prototypes. PsiQuantum patent portfolio includes 743 patent publications across 188 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, AU, CA, TW, KR, GB, IL, JP. The portfolio spans 11 years, from 2015 to 2025. PsiQuantum’s patents concentrate on photonic quantum computing using integrated optics. The portfolio covers fusion‑based, fault‑tolerant architectures for building large cluster states; low‑loss phase shifters and modulators; heralded photon‑pair sources and multiplexing schemes to raise source yield; and superconducting‑nanowire and photon‑number–resolving detectors. Additional claims address on‑chip photonic routing, switching and time‑bin conversion, cryogenic packaging, error‑correction schemes for fusion‑based clusters, and diamond NV/spin‑chain interfaces. Together these filings protect the device‑level photonic hardware, integrated sources, detectors and modulators, as well as the system‑level architectures and error correction needed for scalable, fault‑tolerant photonic quantum computing.

Quantinuum
Quantinuum, founded in 2021 as a Honeywell spinout and headquartered in Broomfield, CO, USA / Cambridge, UK, is a private company that develops trapped-ion hardware like the H-Series, quantum SDKs (TKET, InQuanto), the Nexus cloud platform, and quantum-as-a-service (QaaS) for hybrid quantum ecosystems. The company has raised $625 million, including a $300 million corporate round from investors like Honeywell, JPMorgan Chase, Mitsui & Co., and Amgen. Its flagship system, the Model H2, features a QCCD architecture with all-to-all connectivity for fault-tolerant universal gate sets and efficient active volume scaling. Quantinuum’s unique approach emphasizes integrated software-hardware stacks for applications in chemistry and AI, with breakthroughs like Gen QAI and NIST validation for its RNG. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with H-Series systems deployed and commercial apps advancing. Quantinuum maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 410 patent publications across 188 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, TW, JP, GB, AU. The portfolio spans 12 years, from 2014 to 2025. Quantinuum’s IP covers a full‑stack trapped‑ion quantum computer. Hardware filings address ion‑trap designs (RF electrode shapes, curved‑leg and composite trap geometries, loading assemblies and microfabricated interconnects), cooling and state‑preparation techniques (EIT and phonon‑pumping laser cooling, polarization‑insensitive state preparation), and integrated in‑vacuum photonics (silicon‑nitride waveguides, metasurfaces, modulator arrays and on‑chip lasers). Control and readout patents claim integrated servo controllers, high‑voltage switch networks, timing and compilation methods, and fault‑tolerant transport protocols. Additional claims cover cryogenic and ultra‑high‑vacuum infrastructure, error‑correction controllers, machine‑learning noise decoders, and hybrid quantum‑classical algorithms. The result is a hardware‑heavy estate that secures the scaling pain points of trapped‑ion systems from trap physics and in‑vacuum optics to control electronics and error‑corrected operation.

IQM
IQM, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a private company that develops superconducting qubits for on-chip quantum processors, integrating control electronics for scalable systems. The company has raised $250 million, including a $139.52 million Series A round from investors like World Fund, MIG Fonds, and Tencent. Its flagship system, IQM Radiance, features superconducting co-design with star topology for HPC integration. IQM’s disruptive approach emphasizes low-noise fabrication and error correction, with a Resonance platform upgrade to 54 qubits and plans for a 300-qubit delivery to Finland by 2027. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with 20-150 qubit systems and HPC integrations. IQM is protected by 399 patent publications across 101 families, with filings in WO, US, EP, TW, CN, KR, IL, CA, AU, FI. The portfolio spans 13 years, from 2013 to 2025. IQM’s patents are centred on scalable superconducting quantum processors. Key claims protect tunable resonator and qubit couplers, phase‑biased inductive elements and flux‑tunable devices that mitigate crosstalk and enable frequency placement. Readout and reset filings describe multiplexed state readout, qubit reset protocols and leakage mitigation. The portfolio also covers cryogenic‑to‑room‑temperature control electronics – vector signal sources, cryo‑ICs, drive controllers, clock distribution and multi‑chip control. Fabrication patents include Josephson‑junction manufacturing and tuning, airbridges and through‑substrate vias, flip‑chip bonding with tilt feedback, hermetic cryo‑compatible packaging and high‑density interconnects. System‑level claims encompass quantum processing units and multi‑chip architectures, with additional filings on error‑correction, compiler methods and control‑sequence synthesis. Overall, the portfolio secures coupling, readout, control, fabrication and system integration for low‑noise superconducting QPUs.

Rigetti Computing Inc
Rigetti Computing Inc, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Berkeley, CA, USA, is a public company that develops superconducting quantum processors and full-stack quantum computing systems. The company has raised $450 million, including a $261 million public offering. Its flagship system, Aspen-M, supports hybrid quantum-classical computing. Rigetti’s unique approach focuses on scalable, modular QPUs with cloud access via AWS and Azure. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with 80-qubit systems and partnerships in finance and materials science. Rigetti Computing Inc patent portfolio includes 348 patent publications across 84 families, with filings in US, EP, WO, AU, CA. The portfolio spans 11 years, from 2015 to 2025. Rigetti’s portfolio spans the entire stack for modular superconducting quantum processors. Foundational patents cover fabrication and tuning of Josephson‑junction devices, microwave integrated circuits and cap‑wafer substrates to improve qubit coherence. System‑level filings protect modular QPU architectures with multilayer cap wafers, vertical interconnects and optical or superconducting links for chiplet‑based scaling. Other patents address cryogenic signal delivery and integration – low‑heat signal combiner plates, cryo‑compatible connectors and heat switches – and automated calibration, qubit control and error‑correction routines. Software and scheduling patents describe streaming execution, distributed and hybrid computing orchestration, and virtualization of quantum resources. Algorithmic filings include QAOA, hardware‑efficient encodings and quantum‑assisted optimization methods. Collectively, the IP covers hardware fabrication, modular scaling, cryogenic integration, control and calibration, hybrid software stacks and application‑specific algorithms.

Infleqtion
Infleqtion, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Boulder, CO, USA, is a private company that develops cold/neutral atom hardware devices for quantum computing and sensing, providing versatile simulators for hybrid applications. The company has raised $420 million, including a $110 million Series B round, and has acquired Super.tech while partnering with entities like the UK’s Quantum Computing Inc. Its flagship platform, Sqale, uses neutral-atom 2D arrays with the Sqorpius program for error-corrected qubits and Superstaq software for performance boosts. Infleqtion’s disruptive approach focuses on scalable neutral-atom platforms for optimization and machine learning, with a $100 million raise in June 2025 and $50 million investment for an Illinois HQ. As of 2025, the company is in the integration/scaling stage, advancing the Hilbert 100-qubit system and pilots in sensing/computing. Infleqtion (formerly ColdQuanta) maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 260 patent publications across 93 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, GB, AU. The portfolio spans 21 years, from 2005 to 2025. Infleqtion’s patents protect neutral‑atom quantum platforms. Hardware claims include vacuum‑cell and optical‑tweezer architectures for trapping and transporting cold atoms, multi‑site optical tweezers for configurable arrays, and cryogenic‑compatible designs for long coherence. Control and readout patents cover fast optical addressing, phase‑stabilized lasers for gate operations and imaging systems for high‑fidelity state detection. Additional filings span control signal scheduling, Rydberg gate calibration, and algorithmic methods for analog and digital computation. Overall, the portfolio secures the trapping hardware, optical control infrastructure and algorithmic tooling needed for neutral‑atom quantum processors.

Pasqal
Pasqal, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Palaiseau, France, is a private company that develops neutral-atom processors using Rydberg interactions for quantum computing. The company has raised $140 million, including a $100 million Series B round. Its flagship system, Fresnel, supports analog and digital quantum computing modes. Pasqal’s unique approach focuses on reconfigurable qubit arrays for optimization and simulation. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with cloud access via AWS and pilots in Europe. Pasqal is protected by 124 patent publications across 55 families, with filings in EP, WO, US, CA, FR, KR, AU. The portfolio spans 4 years, from 2022 to 2025. Pasqal’s portfolio focuses on neutral‑atom processors using Rydberg interactions. Patents cover qubit arrays formed from optically trapped atoms (rubidium, strontium) with reconfigurable positioning for analog and digital computation, and laser‑excitation systems for precise Rydberg manipulation. Control filings include fast optical addressing within large arrays, scheduling and signal generation for Rydberg gates, and phase adaptation for coherent operations. Additional claims address hybrid analog‑digital computation and algorithm‑level methods. Together, the IP protects the neutral‑atom hardware, optical systems and control methods underlying Pasqal’s Rydberg processors.

