Atomic Force Microscopy Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 31.1% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees together hold 356 of the 1,144 records in scope, with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them.
- Scanning-probe measurement dominates the claim space. G01Q covers 50.1% of records, more than double the next largest class, G01N material analysis at 22.2%.
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak of 67. The 2021-to-2024 window shows a 20% decline (45 to 36), though 2025-2026 counts are still filling in due to publication lag.
Filing growth compares 2021 (45 records) with 2024 (36) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,144 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 1,144 published patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine core atomic force microscopy terms — tapping mode, force spectroscopy, liquid imaging — with the operating parameters that separate a working instrument from a bench prototype: cantilever spring constant, tip wear, feedback gain and imaging speed. The scope is deliberately narrow to the mode and control layer of AFM rather than every scanning-probe patent on file, which is why the leading IPC class is scanning-probe measurement itself (G01Q) rather than a downstream application area.
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 67 records and has since eased, with 2021's 45 filings falling to 36 by 2024 — a complete three-year window that shows real cooling rather than an artifact of publication lag. Receiving-office data points to the United States and the PCT route as the primary filing paths, with Europe a distant third and national filings in Germany, Canada and Austria rounding out the picture.
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Filing trends and technology composition
The trend line and the IPC breakdown below are drawn from the same 1,144-record scope, so the class shares can be read directly against the filing curve.
A 2019 peak, then a real decline
Filings rose from 47 in 2017 to a peak of 67 in 2019, then eased across the following years. The 2021-to-2024 span, the last window unaffected by publication lag, shows a 20% drop from 45 to 36 filings — a genuine slowdown in new mode-and-control filings rather than a data artifact.
Scanning-probe measurement dominates, application classes trail
G01Q (scanning-probe & nanometric measuring) appears in 50.1% of the 1,144 records, roughly double G01N (material analysis, 22.2%) and nearly four times G01B (length measurement, 13.1%). Application-adjacent classes — B82Y nanotechnology, C12Q bio-assay, H01L semiconductor and A61K pharmaceutical — each sit in the 4-7% range, evidence that AFM mode patents cluster around the instrument itself rather than any single downstream use.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,144 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Atomic Force Microscopy Modes with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about atomic force microscopy modes and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim and the most-cited prior art
Interatomic force measurements using passively drift-compensated, in-situ calibrated AFM
Filed by Ohuesorge, Frank Michael, this patent describes measuring interatomic forces with subatomic lateral resolution using non-contact AFM that is passively thermal-drift compensated and operable in liquid environments. Calibration relies on a CaCO3 crystal's pressure-induced phase transition as an independent force anchor point on the force-versus-distance curve.Granted 2013-05-14; illustrates how far mode-level AFM claims can reach into calibration methodology and force-curve interpretation, not just imaging.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20040245547A1 | Ultra low-cost solid-state memory | 254 |
| 2 | US20180270474A1 | Optical imaging system and methods thereof | 236 |
| 3 | US7463502B2 | Ultra low-cost solid-state memory | 205 |
| 4 | US6066265A | Micromachined silicon probe for scanning probe microscopy | 123 |
| 5 | US6016693A | Microfabrication of cantilevers using sacrificial templates | 118 |
| 6 | US6189374B1 | Active probe for an atomic force microscope and method of use thereof | 110 |
| 7 | US20130191250A1 | System and method for augmented reality using multi-modal sensory recognition from artifacts of interest | 105 |
| 8 | US20120120226A1 | Transmission electron microscopy for imaging live cells | 104 |
| 9 | US20080276695A1 | Non-destructive wafer-scale sub-surface ultrasonic microscopy employing near field AFM detection | 104 |
| 10 | US5750989A | Scanning probe microscope for use in fluids | 103 |
Citation counts favour older filings by construction; treat them as markers of influence on later filers, not as evidence of present-day relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns matter more than any single ranking: where claim density sits, how concentrated ownership is, and what the recent filing curve is actually saying.
Ownership is concentrated but not locked up
The five leading assignees hold 356 of the 1,144 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 40.3% (461 records). That leaves close to 60% of the field spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants, including universities and individual inventors.
Claim density sits on the instrument, not the application
Scanning-probe measurement (G01Q) touches half of all records, more than the next several classes combined would suggest. Application classes like A61K (medicinal) and H01L (semiconductor) each sit around 5%, meaning most protection covers the mode-control mechanism itself rather than a specific use case.
