Droplet Single Cell Partitioning Patents: Who Leads 2026
Droplet Based Single Cell Partitioning Patents: Concentration, Trends and Open Claim Space
82.6% concentration. The top five assignees hold 147 of 178 records in scope — a field where the claim map is already dominated by a small group. Filings peaked at 36 in 2018, well above the 4-in-2017 starting point, then settled into a lower and steadier band; the 2021-to-2024 span moved from 5 to 4 filings, a -20% change over three years, with 2026 (1 filing so far) still an open year.
- 1BECTON DICKINSON & CO59
- 2RGT UNIV OF CALIFORNIA38
- 310X GENOMICS INC28
- 4CELLULAR RESEARCH INC12
- 5THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIV10
See the full droplet based single cell partitioning 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 this landscape
Who holds the most patents in droplet based single cell partitioning?
One assignee leads with 59 of the 178 records in this dataset, well ahead of the field. The top five assignees combined hold 147 records, or 82.6% of everything in scope, and the top ten reach 96.6%. This is a steep concentration curve: a handful of organisations control almost all the documented claim space, while the remaining companies on the 23-name ranked list hold only a few records each.
Is patent filing in this space growing or slowing down?
Filing peaked in 2018 at 36 records and has settled to a much lower level since. The most recent fully comparable span, 2021 to 2024, shows filings moving from 5 to 4, a -20% change. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so it is too early to call the field flat or shrinking based on the newest years alone.
What technology areas do these patents cover besides the droplet hardware itself?
The largest IPC subclass is C12Q, covering enzyme and DNA measurement methods, present in 69.1% of the 178 records, followed by C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) at 45.5%. Lab apparatus (B01L, 18.0%) and mixing equipment (B01F, 13.5%) cover the physical partitioning hardware. Smaller shares in combinatorial libraries, fermentation, material analysis and bioreactor apparatus show the field extends into downstream processing well beyond the droplet-generation step itself.
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 Droplet Based Single Cell Partitioning 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.