The impact that fundamental physics is having on the future of technology is raising new legal and strategic challenges for intellectual property. The year 2025, designated as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, represented a high point for physics, in which abstract concepts that once remained confined to laboratories and universities moved to the forefront of industrial planning and corporate intellectual property portfolios.
This new focus has triggered an explosion in patent activity. International patent families related to quantum technologies have increased roughly sevenfold since 2005, with annual growth of 20% since 2014. This activity is no longer just about devices; it is about owning the methods to control physics itself.
One of the most significant examples is the work of the 2025 Nobel Prize laureates in Physics John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis. They discovered that quantum tunnelling and energy quantisation (phenomena once thought to exist only in atoms and subatomic particles) could be replicated in macroscopic superconducting circuits. This breakthrough laid the foundations of modern quantum computing, transforming pure physics into protectable—and highly valuable—intellectual property.
We are witnessing a rapid transformation of scientific discovery into commercial assets. The high frequency with which quantum patents cite non-patent literature (around 33% of the time—almost double that of fields such as information technology) demonstrates that innovation arises directly from cutting-edge research in fundamental physics. This is reflected in the profile of inventors and right holders in the sector: more than 58% of founders of “pure” quantum companies hold a PhD, compared to just 10% in the general population of company founders.
Many of these patents operate along the blurred line that separates a law of nature (a universal principle that cannot be patented) from an invention, which is patentable. Thus, obtaining a strong patent in the field of quantum physics does not depend solely on the invention of a new device, but also on the patentability of the physical platforms that enable that invention. In this context, a global race is underway between governments and corporations to dominate the main hardware platforms, whether based on trapped ions, photonics or superconducting circuits, to name a few. Within quantum physics, and looking more closely, a shift in the focus of innovation can also be observed: while quantum communication dominated the past decade, in 2022 quantum computing overtook it, becoming the main driver of patent growth and new company creation.
In this race for dominance in quantum technology, the United States remains in the lead. American leadership is not based solely on innovation, but also on disproportionate funding: although Europe hosts a dense cluster of startups, nearly 60% of all private venture capital funding for quantum companies has gone to US firms, driven by significantly larger investment rounds than their European counterparts. Despite this economic imbalance, Europe is not falling behind; with Germany, the United Kingdom and France leading the way, it already accounts for around 25% of international patent families, approaching the United States’ 30%.
To further complicate the legal and strategic landscape, this activity is driven by a complex ecosystem made up of universities, startups and large corporations. While public research organisations still account for around 20% of all international patent families, they are increasingly joined by major corporations such as Google and IBM, as well as specialised startups like Quantinuum and C12, which are building extensive IP portfolios around specific physical systems.
The policy response to this reality has been swift. More than 30 countries have launched national quantum initiatives, committing an estimated total of USD 55.7 billion. These funds are not only aimed at financing basic research, but also at promoting the commercialisation and industrial applications of the resulting discoveries.
Within the field of intellectual property, the overall trend is clear: the principles of quantum physics are being systematically translated into a landscape of defensible and highly profitable patent claims. As progress in quantum technologies enters an increasingly advanced phase, the question is no longer whether quantum physics can be engineered, but who will own the intellectual property that will define its future.
Article by Alexandre Pinsach.
Published in El Español.
