Document and Chart Understanding Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
Document and chart understanding patents: who is filing, and where the field is still open
Concentration is moderate, not extreme. the ranked leader holds 193 records but the top 5 combined account for only 21.4% of all 3,028 records in scope — a long tail of filers still has room to build position. Recorded filings moved from 26 in 2017 to a peak of 395 in 2024, with the 2021-to-2024 span alone showing a +147% increase. 2025 and 2026 figures will continue to rise as publications catch up with filing dates, given the roughly 18-month lag between the two; they should not be read as a slowdown.
- 1UIPATH INC6.4%
- 2MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC6.4%
- 3RICOH CO LTD3.1%
- 4THE STRATEGIC COACH2.8%
- 5INTUIT INC2.7%
See the full document and chart understanding 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 about this landscape
Who holds the most patents in document and chart understanding?
The ranked leader in this dataset holds 193 records, well ahead of the fifth-placed assignee at 83 and tenth place at 71. That said, the top 5 assignees combined account for only 21.4% of the 3,028 records in scope, so no single company controls the field. A freedom-to-operate review should look past the leaderboard to the long tail of single- and double-digit filers, since a specific blocking claim is just as likely to sit there.
Is the patent filing trend in document understanding still growing?
Recorded filings grew from 160 in 2021 to 395 in 2024, a +147% increase, and 2024 is the highest year on record. Figures for 2025 and 2026 appear lower in the raw trend, but that is expected: publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years are always undercounted at the time of any snapshot. The safe reading is that the field kept accelerating at least through 2024, not that it is cooling.
What technology areas dominate document and chart understanding patents?
By IPC subclass, general digital data processing (G06F) appears on 50.6% of the 3,028 records and image and video recognition (G06V) on 40.4%, making these the two dominant claim areas. Data recognition and presentation (G06K) and AI-based computing (G06N) follow at 29.7% and 19.5% respectively. Narrower application areas, such as healthcare informatics at 4.1%, are comparatively underdeveloped, which points to where domain-specific filings could still find open claim space.
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 Document and Chart Understanding 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.