Advanced Metering and Data Analytics Patents: Top Filers & Trends 2026
Advanced Metering and Data Analytics Patents: Who Files, What They Claim
48.4% concentration. The top five assignees account for 816 of the 1,687 records in scope, so freedom-to-operate work in this field starts with a small set of portfolios, not a broad field of small filers. Filings rose from 83 records in 2017 to a peak of 125 in 2020, then fell 32% from 90 records in 2021 to 61 in 2024 — the most recent year that can be treated as complete given the roughly 18-month publication lag.
- 1ITRON INC298
- 2ITRON GLOBAL SARL232
- 3GENERAL ELECTRIC CO142
- 4CAUSAM ENERGY INC75
- 5TRILLIANT NETWORKS INC69
See the full advanced metering and data analytics analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on this landscape
Who are the leading patent holders in advanced metering and data analytics?
Patent activity in this field is concentrated: the top-ranked assignee alone holds 298 of the 1,687 records in scope, and the top five combined account for 48.4% of all records. The drop-off is steep rather than gradual — fifth place holds 69 records and tenth place 37 — so a small number of large utility-technology and meter-manufacturing companies dominate the filing base. Anyone assessing competitive position in this space should start by mapping those leading portfolios rather than assuming a fragmented field.
Is patent filing in smart meter and AMI technology slowing down?
Filings peaked at 125 records in 2020 and fell to 61 by 2024, a 32% decline from the 2021 level of 90 records. However, patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete and should not yet be read as confirming a continued slowdown. The safest reading is that activity has cooled from its 2020 peak, with the most recent trend still an open question.
What technology areas dominate advanced metering patent claims?
Digital information transmission (H04L) appears in 33.8% of the 1,687 records in scope, and wireless communication networks (H04W) in 20.3%, both ahead of the metrology-specific classes G01R (16.5%) and G01D (13.1%). This shows that most patent claims in this field are framed around data transmission and network architecture rather than the physical measurement hardware itself. A record can carry multiple IPC classes, so these percentages overlap rather than summing to 100%.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Advanced Metering and Data Analytics covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.