Cardiovascular Device Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 30.0% of all 1,533 records sit with the five leading assignees, with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them.
- Filing fell 39% from 59 records in 2021 to 36 in 2024 — the last year the trend can be read as complete.
- Sterilising and coating claims (A61L) cover 35.5% of records, ahead of implant/prosthesis claims (A61F) at 31.2% — surface treatment is the densest single layer of prior art.
Filing growth compares 2021 (59 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 1,533 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape draws on 1,533 published records filed or published between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, matched on cardiovascular device terms combined with claim language around device geometry, implant material, fixation elements, physiological interface, surgical procedure, and biocompatible material. The scope spans mechanical implant hardware, drug-eluting and coated surfaces, and the surgical procedures used to place and retrieve devices — a deliberately broad net across a field where a single device often carries claims in several of these areas at once.
Because the search terms cut across mechanical, pharmacological and surface-chemistry claim language, the composition data below should be read as overlapping layers rather than discrete buckets — a stent patent claiming both a fixation element and a drug coating will show up in more than one class.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,533 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim volume today.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings peaked at 96 in 2017 and have since eased; the 2021-to-2024 span shows a 39% decline (59 to 36 records), the most recent period that can be read as complete. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the final one or two years in the chart will fill in as later disclosures publish and should not yet be read as a continued fall.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
A61L (sterilising and disinfecting) leads at 35.5% of the 1,533 records, narrowly ahead of A61K (medicinal preparations, 31.9%) and A61F (implants and prostheses, 31.2%). Diagnosis and surgery claims (A61B) sit at 27.4%, with electrotherapy (A61N) and heterocyclic-compound claims (C07D) trailing at 11.4% and 8.6% respectively — evidence that surface and coating chemistry is claimed at least as densely as the mechanical hardware itself.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,533 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Cardiovascular Devices Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about cardiovascular devices patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this landscape
Method for immobilizing heparin and NO-generating catalyst on a cardiovascular device surface
This record (US20210154373A1, filed by Ajou University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation) describes co-immobilizing a heparin-phenol derivative and copper nanoparticles acting as a NO-generating catalyst onto a device surface via a polyphenol oxidase-mediated reaction, producing a surface intended to reduce thrombogenicity on implanted material.Abstract trimmed for length; see the full filing for complete claim scope.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5985307A | Device and method for non-occlusive localized drug delivery | 1,399 |
| 2 | US5709874A | Device for local drug delivery and methods for using the same | 1,337 |
| 3 | US20070061393A1 | Management of health care data | 1,132 |
| 4 | US20040176672A1 | Implantable, retrievable, thrombus minimizing sensors | 1,059 |
| 5 | US20140163664A1 | Integrated system for the ballistic and nonballistic infixion and retrieval of implants with or without drug … | 967 |
| 6 | US6468660B2 | Biocompatible adhesives | 830 |
| 7 | US5897553A | Ball point fluid-assisted electrocautery device | 710 |
| 8 | US20060079740A1 | Sensors for detecting substances indicative of stroke, ischemia, or myocardial infarction | 683 |
| 9 | US20100286791A1 | Integrated system for the ballistic and nonballistic infixion and retrieval of implants | 630 |
| 10 | US5443481A | Methods and device for percutaneous sealing of arterial puncture sites | 572 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — read them as a signal of influence on later work, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing data actually indicates
Four readings of the dataset that matter more for a filing decision than the raw counts on their own.
Leadership is concentrated but not locked
The five leading assignees hold 30.0% of all 1,533 records in scope, and the ten leading assignees hold 42.5%. That leaves the majority of filing activity spread across a long tail of smaller and single-filing entrants — a field where a leader position exists but is far from exclusive.
Filing activity has cooled from its 2017 peak
Filings peaked at 96 records in 2017 and dropped to 36 by 2024, a 39% decline from the 2021 level of 59. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional: publication lag of roughly 18 months means the most recent filing years are still being reported.
Surface chemistry is claimed as densely as hardware
Sterilising and disinfecting claims (A61L) appear in 35.5% of the 1,533 records, ahead of implant and prosthesis claims (A61F) at 31.2%. For anyone designing a new device, the coating and surface-treatment layer is at least as occupied as the mechanical structure itself.