A real cooling after the 2019 peak
Filings peaked at 67 in 2019 and had fallen to 36 by 2024, a complete and comparable three-year window showing a 20% decline from 2021's 45. This predates any publication-lag effect, so it reads as genuine reduced filing appetite rather than incomplete data.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to atomic force microscopy modes, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders span instrument manufacturers, national labs and universities. Recent-year momentum data shows several top assignees at zero filings in the latest tracked year, consistent with the field's overall cooling rather than any single company's retreat.
A clear top filer, still active historically
The leading assignee's 235 records dominate the ranking on their own, roughly 20% of the entire 1,144-record scope. Momentum data shows 0 filings in the latest tracked year for this assignee, a -100% YoY figure that is consistent with the sector-wide 2021-2024 decline rather than a company-specific exit.
A steep drop after the top few
Fifth place holds 25 records and tenth place 20, a much shallower slope than the gap to the leader. This mid-field is where universities and national labs cluster, filing steadily but at a fraction of the top assignee's volume.
Co-filing is limited and concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairs each recording 11-12 shared filings. Co-filing here mostly links an instrument manufacturer with an academic partner, suggesting most companies patent AFM modes independently rather than through joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Bruker Nano Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Veeco Instruments Inc | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | -100% |
| International Business Machines Corporation | 0 | — |
| UT-Battelle, LLC | 0 | — |
| SU CHANMIN | 0 | — |
| Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) | 0 | -100% |
| University Court of the University of St Andrews | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with occupied core claims and thinner coverage at the edges. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate or a fresh filing.
Map claim boundaries around the leader's 235 records
Before filing anything touching feedback gain or tip-wear compensation, check how far the top assignee's claim language extends, since it covers roughly a fifth of the entire scope on its own.
Explore claim scope in EurekaTest white-space branches for real freedom-to-operate
Classes under 8% of records, like C12Q bio-assay coupling or A61K medicinal applications, look open on volume alone but need a proper prior-art check before assuming they are clear.
Run a white-space search in EurekaWatch for renewed filing after the 2024 low
With 2025-2026 data still incomplete due to publication lag, any new filing surge will only become visible in the next data refresh; tracking it early matters for competitive positioning.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about AFM mode patents
One assignee leads the ranking with 235 records out of 1,144 in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 25 and tenth place at 20. The top five combined account for 31.1% of all records, and the top ten reach 40.3%. Beyond that mid-field, ownership spreads across a long tail of universities, national labs and single-filing inventors, so no single company controls the field outright.
Filings peaked in 2019 at 67 and have since declined; the most recent complete comparison window, 2021 to 2024, shows a drop from 45 to 36 filings, a 20% decrease. Data for 2025 and 2026 is still incomplete because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so those years will rise as more records publish. Treat the 2021-2024 figure as the most reliable recent signal rather than the raw yearly counts near the cut-off.
Scanning-probe and nanometric measurement, IPC class G01Q, appears in 50.1% of the 1,144 records, making it by far the densest claim area. Material analysis and testing (G01N) follows at 22.2%, and length/dimension measurement (G01B) at 13.1%. Application-specific classes like semiconductor devices, medicinal preparations and enzyme/DNA testing each sit in the 4-7% range, meaning most patent activity protects the instrument and control mechanism rather than a specific end use.
The IPC classes with the lowest record shares in this scope, including enzyme/DNA-coupled measurement (C12Q at 5.6%), instrument-detail subsystems (G12B at 4.5%) and medicinal-preparation applications (A61K at 5.1%), carry noticeably less claim density than the core scanning-probe class. That does not mean these areas are empty, but a new filing anchored in one of them faces a shallower prior-art landscape than one competing directly in G01Q. A proper freedom-to-operate search against the leading assignees' portfolios is still necessary before committing to any of these branches.
This patent, filed by Ohuesorge, Frank Michael, claims a method for measuring interatomic forces with subatomic lateral resolution using non-contact AFM that compensates for thermal drift and operates in liquid environments, calibrated against a CaCO3 crystal's pressure-induced phase transition. It matters because it reaches beyond imaging into calibration methodology and force-curve interpretation, a layer that many later liquid-imaging and force-spectroscopy filings have to navigate around. Anyone developing subatomic-resolution or liquid-environment AFM calibration methods should review its claim scope directly rather than assume it only covers imaging hardware.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.