Silicon Quantum Computing
Silicon Quantum Computing, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, is a private company that develops silicon spin qubits for quantum processors using CMOS-compatible fabrication. The company has raised $50.4 million, including a $27 million Series A round. Its technology focuses on atomically precise qubits for high-fidelity computing. Silicon Quantum Computing’s unique approach aims at billion-qubit scales with semiconductor processes. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with qubit demos and partnerships. Silicon Quantum Computing patent portfolio includes 121 patent publications across 28 families, with filings in AU, US, EP, WO, KR, TW, CN, IL, CA, ES. The portfolio spans 6 years, from 2020 to 2025. Silicon Quantum Computing’s IP is tightly focused on spin‑based quantum processors built on silicon. Patents cover donor‑ and quantum‑dot spin qubit devices, controlled‑phase and controlled‑rotation gates using hyperfine and exchange interactions, and architectures for tunable multi‑qubit arrays. Claims also protect high‑fidelity initialization protocols, spin‑to‑charge readout via single‑electron transistors and noise‑optimized readout systems. Noise mitigation filings encompass dynamical decoupling and engineered relaxation to suppress charge and magnetic noise. Integration patents cover multi‑qubit processing elements with integrated classical control, cryogenic‑compatible circuitry and kinetic‑inductance parametric amplifiers. Fabrication claims describe atomically precise dopant placement via STM lithography and advanced nanostructure engineering. The portfolio thus spans device design, control and readout, noise suppression, system integration and fabrication for silicon spin‑qubit processors.

Seeqc
Seeqc, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Elmsford, NY, USA, is a private company that develops superconducting single-flux quantum (SFQ) digital logic for control/readout in quantum computing, integrating with qubit chips for low-power systems. The company has raised $49.5 million, including a $22.4 million Series A round from investors like M Ventures, BlueYard Capital, and EQT Ventures. Its flagship platform, Seeqc System-on-a-Chip, combines SFQ with qubits for cryogenic digital control. Seeqc’s disruptive approach reduces heat and latency with on-chip logic, enabling scalable QPUs. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with SFQ chip demos and partnerships like HQS Quantum Simulations. Seeqc maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 119 patent publications across 26 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, AU, CA, GB. The portfolio spans 27 years, from 1999 to 2025. Seeqc’s portfolio blends legacy superconducting electronics with modern quantum integration. Patents cover ultra‑low‑power digital logic families (RSFQ/eSFQ/AQFP) including phase sources, frequency dividers and lookup tables operating at cryogenic temperatures, along with SQUID‑based magnetic sensors. Integration claims focus on flux‑bias systems and cryogenic interconnects that link superconducting qubits to classical processors, and diabatic single‑flux‑quantum readout schemes for fast measurement. The portfolio also includes hybrid classical–quantum co‑packaging, optical‑to‑digital conversion for photon‑based qubit control, and cryogenic memory cells. Fabrication and packaging patents span multi‑layer metallic interconnects, bump connectors and double‑masking techniques for niobium ICs. Overall, the IP secures superconducting digital logic, cryo control electronics, hybrid interfaces and fabrication methods essential for Seeqc’s co‑packaged quantum processors.

Xanadu
Xanadu, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is a private company that develops photonic squeezed light for processors and the PennyLane SDK, focusing on fault-tolerant systems with continuous-variable approaches. The company has raised $275 million, including a $100 million Series C round. Its flagship system, Aurora, leverages photonic squeezed light CVQC and Borealis for Gaussian Boson Sampling advantage. Xanadu’s unique approach uses non-linear optical devices for scalable photonics, with DARPA QBI selection and a $1 million CAD grant for battery algorithms. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype/integration stage, with Borealis processors and collaborations like Mitsubishi. Xanadu is protected by 114 patent publications across 40 families, with filings in US, EP, CA, WO, CN, AU, ES. The portfolio spans 7 years, from 2019 to 2025. Xanadu’s patents center on photonic quantum computing with continuous‑variable qubits. Claims protect Gaussian Boson Sampling architectures and arbitrary unitary transformations implemented via rectangular and spatio‑temporal interferometers, as well as squeezed‑light generation and non‑linear optical devices for photon state preparation. Other filings cover integrated photonic components like tapered waveguides, loop resonators and couplers, along with photon‑number‑resolving detectors, beam tracking and phase stabilization systems. Error‑correction patents describe generation of GKP states and bosonic codes, and algorithmic filings include quantum chemistry and optimization routines. Together the portfolio covers photonic hardware, integrated optics, bosonic error correction and continuous‑variable algorithms.

ORCA Computing
ORCA Computing, founded in 2019 and headquartered in London, UK, is a private company that develops photonic quantum computing using optical fiber memories for scalable, room-temperature systems. The company has raised $63 million, including a $40 million Series A round from investors like Oxford Sciences Innovation and Otium Capital. Its flagship system, PT Series, uses photonics for quantum memory and processing. ORCA’s unique approach leverages telecom-compatible fiber for modular scaling without cryogenics. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with PT Series deployments and collaborations for HPC integration. ORCA Computing patent portfolio includes 102 patent publications across 40 families, with filings in GB, US, WO, EP, CA, AU. The portfolio spans 6 years, from 2020 to 2025. ORCA’s IP is oriented towards photonic quantum computing with optical memory. Patents claim boson‑sampling architectures with configurable parameters, timing control and neural‑network‑driven optimization; linear‑optical GHZ state measurement systems; and multi‑qubit entangling measurements on integrated photonic platforms. Quantum memory filings describe solid‑state and atomic‑ensemble–based devices for storing and releasing single photons or entangled states with high retrieval fidelity. Additional claims cover spectrally multiplexed single‑photon sources, tunable optical switches and integrated photonic circuits (silicon and silicon‑nitride) including mode converters and couplers. Collectively the IP secures photon storage, source engineering and boson‑sampling hardware for modular, telecom‑compatible photonic quantum platforms. 

Quantum Motion
Quantum Motion, founded in 2017 and headquartered in London, UK, is a private company that develops silicon spin qubits for scalable quantum processors using CMOS-compatible fabrication. The company has raised $67 million, including a $50.5 million Series B round from investors like Bosch Ventures and Porsche Automobil Holding. Its technology focuses on silicon qudits for high-density computing. Quantum Motion’s disruptive approach integrates quantum dots with standard semiconductor processes for billion-qubit scales. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with qubit array demos and partnerships like Arm. Quantum Motion maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 80 patent publications across 15 families, with filings in EP, TW, WO, US, KR, AU, GB, CN. The portfolio spans 7 years, from 2019 to 2025. Quantum Motion’s portfolio targets manufacturable silicon‑based spin qubit processors. Patents cover quantum dot and micromagnet architectures for spin qubits and higher‑dimensional qudits, compact qubit cells with embedded readout, and voltage trimming methods for large‑scale calibration. Interconnect claims address high‑frequency cascade readout and cryogenic temperature sensors for thermal stability. Device physics filings protect control of charge carriers, tunnelling and potential shaping to minimize decoherence. The IP thus covers silicon qubit and qudit architectures, control and readout systems, cryogenic stability and methods for scalable manufacturing.

Atom Computing
Atom Computing, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Berkeley, CA, USA, is a private company that develops neutral-atom quantum processors using optical tweezers for scalable, error-corrected systems. The company has raised $115 million, including a $60 million Series B round from investors like Third Point Ventures and Prime Movers Lab. Its flagship system uses alkaline earth atoms for long coherence times. Atom Computing’s unique approach enables large-scale arrays with mid-circuit measurement. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with 100+ qubit systems and cloud access via partnerships. Atom Computing is protected by 72 patent publications across 22 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, KR, AU, CA, CN. The portfolio spans 10 years, from 2016 to 2025. Atom Computing’s patents cover scalable neutral‑atom quantum processors. Core claims describe large arrays of cold atoms in optical lattices or microtraps, Rydberg excitation and counterdiabatic control for gate operations, and high‑contrast optical addressing to minimize crosstalk. Cavity‑based control patents protect devices that enhance light–matter interaction, continuous‑operation cold‑atom systems with separate reservoir arrays, and Doppler‑free excitation techniques. Error‑mitigation filings include non‑destructive state‑resolved imaging and integrated error‑correction methods such as surface codes and magic‑state distillation. These filings secure the neutral‑atom architecture, cavity‑enhanced control infrastructure and error‑mitigation approaches for Atom Computing’s platforms.