Co-filing is limited and clustered around one assignee
Only ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest links all involve the same corporate assignee paired with different named inventors — a pattern more consistent with in-house inventor teams than cross-company joint development.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cardiovascular devices patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
The assignee landscape
The ranking behind this page covers 100 companies, counted by patent family. The leader holds 127 records; fifth place holds 66; tenth place holds 33 — a steep drop from the top of the ranking into the mid-table, then a long, flatter tail below it.
One assignee sets the pace
The leading assignee's 127 records are nearly double the fifth-place total of 66, indicating a filing programme built over years rather than a recent surge. Recent-year momentum data shows this leader at 0 filings in the latest year and a -100% year-on-year change — consistent with the broader publication lag rather than a sudden exit.
The drop-off from top five to top ten is steep
Filing count falls from 66 at fifth place to 33 at tenth — roughly half — showing that the top ten combined figure of 42.5% of all 1,533 records is carried disproportionately by the first five names, not spread evenly across the group.
Co-filing is rare and concentrated
The strongest co-assignee links in the dataset all pair one corporate assignee with individual named inventors, capped at 12 shared records. This looks like internal inventor attribution rather than cross-organisation joint filing, so a partnership strategy built on visible co-assignee patterns would find little precedent here.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins University | 0 | — |
| Medtronic, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| ANGIOTECH INT AG (CH) | 0 | — |
| Proteus Digital Health, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Eisai R&D Management Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Toleikis (individual inventor entity) | 0 | — |
| Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| DSM IP Assets B.V. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the field as it stands in the data. Turning them into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going record by record.
Check claim scope on the most-cited records
The highest-citation records in this dataset, including US5985307A and US5709874A, set precedent that later filings still cite. Before drafting near non-occlusive localized drug delivery, read their independent claims in full.
Explore in Eureka →Map the white space chips against your own claims
The under-claimed sub-areas listed above are starting points, not conclusions. Run a targeted search against your own device geometry or fixation approach to confirm the space is actually open.
Run a search in Eureka →Track the leading assignees' recent activity
Recent-year momentum figures show several leading assignees at zero filings in the latest year, which may reflect publication lag rather than withdrawal. Monitor their pipelines directly rather than relying on the most recent year alone.
Set up monitoring in Eureka →Cardiovascular device patents: common questions
In this dataset the leading assignee holds 127 of the 1,533 records in scope, with the next four leading assignees bringing the combined top-five share to 30.0% of all records. Beyond the top ten, which together hold 42.5% of records, filing activity spreads across a long tail of smaller and single-filing entrants. This pattern is typical of a mature device field: an established leader with meaningful but not dominant share, and many companies filing narrowly around specific improvements.
Filing peaked at 96 records in 2017 and had fallen to 36 by 2024, a 39% decline over the 2021-to-2024 span. Because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a continued decline. 2024 is the most recent year that can reasonably be treated as a complete data point.
Sterilising and coating-related claims under IPC class A61L appear in 35.5% of the 1,533 records in scope, making surface treatment the single most densely claimed area. Implant and prosthesis structure (A61F, 31.2%) and diagnosis-and-surgery claims (A61B, 27.4%) follow closely behind. Because a single filing can carry claims across several of these classes at once, the shares overlap rather than summing to 100%, which is expected given how devices combine structural, surgical and surface-chemistry claims.
US20210154373A1, filed by Ajou University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, covers a method for co-immobilizing a heparin-phenol derivative together with copper nanoparticles acting as a nitric-oxide-generating catalyst onto a device surface, using a polyphenol oxidase-mediated reaction, plus the resulting surface-modified material and any cardiovascular device built with it. It sits squarely in the surface-chemistry layer of the landscape rather than the mechanical implant structure. Anyone developing a thromboresistant coating using a similar heparin-plus-NO-catalyst mechanism should review its full claim set for overlap before proceeding.
Based on the technology composition data, claim density is highest in sterilising/coating and implant-structure classes, while narrower combinations — such as retrievable sensor fixation elements or electrotherapy-integrated implant interfaces — show comparatively lower density in this dataset. That does not guarantee freedom to operate, since class-level counts do not capture claim-by-claim overlap, but it does flag areas worth a closer look before assuming the space is occupied. A proper freedom-to-operate check still requires reading the individual claims in the relevant records.
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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.