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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/cmos-image-sensor-optical-sensor-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Sensors & MEMSCMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor Patents: Who Holds the Ground
- Filing has cooled, not grown. activity peaked at 71 filings in 2019 and sat at 54 by the 2022 midpoint — this is a plateauing field, not an emerging one.
- Two IPC subclasses carry the field. H01L (714 records) and H04N (709 records) dominate, while G01S positioning and G01J radiation-measurement claims trail far behind at 157 and 36.
- The largest assignees went quiet in the latest year. Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Samsung, Apple, TSMC, OmniVision and Microsoft all show zero filings in the most recent year, several down -100% YoY.
1,113
Published Records
26%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-14%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (63 records) with 2024 (54) — 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 1,113 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent families at the intersection of CMOS image sensor pixel architecture and dedicated optical-sensing functions — SPAD detection, time-of-flight ranging, multispectral capture and photodiode-array readout — filtered to the IPC classes that cover stacked-sensor semiconductor structure (H01L27/146), lidar-style ranging (G01S17/89) and pixel-array signal readout (H04N25). It spans filings from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, with 1,113 published records forming the assignee ranking.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the true filing rate — read the tail as a floor, not a ceiling.
Filing activity by year, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,113 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
A field that has already plateaued
Filings rose from 48 in 2017 to a peak of 71 in 2019, then eased back toward 54 at the 2022 midpoint — a flat-to-declining trajectory rather than sustained growth. Treat the final one or two years as undercounted given publication lag.
Claim weight sits in semiconductor structure and readout
H01L (714) and H04N (709) between them touch nearly every record, meaning most claims target either the pixel/photodiode stack itself or the signal readout and video-communication path. G01S positioning (157) and G02B optics (117) form a secondary tier; G06T image processing (75), H10D/H10P general semiconductor (66/60) and G01J radiation measurement (36) are comparatively thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,113 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about cmos image sensor optical sensor and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
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The prior art doing the most work
Representative recent filing
CMOS image sensor and method for making the same (US20240355847A1)
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
A CMOS image sensor includes a unit pixel array including a photodiode array, a color filter array, a micro-lens array, and a grid isolation structure laterally separating adjacent color filters. The grid isolation structure includes a first low-n grid, a second low-n grid underlying the first low-n grid, and a metal grid within the second low-n grid, the first low-n grid being narrower than the second low-n grid. The color filter array includes color filter matrixes, all color filter matrixes have the same arrangement pattern. Sizes of color filters in each color filter matrix vary depending on locations of the color filters in the color filter matrix.Filed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, published 2024-10-24 — abstract truncated as filed.
Most-cited records in this corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7683954B2 | Solid-state image sensor | 432 |
| 2 | US8773562B1 | Vertically stacked image sensor | 355 |
| 3 | US20060138322A1 | Backside imaging through a doped layer | 232 |
| 4 | US6221687B1 | Color image sensor with embedded microlens array | 217 |
| 5 | US5909026A | Integrated sensor with frame memory and programmable resolution for light adaptive imaging | 197 |
| 6 | US6809358B2 | Photoconductor on active pixel image sensor | 194 |
| 7 | US5990506A | Active pixel sensors with substantially planarized color filtering elements | 192 |
| 8 | US6583398B2 | Image sensor | 183 |
| 9 | US20120044093A1 | Combined time-of-flight and image sensor systems | 162 |
| 10 | US6879340B1 | CMOS imager with integrated non-volatile memory | 155 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus skew toward older filings simply because they've had more time to accumulate citations — read this as a map of influence, not of current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers imply for strategy
Four read-throughs from the filing trend, IPC split and receiving-office data.
Filing momentum
71 → 54
peak (2019) vs. 2022 midpoint
Growth has already crested
The peak year for this dataset was 2019, not the most recent year. A midpoint value of 54 against a 71 peak signals a field settling into maintenance filing rather than a race for new ground.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Structural claims dominate
714 records
H01L semiconductor devices
The pixel stack is the most contested layer
Almost two-thirds of records touch H01L, meaning the physical photodiode/microlens/grid stack — not the downstream image-processing algorithm — is where claim density is highest and freedom to operate is tightest.
IPC composition
Geographic concentration
566 in US
of the six leading receiving offices
US filings dwarf other offices
With 566 US filings against 158 in Japan and 139 at the EPO, enforcement risk and prior-art density are heaviest in the US; China's 46 and Taiwan's 22 look comparatively open by filing volume alone.