Equal1
Equal1, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a private company that develops silicon spin qubits for rack-mounted quantum computers, integrating on silicon for data-center applications. The company has raised $11.6 million, including grants from the EIC. Its flagship system, Bell-1, uses QSoC integration for compact designs. Equal1’s disruptive approach combines CMOS processes with spin qubits for scalable, energy-efficient systems. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with CMOS validation and Bell-1 launch. Equal1 patent portfolio includes 70 patent publications across 11 families, with filings in US, WO. The portfolio spans 5 years, from 2019 to 2023. Equal1’s portfolio focuses on CMOS‑compatible quantum processors that integrate qubits and classical logic on a single chip. Patents describe quantum dot arrays in continuous wells with gate‑controlled tunnelling, 3D FinFET‑based qubit structures enabling planar and vertical coupling, and topological qubit geometries using unidimensional chord lines. Integrated processors combine classical control and readout circuits directly on the quantum die. Fabrication claims cover novel staircase active wells, thin insulator layers and shared gates to improve fidelity, along with planar and vertical scaling methods. A smaller set of filings extends these structures to quantum stochastic rounding and quantum‑enhanced neural networks. Overall, the IP protects qubit structures, tunnelling control, integrated classical–quantum processing and scalable fabrication methods.

eleQtron
eleQtron, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Siegen, Germany, is a private company that develops trapped-ion quantum processors using MAGIC (magnetic gradient induced coupling) for scalable control. The company has raised $25 million, including a Series A from investors like Earlybird Venture Capital. Its technology focuses on ion chains with microwave control. eleQtron’s unique approach avoids lasers for simpler scaling. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, advancing MAGIC-based systems. eleQtron maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 61 patent publications across 30 families, with filings in DE, WO, EP. The portfolio spans 2 years, from 2024 to 2025. eleQtron’s patents concentrate on magnetically controlled trapped ion architectures. Claims cover planar Paul traps with integrated resonators and permanent magnets that create spatially varying magnetic fields for addressing and frequency separation. Magnetic gradient control filings describe Halbach style or mirror symmetric magnet arrays embedded beneath trap chips for local field tuning and dephasing suppression. Fabrication patents address trap chip bonding, modular alignment and cryogenic substrates, with calibration methods integrated into manufacturing. System level claims include parallel gate execution, all to all interaction mapping and waveform shaping techniques. Overall, the portfolio protects magnetized trap designs, gradient control, fabrication methods and system architectures enabling scalable trapped ion processors.

Universal Quantum
Universal Quantum, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Brighton, UK, is a private company that develops modular trapped-ion quantum processors for fault-tolerant computing. The company has raised $58 million, including a $45 million Series A from investors like Quantonation and Hoxton Ventures. Its systems use electronic shuttling for connectivity. Universal Quantum’s disruptive approach enables million-qubit modules with low-error rates. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with high-fidelity demos. Universal Quantum is protected by 61 patent publications across 15 families, with filings in GB, WO, EP, US, AU. The portfolio spans 5 years, from 2021 to 2025. Universal Quantum’s IP is directed at timing‑precise trapped‑ion processors. Patents claim electrode and DAC architectures for localized qubit control, phase‑gate systems using magnetic gradients, and clock‑controlled digital‑to‑analog modulation per electrode. Signal‑timing filings cover integrated DAC/ASIC subsystems with configurable delay lines and analog memory arrays for staggered gate operations. Hardware claims include electromagnetic isolation structures and modular enclosures that house DACs, cryogenics and control electronics. Methods detail voltage waveform sampling and replay, magnetic‑field‑based phase gates and regional ion transport via tuned voltages. Collectively the IP secures timing, gate‑control and modular infrastructure for trapped‑ion quantum computers.

Alice&Bob
Alice&Bob, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Paris, France, is a private company that develops superconducting cat qubits for fault-tolerant quantum computing, reducing error correction overhead through bosonic codes. The company has raised $250 million, including a $109 million Series B round from LPENS, CNRS, and Sorbonne University. Its hardware system uses cat qubits for logical error suppression. Alice&Bob’s unique approach focuses on self-correcting qubits for efficient scaling, with partnerships in the French ecosystem. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, advancing fault-tolerant demonstrations. Alice&Bob patent portfolio includes 57 patent publications across 23 families, with filings in EP, WO, IL, US, FR, KR, CA. The portfolio spans 3 years, from 2023 to 2025. Alice&Bob’s patents focus on bosonic ‘cat’ qubit technology. Key claims protect superconducting devices shielded by artificial magnetic conductors to provide electromagnetic isolation and support both 2D transmon circuits and 3D bosonic resonators. Error‑correction filings describe repetition codes for cat qubits that use engineered two‑photon dissipation and CNOT‑mediated parity checks. Additional patents claim non‑linear quantum circuits enabling multi‑photon exchange among resonant modes and minimalist, galvanically coupled bosonic circuits. The portfolio thus covers shielded superconducting hardware, bosonic qubit encoding and stabilization, and the non‑linear circuitry needed to implement cat‑qubit codes.

Anyon Systems
Anyon Systems, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, is a private company that develops superconducting quantum processors for full-stack systems with integrated cryogenics. The company has raised $870,000 in debt financing. Its flagship system, Yukon, uses neutral atoms for scalable simulation. Anyon’s unique approach focuses on hybrid photonic-microwave control. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with hybrid systems and NVIDIA CUDA-Q integration. Anyon Systems maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 53 patent publications across 18 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, CA. The portfolio spans 7 years, from 2019 to 2025. Anyon Systems’ portfolio spans superconducting qubits, cryogenics and hybrid photonic–microwave integration. Patents cover superconducting qubit arrays with tunable couplers and SQUID‑based phase control, topologically protected circuits and low‑crosstalk two‑qubit gates. Control and readout filings describe hybrid platforms that multiplex optical control and microwave conversion using phase modulators and Josephson or travelling‑wave parametric amplifiers. Cryogenic infrastructure patents claim continuous‑flow dilution refrigerators, vibration‑isolated cryocoolers, nested shrouds and modular hardware frames. Fabrication filings cover tunnel junction production, epitaxial growth systems and mounting structures for discrete quantum subsystems. Together, the IP protects superconducting qubit devices, hybrid control interfaces, cryogenic systems and fabrication methods necessary for a modular quantum computer.

Quantum Computing Inc (QCi)
Quantum Computing Inc (QCi), founded in 2018 and headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, is a public company that develops integrated photonic quantum machines for commercial and government markets. The company offers thin film lithium niobate chips for optical devices, the Entropy Quantum Computer as a full-stack system, reservoir computers for neural networks, lidar for imaging in harsh environments, quantum photonic vibrometers for vibration detection, and quantum networks for authentication. Its flagship platform, the TFLN Photonic Engine, enables room-temperature, low-power quantum processing. QCi’s disruptive approach uses reprogrammable photonic circuits for edge applications in healthcare, life sciences, and chemistry, with collaborations like AstraZeneca. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with quantum machines and foundry services available. Quantum Computing Inc (QCi) is protected by 52 patent publications across 11 families, with filings in US, WO, EP, JP, CN, KR, CA. The portfolio spans 8 years, from 2018 to 2025. The portfolio focuses on photonic and superconducting quantum systems, covering secure communication, quantum optimization, and advanced signal processing. Key areas include quantum key distribution (QKD) with secret sharing techniques, second-harmonic generation for optical modulation , and quantum algorithms for optimization . Additional protections encompass radar and imaging systems , pulsed laser technologies, and random number generation . The IP spans system-level claims for quantum processors and optical transceivers, device claims for electrodes and detectors, and method claims for algorithm execution and signal modulation, targeting accessible quantum computing solutions.

Huayi Quantum
Huayi Quantum, founded in 2022 and headquartered in Beijing, China, is a private company that develops ion trap quantum processors for high-fidelity computing. The company focuses on multi-ion traps and Raman laser systems. Huayi Quantum’s unique approach emphasizes chip-scale designs for scalable integration. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with frequency-stabilized lasers and fluorescence detection advancements. Huayi Quantum patent portfolio includes 45 patent publications across 45 families, with filings in CN. The portfolio spans 4 years, from 2022 to 2025. Huayi Quantum’s patents concentrate on ion‑trap quantum hardware and optics. Claims cover ion‑based qubit systems operated via Raman transitions, RF and optical traps and isotopic selection. Hardware filings include blade‑type, chip‑scale and multi‑zone ion traps with integrated electro‑optic modulators, acousto‑optic deflectors and laser frequency locking. Laser and optics patents describe frequency‑stabilized laser sources, beam deflection and wavelength selection systems, polarization‑maintaining fibers and temperature‑compensated beam shaping. Control and measurement claims cover fluorescence‑based state detection, quantum logic gate generation devices and multi‑ion cooling sequences. Together, the IP secures ion trap devices, optical control subsystems and state detection methods concentrated in China.

