Cryo-EM Sample Preparation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Cryo-EM Sample Preparation Patents: Concentration at the Top, a Long Tail Below
66.4% of all 137 records sit with just five assignees — the top 10 combined account for 95.6%, leaving little room among the ranked leaders. Annual publications climbed from 10 in 2017 toward a peak of 22 in 2022. The 2021-to-2024 span shows a 20% increase (5 to 6 records at those two points), which is the safest recent growth read in the set — 2025 and 2026 are undercounted because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, not because activity has stopped.
- 1WISCONSIN ALUMNI RES FOUND23
- 2MITEGEN LLC19
- 3THE SCRIPPS RES INST19
- 4EURO LAB FUER MOLEKULARBIOLOGIE EMBL15
- 5BIONTECH SE15
See the full cryo-em sample preparation 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 cryo-EM sample preparation patents
How concentrated is the cryo-EM sample preparation patent field?
It is concentrated at the top. Five assignees account for 66.4% of all 137 records in scope, and the top 10 combined reach 95.6%. The remaining assignees among the 51 ranked companies each hold small, often single-digit shares, so the field is best described as a leader plus a cluster plus a long tail rather than an evenly distributed market.
What patent classes cover cryo-EM grid and vitrification technology?
The dominant classes are G01N (material analysis and testing), present in 59.9% of the 137 records, and H01J (electron and discharge tubes), present in 35.8%. A secondary cluster sits in A61K and A61P, medicinal preparations and therapeutic activity classes, each near a fifth of records, reflecting filings where cryo-EM characterisation supports drug formulation claims. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should be read against the 137-record total, not against each other.
Is patent filing activity in cryo-EM sample preparation still growing?
The clearest recent comparison shows a 20% increase in filings between 2021 and 2024, with 2022 standing as the peak year on record at 22 published families. Filing counts for 2025 and 2026 currently look low, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than a genuine slowdown. A fair read of momentum should rely on the 2021-2024 window rather than the two most recent years.
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 Cryo-EM Sample Preparation 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.