Electron Beam Inspection Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast Patents
One filer dominates. the leading assignee alone holds 1,317 of the 2,172 records in scope, and the top five combined reach 81.7% of the field. Annual filings climbed from 48 in 2017 to a peak of 322 in 2021, then declined to 174 by 2024 — a 46% drop over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a continued fall.
- 1ASML NETHERLANDS BV1,317
- 2KLA CORP152
- 3ICT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TESTING GESELLSCHAFT FUER HALBLEITERPRUEFTECHNIK GMBH128
- 4APPL MATERIALS ISRAEL LTD89
- 5EBARA CORP88
See the full electron beam inspection and voltage contrast 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 electron beam inspection and voltage contrast?
One assignee holds a clear majority position, with 1,317 of the 2,172 records in scope in this dataset. The next four largest filers combined bring the top five to 81.7% of all records, so ownership is heavily concentrated rather than spread across many companies. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should start with that leading filer’s claim scope before looking further down the ranking.
Is electron beam inspection patent activity growing or shrinking?
Filing activity rose steadily from 48 records in 2017 to a peak of 322 in 2021, then fell 46% to 174 by 2024, which is the most recent year with a complete publication record. That decline reflects the core claim space becoming saturated rather than the technology losing relevance industrially. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so they should not be read as evidence of a continuing drop.
What IPC classes matter most for electron beam inspection patents?
H01J, covering electron and discharge tubes, appears in 76.3% of the 2,172 records and is by far the dominant classification. G01N material analysis and testing follows at 20.3%, and H01L semiconductor devices at 12.9%. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, and they indicate where claim density is concentrated, not where the market itself is largest.
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 Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast 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.