Diraq
Diraq, founded in 2022 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, is a private company that develops silicon quantum dot spin qubits with CMOS for processors, aiming at billion-qubit scales. The company has raised $137 million, including a $15 million Series A-2. Its flagship system, Bloomsbury, uses VIO for scaling and cryogenic CMOS. Diraq’s unique approach integrates control electronics for efficient mass production. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with silicon qubit demos and scaling partnerships. Diraq is protected by 40 patent publications across 11 families, with filings in EP, AU, US, WO, KR, TW. The portfolio spans 9 years, from 2017 to 2025. Diraq’s patents focus on CMOS‑compatible silicon spin qubits and control systems. Patent families protect signal combiners that merge DC and RF signals for low‑temperature operation, electrical pulse‑based spin manipulation without magnetic fields, and full‑stack systems for managing control, measurement and crosstalk across qubit arrays. Device claims cover quantum processing elements with specific gate geometries, electrostatic confinement and two‑qubit interaction mechanisms optimized for cryogenic operation. System claims include centralized control architectures, global timing synchronization, dynamically tunable energy levels, fault‑tolerant multi‑qubit initialization and modular packaging. The portfolio therefore spans device structures, signal delivery, control architectures and scalable silicon‑based processor design.

Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT)
Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT), founded in 2018 and headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria, is a private company that develops trapped-ion hardware systems, focusing on high-fidelity ion traps for precision computing. The company has received $12.2 million in grants. Its flagship system, PINE, is modular and rack-mounted for HPC integration. AQT’s disruptive approach enables Europe’s first ion-trap chip pilot line. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with rack systems and HPC integrations. Alpine Quantum Technologies (AQT) patent portfolio includes 40 patent publications across 15 families, with filings in EP, US, WO, JP. The portfolio spans 15 years, from 2011 to 2025. AQT’s patents provide granular coverage of ion‑trap systems and laser control. Key families claim methods for reducing oscillating electric fields at the ion equilibrium position, generating single‑sided standing waves for state‑dependent forces, and entangling ions via transverse state‑dependent forces. Other filings cover laser stabilization, 3D ion traps with through‑substrate connections, MEMS‑based trap devices, guiding of spontaneous emission, calibration of acousto‑optic modulators, quantum state comparison, variationally optimized measurement methods for clocks and ion trap manufacturing processes. Together the portfolio protects ion‑trap architectures, laser‑induced gate protocols, stabilization and calibration techniques and trap fabrication methods.

Quantum Brilliance
Quantum Brilliance, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Australia/Germany, is a private company that develops diamond NV-center qubits for quantum accelerators, operating at room temperature for rugged applications. The company has raised $77.7 million, including a $20 million Series A and $20 million for fabrication. Its flagship system, Sparrow Core, supports edge computing. Quantum Brilliance’s unique approach allows portable, low-power systems. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with room-temp accelerators and edge partnerships. Quantum Brilliance maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 22 patent publications across 5 families, with filings in EP, WO, JP, AU, CA, KR, US, TW. The portfolio spans 5 years, from 2021 to 2025. Quantum Brilliance’s small but diverse portfolio targets diamond‑based quantum processors. Patents protect multi‑layer diamond chip stacks that integrate nitrogen‑vacancy centre arrays with RF/microwave control on a base chip and optical excitation and collection paths. Atomic‑scale fabrication methods claim deterministic placement of NV centres via STM lithography and CVD growth. Additional filings describe flip‑chip assembly for aligning quantum and classical chips, electrical readout techniques that bypass optical detection and a variational quantum solver algorithm. The portfolio therefore covers NV‑based qubit hardware, precision fabrication and packaging, readout methods and an early software component.

QuEra Computing
QuEra Computing, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Boston, MA, USA, is a private company that develops neutral atoms with Rydberg interactions for quantum processors, providing programmable simulation via cloud access on Amazon Braket. The company has raised $277 million, including a $230 million convertible note. Its flagship system, Aquila, uses neutral-atom analog/digital modes with fusion-based error correction for modular scaling. QuEra’s disruptive approach enables reconfigurable qubit arrays for applications in bio/health, with selections for DARPA QBI Phase I and Wellcome Leap Q4Bio Phase 3. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with the 256-qubit Aquila on AWS and pilots underway. QuEra Computing is protected by 21 patent publications across 7 families, with filings in WO, CA, EP, US. The portfolio spans 5 years, from 2021 to 2025. QuEra’s patents centre on neutral‑atom processors that use Rydberg interactions. Hardware claims cover 2D and 3D optical trapping and atom‑rearrangement systems employing spatial light modulators, tunable lenses and holographic routing, as well as multi‑frequency modulators for precise qudit control. System claims describe reconfigurable processor architectures that enable parallel operations and dynamic lattice adjustment. Algorithmic filings include quantum reservoir computing and machine‑learning integration, fault‑tolerant qudit error‑correction protocols using ancilla qudits and angular momentum selection rules, and optimization algorithms for NP‑hard problems. The portfolio thus spans hardware, control systems and hybrid algorithms for programmable neutral‑atom computing.

C12
C12, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Paris, France, is a private company that develops neutral-atom/carbon nanotube qubits for scalable processors, focusing on high-purity for fault-tolerant systems. The company has raised $29.3 million, including a $19.3 million Series A from investors like 360 Capital and Bpifrance. Its flagship system, Callisto, uses nanotube qubits for low errors. C12’s disruptive approach enables scalable, ultra-coherent designs. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with nanotube demos and CEA partnerships. C12 patent portfolio includes 21 patent publications across 6 families, with filings in WO, FR, EP, CN, US. The portfolio spans 5 years, from 2021 to 2025. C12’s patents focus on carbon‑nanotube quantum processors. Claims cover suspended carbon nanotube quantum dots subjected to microwave and magnetic field gradients, with ferromagnetic gates generating asymmetric fields for spin control. Additional patents describe mathematical calibration models, multilayer substrates with integrated microwave lines, and robotic nano‑assembly systems for deterministic nanotube placement using cantilever probes and AFM feedback. System‑level filings address gate‑driven spin control protocols, dynamic field configurations and coupled subsystems. The portfolio secures device design, nano‑assembly, calibration and control for carbon‑nanotube spin‑qubit systems.

Quandela
Quandela, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Marcoussis, France, is a private company that develops photonic qubits with semiconductor quantum dots for processors and software suites, including cloud access for room-temperature networks. The company has raised $70.8 million, including a $54 million Series B and €50 million for a qubit factory. Its flagship system, MosaiQ-3, is modular with the Perceval framework. Quandela’s unique approach leverages photonic sources for scalable integration. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with modular systems and collaborations. Quandela maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 20 patent publications across 8 families, with filings in EP, FR, WO, US, AU, CA, JP, KR. The portfolio spans 4 years, from 2022 to 2025. Quandela’s small portfolio is concentrated on linear‑optical quantum computing. Patents claim microstructures for precise fiber‑to‑chip alignment using tripod or ring fixtures, integrated quantum random‑number generators that exploit crosstalk and quantum uncertainty, and photonic processors for secure matrix computation and delegated computation. Additional claims cover algorithms and optical configurations that mitigate photon loss in photonic circuits. Together the IP protects photonic coupling structures, on‑chip randomness sources, linear‑optical computation methods and loss‑resilient protocols. 

Nord Quantique
Nord Quantique, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Sherbrooke, Canada, is a private company that develops superconducting qubits with bosonic error correction for fault-tolerant computing. The company has raised $12.5 million, including a $7.03 million seed from investors like Real Ventures. Its bosonic qubit system uses multimode for energy efficiency. Nord Quantique’s disruptive approach reduces errors with built-in correction. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with error-corrected demos. Nord Quantique is protected by 16 patent publications across 4 families, with filings in US, WO, AU, CA, EP, KR. The portfolio spans 3 years, from 2022 to 2024. Nord Quantique’s IP centres on bosonic quantum error correction using superconducting circuits and 3D cavity QED. Patents describe multi‑photon driven nonlinear oscillators that generate cat states in rotation‑symmetric phase space, prime‑numbered coherent state encodings for improved noise tolerance and devices such as SNAIL/Kerr resonators controlled by multi‑photon drives. Additional claims cover reset mechanisms and control logic for managing bosonic qubits. The portfolio therefore secures hardware and control methods for bosonic encoding and error correction in superconducting architectures.

Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC)
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), founded in 2017 and headquartered in Reading, UK, is a private company that develops 3D coaxial resonator (Coaxmon) superconducting qubits for hardware systems with cloud platform access. The company has raised $150 million, including a $100 million Series B. Its flagship system, OQC Toshiko, supports enterprise QCaaS. OQC’s unique approach uses Coaxmon for scalability. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with 8-16 qubit systems on AWS. Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) patent portfolio includes 14 patent publications across 9 families, with filings in GB, WO, TW. The portfolio spans 6 years, from 2020 to 2025. OQC’s small portfolio focuses on ion‑trap technologies despite the company’s broader superconducting activities. Patents describe charged‑particle trap systems using co‑planar waveguides and spin–motion coupling, oscillating field entanglement methods that generate spatially controlled magnetic gradients, and monochromatic potential gradient techniques for synchronizing qubits. This suggests a focus on ion‑trap platforms, including surface‑electrode design and gate control protocols, with an eye to multi‑qubit scaling and entanglement.

QuantWare
QuantWare, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Delft, Netherlands, is a private company that develops superconducting processors and QPUs as components for integrators, supplying customizable units. The company has raised $36 million, including a $21.8 million Series A from SeeQC. Its flagship, Tenor-64, uses VIO for 3D scaling. QuantWare’s disruptive approach provides foundry services for QPUs. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, supplying QPUs for large systems. QuantWare maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 13 patent publications across 3 families, with filings in EP, WO, TW, AU, IL, KR, NL, US. The portfolio spans 3 years, from 2023 to 2025. QuantWare’s tiny portfolio aims at modular superconducting hardware. Claims cover an angled interposer interface that connects multilayer qubit chips to a rigid interposer with integrated transmission lines, enabling vertical integration and dense signal routing. Other filings describe metallic cryogenic housings for 3D quantum processors filled with deformable conductive material to improve thermal conduction and mechanical contact. A third family claims high‑fidelity parametric amplifiers with multi‑pole band‑pass filters for qubit readout. The portfolio thus addresses packaging and amplification bottlenecks in scalable superconducting systems.

Nanofiber Quantum Technologies
Nanofiber Quantum Technologies, founded in 2022 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a private company that develops neutral-atom/cavity QED hardware systems, enhancing atom-photon interactions for networked applications. The company has raised $9.9 million, including an $8.5 million convertible note from investors like Phoenix Venture Partners. Its fiber-connectable QPU supports quantum networks. Nanofiber’s unique approach uses nanofiber cavities for scalable connectivity. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with networking interfaces and neutral-atom integrations. Nanofiber Quantum Technologies is protected by 13 patent publications across 4 families, with filings in GB, JP, US, FR. The portfolio spans 2 years, from 2024 to 2025. Nanofiber Quantum Technologies’ patents revolve around fiber‑based photonic quantum networks. Claims protect polarization‑degenerate nanofiber cavities created with symmetric Bragg gratings around a tapered fiber core, supporting arbitrary polarization modes for stable atom–photon coupling. Hardware filings include cavity structures with tapered fibers, evanescent coupling of cold atoms and designs for quantum repeaters. Together the IP secures nanofiber cavity devices, fabrication and quantum repeater systems for distributed photonic networks.

AegiQ
AegiQ, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Sheffield, UK, is a private company that develops photonic quantum computing and networking for full-stack systems, focusing on secure communications with integrated photonics. The company has raised $4.8 million, including a $2.34 million seed from investors like High-Tech Grunderfonds. Its flagship, Artemis, supports secure sensors and communication. AegiQ’s disruptive approach enables tamper-proof networks. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with photonic sources and pilots. AegiQ patent portfolio includes 13 patent publications across 5 families, with filings in EP, GB, US. The portfolio spans 4 years, from 2022 to 2025. AegiQ’s small portfolio focuses on photonic quantum communication. Patents claim free‑space quantum key distribution systems with variable attenuation control to adapt to atmospheric losses, deterministic single‑photon sources using polarization‑selective waveguide coupling to orthogonal exciton states in quantum dots, and chip‑to‑fiber interfaces. Additional filings suggest integration of multi‑channel QKD systems and optimized photon‑fibre coupling structures. The portfolio thus covers QKD systems, on‑chip single‑photon sources and photonic interfaces. 

SpinQ
SpinQ, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is a private company that develops NMR quantum computing hardware, including desktop systems for education and simulation. The company has raised $100 million in a Series B round. Its flagship, Triangulum, combines superconducting/NMR for accessible use. SpinQ’s unique approach targets education with room-temp systems. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with desktop systems sold and scaling to 100 qubits. SpinQ maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 9 patent publications across 9 families, with filings in CN, WO. The portfolio spans 6 years, from 2020 to 2025. SpinQ’s patents target portable, room‑temperature quantum computers based on nuclear magnetic resonance. Claims describe permanent‑magnet arrays and homonuclear spin ensembles for compact NMR quantum processors, pseudo‑pure state preparation, active shimming and gradient‑field control. Hardware filings include magnet array structures, desktop‑sized NMR computers and control mainboards, with one recent family exploring multilayer superconducting chip layouts. Control method patents cover spin‑state calibration and temperature regulation. Overall, the IP secures low‑cost NMR‑based quantum hardware and control systems, with hints of a shift toward superconducting chips.

Quantum Circuits Inc.
Quantum Circuits Inc., founded in 2015 and headquartered in New Haven, CT, USA, is a private company that develops superconducting Dual-Rail Cavity Qubits for hardware systems, emphasizing error-corrected qubits. The company has raised $47 million, including a Series B from investors like Sequoia and Yale University. Its flagship, Aqumen Seeker, features built-in error detection. Quantum Circuits’ disruptive approach uses dual-rail for full-stack reliability. As of 2025, the company is in the pre-commercial stage, with chip foundry opening and partnerships. Quantum Circuits Inc. is protected by 6 patent publications across 2 families, with filings in US, WO. The portfolio spans 3 years, from 2023 to 2025. QCI’s limited portfolio includes patents on physical subsystems for superconducting qubit environments. One family claims a resistive flex attenuator – a planar microwave attenuator integrated into transmission lines to provide both RF attenuation and heat dissipation between room‑temperature controllers and cryogenic qubits. Another family claims a modular thermal‑signal interconnect for routing control and measurement signals from room temperature to cryogenic hardware using multi‑stage conduits with thermal shielding, vacuum encapsulation and signal filtering. These filings protect hardware innovations aimed at preserving signal integrity and thermal stability in superconducting quantum systems.

SemiQon
SemiQon, founded in 2023 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a private company that develops semiconductor quantum dots for QPUs and cryogenic CMOS, integrating control for efficient scaling. The company has raised $15.7 million, including a $16.35 million Series A from VTT Research Center. Its Cryo-CMOS QSoC supports energy-efficient designs. SemiQon’s unique approach combines silicon spins with integrated controls. As of 2025, the company is in the integration stage, with cryo-CMOS demos and partnerships like Nanoacademic. SemiQon patent portfolio includes 6 patent publications across 3 families, with filings in FI, WO. The portfolio spans 1 years, from 2025 to 2025. SemiQon’s patents focus on scalable silicon‑based quantum processors built from quantum dot spin qubits. The core invention is a layered semiconductor structure using isotopically pure silicon‑28 to host stable, low‑noise quantum dots with back‑gate and top‑gate electrodes for precision control. Supporting patents cover cryogenic RF switching circuits using superconducting nanowires and FETs, and custom cryo‑CMOS transistor structures that operate at ultra‑low temperatures with minimal dissipation. Collectively the IP addresses qubit fabrication, control circuitry and cryogenic integration for energy‑efficient, high‑density quantum processors.

Atlantic Quantum
Atlantic Quantum, founded in 2022 and headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA, is a private company that specializes in fluxonium qubits for superconducting quantum processors, aiming at low-error gate operations. The company has raised $9 million in a seed round from investors like The Engine (MIT), Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos. Its fluxonium QPU focuses on integrated circuits. Atlantic Quantum’s disruptive approach enables low-error scalable systems. As of 2025, the company is in the prototype stage, with low-error circuits and benchmarking. Atlantic Quantum maintains an intellectual property portfolio of 2 patent publications across 1 families, with filings in US. The portfolio spans 1 years, from 2024 to 2024. Atlantic Quantum’s pending patent protects a modular superconducting processor. Claims cover specially designed qubits connected by tunable couplers and low‑power cryogenic control circuits. Additional claims describe a method for operating the system with slow, energy‑efficient control signals that permit reliable qubit interactions while reducing heat and complexity. The patent therefore targets hardware design and operating protocols for energy‑efficient, tunable superconducting qubit systems.