Receiving office counts
Co-filing is rare
9 pairs
co-assignee pairs across 1,113 families
Joint ownership is the exception
Only nine co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, and the strongest links sit inside single corporate families (Sony's sensor units, Artilux and its affiliate) rather than across competitors — cross-company joint filing is not how this field is developing.
Co-assignee pairs
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cmos image sensor optical sensor, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Who's Filing
Assignee concentration and momentum
The ranking includes established sensor and foundry names alongside a long tail of single-filing entrants; recent-year activity looks different from cumulative rank.
Momentum signal
0 in latest year
across every top-cited assignee checked
The leaders paused, they didn't stop
OmniVision, TSMC, Microsoft, Apple, Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Samsung all show zero filings in the most recent year, with several posting -100% YoY. Given publication lag, this is as likely to reflect a filing-to-publication gap as a genuine pullback.
Recent-year momentum table
Corporate family filing
7 shared families
Sony Semiconductor Solutions + Sony Depth Sensing
Sony files across multiple internal entities
The strongest co-assignee link in the dataset sits between two Sony sensor entities, with a second Sony pairing close behind — a reminder to search across a target's full corporate family, not just its best-known filing entity.
Co-assignee pairs
Specialist entrants
4 shared families
Artilux + its Taiwanese affiliate
SPAD and time-of-flight specialists cluster tightly
Artilux's pairing with its affiliate is the only non-Sony link among the strongest co-assignee pairs, pointing to a small, tightly coordinated set of players in germanium-based SPAD and time-of-flight sensing rather than broad industry collaboration.
Co-assignee pairs
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| OmniVision Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. (TSMC) | 0 | — |
| Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Apple Inc. | 0 | — |
| Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Korea) | 0 | — |
| Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC (onsemi) | 0 | — |
| NEC Corporation | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a few concrete next steps depending on what you're deciding.
Map freedom to operate around the pixel stack
With 714 H01L records, any new photodiode, microlens or grid-isolation design should be checked against the densest claim territory in this corpus before committing to a structure.
Explore the full ranking in EurekaWatch for the publication-lag rebound
Zero-filing years from major assignees may reverse once pending applications publish; re-run this landscape in 6–12 months to see whether the plateau holds.
Set up monitoring in EurekaTest claims against the under-claimed branches
G01J calibration and SPAD-to-CMOS hybrid stacking show thinner filing density than the core pixel-array claims — worth a targeted prior-art search before drafting.
Run a white-space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on this landscape
The ranking is concentrated among established sensor and foundry names — Sony's sensor entities, Samsung, OmniVision, TSMC, Apple and Microsoft all appear near the top of cumulative filings. However, recent-year momentum data shows most of these same names at zero filings in the latest year, so cumulative rank and current activity tell different stories. Anyone assessing competitive threat should look at both the historical count and the trend line, not just the leaderboard position.
No — filings peaked at 71 in 2019 and had eased to 54 by the 2022 midpoint, indicating a flat-to-declining trajectory rather than continued growth. Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years will always undercount true filing activity, so the decline may be somewhat less steep than the raw chart suggests. Even allowing for that lag, the field looks mature rather than expanding.
H01L covers the physical semiconductor device — the photodiode array, microlens layout and grid-isolation structure that make up the pixel itself. H04N covers pictorial communication, which in this context largely means signal readout, pixel addressing and the video-communication path downstream of the sensor. Both subclasses appear in the majority of records, meaning most patents in this field claim structure and readout together rather than one in isolation.
Filing density is thin in G01J radiation-and-light measurement (36 records) relative to the 714 in H01L and 709 in H04N, and specific branches — multispectral filter-array integration, photodiode-array crosstalk suppression, and SPAD-to-CMOS hybrid stacking — show comparatively few dedicated claims. These are not guaranteed-open areas, but they carry far less claim density than the core pixel-stack and readout territory, making them a reasonable starting point for a differentiated filing strategy.
US7683954B2, titled 'Solid-state image sensor,' is the most-cited record in this corpus at 432 citations, making it the most influential piece of prior art to review first. High citation count within a searched corpus reflects age and influence more than current enforceability, so pair a review of this patent with a check of its current legal status and any continuations before drawing conclusions about live risk.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on CMOS Image Sensor Optical Sensor covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.