 

6.0 IP Landscape Analysis

How We Built the Quantum Computing Global IP Landscape

Quantum Computing is entering a pivotal decade. The field is moving from physics lab prototypes into commercially relevant systems, backed by large-scale public investment, corporate R&D, and accelerating venture capital. As hardware moves toward fault tolerance and algorithms target high-value problems in finance, chemistry, logistics, and defense, control of enabling intellectual property will determine both the pace of progress and who can participate in the market. This section presents an industry-level view of the quantum computing IP landscape as a strategic tool. 

Step 1: Defining the Innovation Scope:

We began by setting clear boundaries for what qualifies as quantum computing innovation. Using a two-layer keyword strategy, we searched for “Quantum” in combination with “Computing” or “Computers.” This produced a global dataset of 44,798 patent publications across 21,636 unique patent families filed by 2,807 companies and institutions in 54 jurisdictions.

Step 2: Patent-by-Patent Review:

A detailed relevance review removed filings unrelated to quantum computing or enabling technologies. This refinement yielded a curated set of 40,994 documents across 19,807 families from 2,471 unique assignees spanning 53 jurisdictions.

Step 3: Timeframe Filtering
To focus on active innovation and current competitive positioning, we limited the dataset to filings with a priority date in the past 10 years. The resulting core landscape contained 30,511 documents across 14,762 families from 1,743 unique assignees in 44 jurisdictions.

Step 4: Analysis and Mapping
We conducted a multi-dimensional analysis of the refined dataset to understand both the competitive and collaborative dynamics in the field. For corporate assignees, we evaluated portfolio size, family count, jurisdictional spread, and the technical breadth of claims to determine the depth and defensibility of each player’s position. For academic and research institutions, we traced patent ownership back to specific laboratories or centers by cross-referencing inventor affiliations, technology transfer office records, and public research program disclosures. This allowed us to connect filings to the underlying technical groups driving innovation.

Next Steps: Strategic Implications

With this global IP landscape assembled, we can now break down:

• Who is driving innovation across established corporations, emerging players, and leading universities and research institutes.
• What technology areas they are prioritizing in hardware modalities, supporting infrastructure, and enabling technologies.
• What their patent portfolios cover in terms of scope, technical depth, and jurisdictional reach.

IP TRENDS

The following data shows where innovation in quantum computing is happening and how it has evolved over the past decade. We break it down by technology focus, pace of new inventions, and the most active geographies. Together, these trends provide a high-level view of how the field is developing and where activity is concentrated.

Global Filing Trends (2015-2025)

The chart below shows the number of new inventions filed each year over the past decade.

 

Activity accelerated sharply after 2018, peaking in 2023. Levels remain near historic highs, reflecting the transition from early research toward commercially driven technology development. 

Top Filing Jurisdictions – (2015-2025)

The table below ranks jurisdictions by number of inventions filed in the last decade.

China leads in total filings and growth rate, with the United States in second place and maintaining broad international reach. WIPO and the European Union serve as important secondary filing routes, while Japan, Korea, and Australia form the next tier of activity.

Companies: The Competitive IP Landscape

The table below ranks the most active corporate assignees in quantum computing over the past decade, based on the number of inventions and patent families filed globally. These companies hold the largest visible IP positions in the field, defining where the strongest competitive moats are forming. Understanding who they are and what they are protecting is essential for assessing potential partners, acquisition targets, and competitive threats.

Top Companies In The Quantum Computing IP Landscape (2015-2025)

The largest corporate IP holders in quantum computing control much of the competitive ground in the field. These portfolios define where the strongest moats exist and signal who potential partners, acquirers, or competitors may be.

 

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

IBM is one of the largest patent holders in quantum computing and an early mover in superconducting qubit technology. Founded in 1911 and headquartered in Armonk, New York, the company develops a full-stack platform combining hardware (IBM Quantum System One; processors such as Eagle, Osprey, and Condor) and software (Qiskit) with a public roadmap targeting large-scale, fault-tolerant systems by 2029. Its R&D spans scalable control electronics, error mitigation and correction, compiler and runtime optimization, and application domains including chemistry, optimization, and machine learning, alongside initiatives in quantum networking and quantum-safe cryptography. IBM’s portfolio includes 1,860 patent documents across 601 families filed in the US, CN, WO, EP, AU, KR, IL, CA, GB, and DE, covering device design and fabrication, cryogenic and system integration, and hybrid workflows from chip to cloud – positions that reinforce its leadership across both the technical and commercial dimensions of the field.

Alphabet Inc. (Google).

Alphabet’s quantum program is driven by Google Quantum AI in Santa Barbara, California, developing superconducting-qubit processors and a full software environment (Cirq, qsim) aimed at delivering scalable, error-corrected systems. The “Willow” chip reflects Google’s integrated design–fabrication model and focus on meeting error-correction thresholds. Google’s early work included a long-standing collaboration with NASA and USRA at NASA Ames Research Center, operating D-Wave systems and publishing benchmarking studies. In 2014, the company brought on John Martinis and his UC Santa Barbara group, whose advances in surface code error correction and improved coherence times significantly boosted hardware performance. Current efforts span algorithmic demonstrations, performance benchmarking, and toolkits supporting both research and developer adoption, with potential applications in machine learning, pattern recognition, and other areas aligned with Google’s core businesses. Alphabet’s portfolio includes 1,223 patent documents across 231 families filed in US, AU, EP, CN, WO, CA, JP, KR, SG, and TW, covering device architecture, calibration and control, compiler and runtime systems, and large-scale orchestration.

Heifei Origin Quantum Computing Technology Co., Ltd. (Origin Quantum).

Established in 2017 in Hefei, China, Origin Quantum develops a full-stack superconducting ecosystem – chips, cryo-control, OS, cloud, and applications – with public access to its “Wukong” system and, most recently, the Tianji 4.0 control platform engineered for systems exceeding 500 qubits and for more automated operations. Commercial engagements span simulation/optimization use cases, and the firm positions itself as a domestic industrial quantum supplier. Its IP portfolio totals 1,040 documents across 901 families filed in CN, WO, US, and EP, covering control electronics, measurement, system integration, cloud access, and platform software.

Microsoft Corporation

Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft is developing topological qubits for a fault-tolerant quantum system, with its recently announced Majorana 1 chip built around a “topological core” and integrated into the Azure Quantum platform. The effort combines hardware R&D with advances in error correction, hybrid cloud workflows, and application-layer services, aiming for utility-scale capability within the decade. Microsoft’s portfolio includes 621 patent documents across 179 families in US, EP, WO, CN, KR, AU, TW, IL, BR, and CA, covering qubit device structures and materials, error correction, control/readout systems, programming models, and service orchestration.

Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Baidu).

Baidu began formal quantum R&D in 2018, focusing on superconducting-qubit architectures and quantum software platforms. In 2022, it unveiled the 10-qubit “Qian Shi” system, paired with its cloud-accessible quantum development kit. In January 2024, Baidu announced it would donate its quantum lab and equipment to the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, signaling an exit from in-house hardware while maintaining algorithmic research and integration with AI initiatives. The company’s portfolio includes 545 patent documents across 376 families filed in CN, AU, US, JP, NL, and KR, covering quantum compilers, algorithms, control electronics, and execution frameworks.

Intel Corporation.

Intel (Santa Clara, California) is developing silicon spin qubits on advanced CMOS process nodes, aiming to leverage its existing semiconductor fabrication ecosystem for scalable quantum systems. Key milestones include the Horse Ridge II cryogenic control chip, designed for qubit multiplexing and reduced wiring complexity, and the Intel Quantum SDK, a C++-based platform for algorithm development and hardware simulation. In February 2025, Intel signed an MOU with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to accelerate industrialization of silicon-based quantum architectures. Intel’s portfolio comprises 516 patent documents across 196 families in US, WO, CN, EP, TW, DE, KR, AU, and NL, covering device fabrication, cryogenic control electronics, packaging/integration, and toolchains optimized for semiconductor manufacturing workflows.

IonQ Inc.

IonQ develops trapped-ion quantum computers and provides access through Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and its own cloud platform. Current systems such as Forte and Aria are integrated with major SDKs (Cirq, Qiskit, PennyLane, Q#) to support developer adoption. The company focuses on advancing gate fidelities, reducing error rates, and co-developing applications in chemistry, optimization, and machine learning with commercial partners. IonQ’s portfolio includes 354 patent documents across 120 families in US, WO, EP, CN, AU, KR, ES, DK, FI, and CA, covering ion trap architectures, optical control systems, calibration techniques, and workload execution frameworks.

Honeywell International Inc. (via Quantinuum)

Honeywell’s quantum operations run through Quantinuum, formed in 2021 by combining Honeywell Quantum Solutions (trapped-ion hardware) with Cambridge Quantum (middleware and applications). The H-Series trapped-ion systems have set industry-leading Quantum Volume benchmarks, and the company offers commercial software such as Quantum Origin (cybersecurity) and InQuanto (chemistry), built on its TKET compiler framework. Honeywell/Quantinuum’s portfolio tied to these efforts includes 329 patent documents across 118 families in US, EP, WO, GB, JP, CA, CN, TW, AU, and IL, covering ion-trap hardware, control systems, compilers, and domain-specific applications.

Tencent Holdings Ltd

Tencent operates Tencent Quantum Lab with a focus on algorithms, chemistry datasets (e.g., Alchemy) and cloud-based quantum exploration through Tencent Cloud resources that expose simulators and hardware access; the group publishes datasets/tools for molecular property prediction and drug resistance studies (e.g., MdrDB) and promotes education-oriented content. Tencent holds 294 documents across 114 families filed in CN, US, WO, EP, and KR, covering algorithms, simulation tooling, and cloud platform interfaces for quantum workloads.

Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.

Huawei conducts quantum R&D primarily through its Central Research Institute, focusing on quantum communication, quantum key distribution (QKD), post-quantum cryptography, and algorithms relevant to networking, AI, and materials science. The company has demonstrated long-distance QKD trials and proposed hybrid classical–quantum network security architectures. Its 286 patent documents across 146 families are filed in CN, WO, US, EP, KR, and JP, covering cryptographic protocols, quantum channel hardware, photonic components, and quantum algorithm implementations.

Rigetti Computing Inc.

Rigetti builds superconducting-qubit quantum processors and offers them via its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform as well as integrations with Amazon Braket and Microsoft Azure. The company operates its own fab in Fremont, California, enabling in-house design-to-fabrication cycles and rapid hardware iteration. Rigetti’s current roadmap targets improved gate fidelities, modular scaling, and hybrid quantum–classical workflows optimized for near-term applications. The portfolio includes 270 patent documents across 84 families filed in US, WO, EP, AU, CA, and CN, covering chip design/fabrication, cryogenic control, calibration, and cloud integration systems.

Fujitsu Ltd.

Fujitsu advances two tracks: (1) quantum-inspired Digital Annealer services in production, and (2) joint superconducting-qubit development with RIKEN (RQC-Fujitsu Collaboration Center) as part of Japan’s national quantum initiative, including a facility buildout for larger-scale systems and a 64-qubit demonstrator. Its roadmap targets hybrid HPC–quantum workflows integrated into Fujitsu’s Digital Annealer cloud and supercomputing platforms, alongside quantum simulators such as Qulacs on FX clusters. Fujitsu’s IP totals 218 documents across 109 families in EP, WO, US, JP, CN, and CA, covering annealing optimization, superconducting hardware, and hybrid application stacks for materials, finance, and pharma.

D-Wave Quantum Inc.

D-Wave commercializes quantum annealing systems and is the only vendor with annealing platforms in production use by enterprises today. Its roadmap has progressed to the Advantage2 architecture, featuring higher connectivity and lower-noise fabrication, with general availability announced in 2024. The company positions annealing for large-scale combinatorial optimization, sampling, and certain simulation workloads, while also pursuing error-mitigation research and a parallel gate-model program under Canada’s national quantum strategy. D-Wave’s portfolio comprises 208 documents across 64 families filed in US, WO, CN, EP, JP, CA, GB, and KR, covering annealing hardware, topologies, compilers, and application workflows.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited

Alibaba historically ran a superconducting quantum lab under DAMO Academy, focusing on qubit hardware, control systems, and algorithm development, and offered quantum simulation and cloud access through Alibaba Cloud. In November 2023, it shut the lab and donated equipment to Zhejiang University, effectively exiting in-house quantum hardware development amid broader corporate restructuring. During its active period, the company also pursued research in quantum-safe cryptography and hybrid algorithm design, aligning with China’s national quantum technology objectives. Alibaba’s patent corpus lists 203 documents across 95 families filed in CN, US, WO, EP, TW, AU, KR, and SG, primarily covering circuit compilation, algorithms, and device control from its active period.

Bank of America Corporation
Bank of America explores quantum for financial services use cases – portfolio/trading optimization, risk analytics, and cryptography – through R&D, ecosystem engagement, and partnerships (e.g., collaborations with IBM around regulated-cloud/innovation programs and industry research on quantum applications). One of the largest financial-sector quantum IP portfolios, it spans algorithms, security, and infrastructure. Patents cover portfolio/trading optimization, quantum key distribution, blockchain hardening, photonic quantum encryption, hybrid cloud security, quantum neural networks, and orchestration of quantum workloads. Applications range from fraud prevention and dynamic risk modeling to photonic voice/image processing and DNA-based storage. The bank’s portfolio related to quantum lists 193 documents across 119 families filed in US, WO, EP, CN, JP, KR, AU, GB, TW, and SG.

Universities & Research Centers: Foundational IP in Quantum Computing

The table below ranks the most active corporate assignees in quantum computing over the past decade, based on global patent filings and family counts. These companies hold the largest visible IP positions in the field, showing where the strongest competitive moats are forming. Understanding what they protect and how broadly helps frame the landscape of potential partners, acquisition targets, and competitive threats. Universities and public research institutes remain the source of much of the field’s foundational innovation. Their inventions often become the core of future commercial portfolios through licensing, spinouts, and joint R&D. Tracking the most active institutions provides early visibility into where breakthrough research is emerging and which academic players may become critical collaborators or acquisition pipelines for industry.

Top Universities & Research Centers In The Quantum Computing IP Landscape (2015-2025)

United States

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducts pioneering research through the Center for Quantum Engineering (MIT-CQE) and Engineering Quantum Systems Group, focusing on superconducting qubit systems, scalable architectures, quantum algorithms, and sensing technologies. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 112 patent documents across 49 families, strategically filed in the United States, WO, Europe, Canada, South Korea, Australia, and China. Patents cover Rydberg atom systems, fluxonium qubits, optical and microwave control methods, and quantum error mitigation techniques.

Duke University advances ion trap and superconducting quantum processor development through the Duke Quantum Center, integrating physics, engineering, and computer science to progress hardware and algorithm co-design. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 102 patent documents across 22 families, filed in the United States, WO, Europe, China, Australia, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Spain, and Denmark. Patents emphasize ion trap architectures, quantum logic gate implementations, QAOA optimization, and control systems for high-fidelity operations.

Harvard University drives research through the Harvard Quantum Initiative (HQI), covering quantum many-body physics, programmable quantum simulators, materials for quantum devices, and quantum algorithms. Its intellectual property portfolio comprises 80 patent documents across 24 families, strategically filed in the United States, WO, Europe, Canada, Australia, China, South Korea, Israel, and Japan. Patents focus on Rydberg atom arrays, qudit-based computation, quantum simulation methods, and hardware-efficient algorithms.

The University of Chicago leads efforts in scalable quantum architectures, quantum networking, and sensing applications through the Chicago Quantum Exchange and Q-NEXT participation, collaborating with Argonne and Fermilab. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 50 patent documents across 22 families, filed in the United States, WO, Europe, and China. Patents cover bosonic code architectures, GKP encoding methods, superconducting fluxonium devices, and compiler/runtime optimization for fault-tolerant systems.

University System of Maryland is a hub for ion trap research, quantum algorithms, and quantum communication technology through JQI, QuICS, the Quantum Technology Center, and RQS, with strong NIST collaborations. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 119 patent documents across 28 families, filed in the United States, Europe, WO, China, Australia, Spain, Finland, Denmark, South Korea, and Canada. Patents cover barium and ytterbium ion qubit systems, multi-qubit entanglement protocols, and photonic interfaces for trapped-ion networks.

China

Tsinghua University is a leading research hub in superconducting qubits, integrated quantum photonics, quantum communication protocols, and post-quantum cryptography, with programs spanning materials science and scalable architectures. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 158 patent documents across 137 families, filed in China, the United States, WO, Europe, and South Korea. Patents cover superconducting logic devices, quantum circulators, nanostructure fabrication methods, and polariton-based quantum processing systems.

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) advances multiple quantum computing modalities through the Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, including semiconductor qubits, quantum materials, spintronics, and quantum optics. Its intellectual property portfolio comprises 140 patent documents across 127 families, filed in China, the United States, WO, Europe, and South Korea. Patents address semiconductor alloy-based qubits, quantum dot integration, upconversion systems, and scalable quantum information processing devices.

University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) focuses on superconducting quantum circuits, photonic quantum processors, trapped ions, and integrated quantum communication systems, underpinned by world-record quantum teleportation experiments. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 101 patent documents across 92 families, filed in China, WO, Europe, and the United States. Patents include Josephson junction qubits, microcavity photon control systems, Mach–Zehnder interferometry, and quantum state preparation techniques.

The Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications specializes in quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution (QKD), and network-layer quantum communication systems, with emphasis on multi-party and virtualized quantum networks. Its intellectual property portfolio comprises 88 patent documents across 87 families, filed in China and the United States. Patents focus on QKD protocols, eavesdropping prevention methods, and multi-party quantum authentication frameworks.

The State Grid Corporation of China applies quantum sensing and quantum communication technologies to grid infrastructure monitoring, fault detection, and secure grid control systems. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 75 patent documents across 70 families, filed in China, the United States, WO, and the Netherlands. Patents cover nanovolt metering devices, quantum swarm optimization algorithms, and chaotic quantum control systems for energy networks.

Zhejiang University of Science and Technology engages in quantum optics, photonic entanglement, and interferometry for quantum communication and metrology. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 54 patent documents across 46 families, filed in China, the United States, WO, Europe, and South Korea. Patents focus on Hanbury Brown–Twiss interferometry, quantum state tomography, and entanglement generation in photonic systems.

Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications develops quantum algorithms, cryptographic protocols, and education-focused quantum software platforms, with applications in secure communications and quantum-enhanced computing. Its intellectual property portfolio comprises 52 patent documents across 50 families, filed in China, Australia, Europe, and WO. Patents include Grover’s algorithm implementations, IBM Q-based quantum simulation platforms, and blinded quantum computation methods.

Peking University conducts research in quantum algorithms, Hamiltonian simulation, and photonic quantum computing, alongside studies in quantum materials and condensed matter theory. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 43 patent documents across 41 families, filed in China, the United States, and WO. Patents emphasize Hamiltonian-based quantum algorithms, variational solvers, and photoconductivity in quantum materials.

Europe

Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) is a leader in topological quantum computing, with research on Majorana zero modes, superconducting qubits, and hybrid semiconductor–superconductor devices through its partnership with QuTech. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 61 patent documents across 25 families, filed in the United States, the Netherlands, WO, Europe, Australia, China, and South Korea. Patents cover Majorana-based qubit architectures, superconducting thin-film fabrication, and anharmonicity control in quantum circuits.

RWTH Aachen University (Germany) specializes in semiconductor-based quantum devices, quantum dot qubits, and electron shuttling architectures for scalable quantum processors. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 46 patent documents across 12 families, filed in Europe, WO, the United States, China, and Germany. Patents focus on GaAs and SiGe quantum dots, arsenide-based heterostructures, and precision electron transport mechanisms.

The University of Oxford (United Kingdom) conducts research across photonic, spin-based, and ion-trap quantum computing platforms, with work on error correction, quantum networking, and scalable architectures. Its intellectual property portfolio includes 50 patent documents across 12 families, filed in the United States, Europe, WO, China, Great Britain, South Korea, Spain, Poland, and Taiwan. Patents cover photonic qudit systems, spin-based quantum processors, and Pauli-based simulation techniques.

Israel

The Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) focuses on quantum optics, photon-based quantum gates, and superconducting qubit–photon hybrid systems, with applications in quantum communication and distributed quantum networks. Its intellectual property portfolio contains 56 patent documents across 16 families, filed in the United States, WO, Europe, Israel, China, and South Korea. Patents address photon antibunching, heralded entanglement, and high-fidelity CNOT gate implementations.

South Korea

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) engages in research spanning near-term intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices, variational quantum algorithms (VQA), and quantum machine learning, with a strong emphasis on scalable superconducting and photonic qubit platforms. KAIST also investigates hybrid quantum-classical approaches for optimization, quantum cryptography, and quantum communication systems. Its intellectual property portfolio consists of 49 patent documents across 27 patent families, strategically filed in South Korea, the United States, WO, and Europe. Patents focus on qubit control and error mitigation, quantum circuit architectures, entanglement operations, and quantum algorithm implementations.

 

7.0 M&A – Buying the Future Before It Arrives

The quantum computing market is still pre-revenue at scale, but the acquisition race is already on. The biggest players are using today’s capital to lock up the technologies, teams, and IP they believe will matter most once quantum hardware crosses key performance thresholds.

This is not about adding revenue. It is about planting flags in the parts of the stack that will be bottlenecks later – cryogenics, control electronics, qubit networking, and application-layer integration. Whoever owns those chokepoints will be in position to set the terms when demand explodes.

IonQ is the most aggressive acquirer, building a multi-modality and multi-layer portfolio in just two years. Deals for Oxford Ionics (trapped-ion hardware), Lightsynq (photonic interconnects), ID Quantique and Qubitekk (quantum networking), and Capella Space (satellite quantum links) give it a presence from the core processor to global quantum communication.

Quantum Machines bought QDevil to strengthen its control electronics – an essential layer for all modalities. Quantum Design International acquired Oxford Instruments NanoScience, locking up a supplier of cryogenics and magnet systems that many competitors depend on.

D-Wave, historically focused on annealing, has signaled it will enter the M&A game to expand into hybrid and universal approaches, potentially changing its competitive positioning entirely.

A wave of consolidation is starting to ripple through quantum computing as well-funded leaders move beyond organic R&D to buy their way into critical capabilities. These deals are not about near-term revenue-they are strategic plays to secure enabling technologies, lock down scarce talent, and expand IP coverage before competitors can. IonQ has been the most aggressive, assembling a multi-modality portfolio through acquisitions in trapped ions, photonics, and quantum networking.

D-Wave, meanwhile, has signaled active interest in M&A as a lever to strengthen its technology stack and broaden its customer reach, positioning itself to compete more directly outside its annealing niche.

 

Recent Strategic Acquisitions in Quantum Computing (2022–2025)

Where This M&A Race is Headed

If the last 18 months were about planting flags, the next 18 will be about closing gaps. Expect three clear patterns:

1. More vertical integration at the stack level: Players with strong core processors will buy their way into the subsystems they do not control – cryogenics, control electronics, photonic interconnects, quantum memory – to reduce supply risk and lock out rivals. IonQ’s moves are the playbook here, and others will follow.
2. Cross-modality hedging: No one is certain which hardware modality will win. The safest strategy for companies with capital will be to hold options in multiple approaches. That could mean acquiring or partnering with startups in neutral atoms, photonics, or silicon spin qubits while continuing to invest in their own core modality.
3. Application-layer roll-ups: As soon as early quantum advantage appears in a vertical (materials, logistics, finance), expect a rush to acquire the software companies and domain specialists who can turn raw compute into turnkey solutions for customers. The first hardware player to own both the compute and the killer app will be positioned to capture outsize market share fast.

8.0 Conclusion

Quantum computing is no longer an abstract research pursuit. It is becoming a strategic race with governments, corporations, and investors backing competing approaches at scale. The market is moving through clear phases, from today’s noisy intermediate systems to the pursuit of practical advantage and ultimately fault-tolerant architectures. Across superconducting, ion trap, photonic, annealing, and emerging modalities, the engineering challenges are known, but the pathways to overcoming them remain contested.

Intellectual property is the decisive battleground. The companies that control defensible claims around core modalities, cross-cutting subsystems, and critical applications will define who captures long-term leadership. Capital alone will not decide the winners. Success will depend on the alignment of validated technology, protected IP, capital efficiency, and go-to-market execution.

The competitive landscape reflects a field still in flux. Established tech giants, ambitious startups, and government-backed ventures are all pursuing leadership, each with different strategies and risk profiles. Some companies are racing to scale qubits, others to perfect error correction, and still others to carve out ownership of applications like optimization, simulation, and cryptography.

The next stage of the quantum era will not be decided by incremental hardware milestones alone. It will be shaped by who can integrate IP, technology, and commercialization into a coherent strategy. Those who succeed will not only lead the industry but will also reshape entire sectors of the global economy.