Event-Based Vision Sensor Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Filing has cooled, not grown. activity peaked at 5 families in 2024 after a flat middle stretch (2 in 2022), and every tracked assignee shows zero filings in the latest year — a sign the field is either consolidating around existing claims or waiting on the next sensing generation.
- The US is the dominant filing venue. 15 of 20 families were filed at the USPTO versus 4 at the EPO and 1 in China, so freedom-to-operate work should start with US prosecution history, not global filings.
- One citation cluster dominates influence. a single family on dynamic vision sensor architecture (105 citations) draws more than triple the citations of any other record in the set, marking it as the reference point examiners and competitors already build around.
What the dataset covers
This landscape tracks 20 patent families filed against event-based vision sensor, event camera and dynamic vision sensor terminology, narrowed to filings that also carry classification in H04N25/47, H01L27/146 or G01J1 — the pictorial-communication, semiconductor-device and radiation-measurement subclasses that event-driven optical sensing sits across. Coverage runs from 2015 through the July 2026 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months, the most recent filing year in any trend line is understated and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.
Every family in this set carries an H04N classification, and G01J, G06F and G06T each appear in eight families — pointing to a sensor architecture that is claimed jointly with downstream image and data processing rather than as a standalone optical component. H01L appears only once, suggesting semiconductor-level pixel design is comparatively under-claimed relative to the systems layer built on top of it.
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Filing trend and classification spread
The two views below cover the same 20 families from different angles: one shows when they were filed, the other shows what technical ground they claim.
Filings by year
Activity opened at 4 families in 2017, dipped through the middle of the period (2 in 2022), and rose to a peak of 5 in 2024 before falling off — with 2025-2026 figures still incomplete due to publication lag. There is no sustained multi-year uptrend in this dataset.
IPC subclass composition
H04N (pictorial communication) appears in all 20 families, with G01J, G06F and G06T each present in 8 — evidence that claims are typically drafted across sensing and processing together. H01L, the pure semiconductor-device class, appears only once.
Shares are the percentage of the 20 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Event-Based Vision Sensor Optical Sensor with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about event-based vision sensor optical sensor and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this set
Method of processing data for dynamic vision sensor, dynamic vision sensor performing the same and electronic device including the same
The filing describes detecting changes of light with a dynamic vision sensor to output event frames, converting those event frames into at least one image frame through a data format conversion, and compressing the resulting image frame. It frames the core pipeline connecting asynchronous event capture to a conventional image-compression output.Filed by Samsung Electronics, published 2019-11-28.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20180191972A1 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 105 |
| 2 | US20190364230A1 | Method of processing data for dynamic vision sensor, dynamic vision sensor performing the same and electronic… | 34 |
| 3 | US10567679B2 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 21 |
| 4 | US20200154064A1 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 10 |
| 5 | CN110536078A | 处理动态视觉传感器的数据的方法和动态视觉传感器 | 7 |
| 6 | US20240259702A1 | Method and apparatus for characterizing a dynamic vision sensor | 4 |
| 7 | US20230328406A1 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 3 |
| 8 | US20210337151A1 | Dynamic Vision Sensor Architecture | 3 |
| 9 | EP3563564B1 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 3 |
| 10 | EP3563564A1 | Dynamic vision sensor architecture | 1 |
Citation counts are drawn from the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a measure of influence within this dataset, not of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers indicate
Three patterns stand out once filing counts, classification spread and citation concentration are read together.
Growth has flattened rather than compounded
Filings ran from 4 in 2017 to a midpoint of 2 in 2022 before a late peak of 5 in 2024. That shape rules out a steady upward trend and instead points to episodic filing tied to specific product cycles rather than sustained R&D investment across the whole field.
Prosecution risk is concentrated in the US
Three-quarters of the tracked families were filed at the USPTO, with the EPO and China trailing well behind. Anyone clearing freedom-to-operate for a US product should treat the US filing history as the primary risk pool rather than splitting review effort evenly across jurisdictions.
Influence sits with one architecture family
The most-cited record on dynamic vision sensor architecture draws more than three times the citations of the next family in the set. Later filings from other assignees, including Samsung's data-processing pipeline, sit well below it, suggesting the field still treats that early architecture as the reference point to design around.
Pixel-level semiconductor design is thinly claimed
With H04N present in every family but H01L27/146 appearing only once, most drafting effort in this set targets sensor output and image processing rather than the underlying photodetector or pixel architecture. That imbalance is a plausible signal of where claim space remains open at the device layer.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to event-based vision sensor optical sensor, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claims
The assignee set is led by Sony's sensor entities and Samsung Electronics, alongside dedicated event-sensor developers Insightness and Prophesee. All tracked assignees show zero filings in the latest year, consistent with the overall flattening trend rather than any single company pulling back.
No assignee is currently accelerating
Every assignee tracked in this dataset, from Sony's sensor-focused entities to Samsung Electronics, Insightness and Prophesee, shows zero filings in the most recent year. Given publication lag, this likely reflects incomplete recent data rather than an actual industry-wide halt, but it means no single company can currently be pointed to as pulling ahead.
Sony's corporate and semiconductor arms co-file
The strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset links Sony Group Corporation with Sony Semiconductor Solutions on two shared families, reflecting an internal split between corporate-level filing and the semiconductor subsidiary that actually manufactures sensor hardware.
Dedicated event-sensor developers hold a real share
Alongside the diversified electronics majors, two companies built specifically around event-based sensing, Insightness and Prophesee, appear as named assignees. Their presence indicates the technology supports standalone sensor businesses, not only in-house components inside larger camera or mobile-imaging portfolios.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Advanced Visual Sensing AG | 0 | — |
| Insightness AG | 0 | — |
| Prophesee | 0 | — |
| Sony Group Corporation | 0 | — |
| Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation | 0 | — |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The dataset points to a specific set of next checks rather than a general call to explore further.
Clear the top-cited architecture claims first
Before drafting around dynamic vision sensor output, review the highest-cited architecture family in detail — it anchors more downstream citations than any other record in this set and is the most likely prior-art obstacle.
Review the citation networkCheck the H01L gap for pixel-level filing room
With only one family classified under H01L27/146, semiconductor-level photoreceptor and pixel design looks comparatively open compared to the crowded H04N systems layer.
Explore classification white spaceTrack US prosecution before global filing
With three-quarters of families filed in the US, freedom-to-operate diligence for a US launch should prioritise US file histories over EPO or CNIPA records.
Pull US filing detailCommon questions on event-based vision sensor patents
This dataset tracks 20 patent families filed between 2015 and the July 2026 cut-off, narrowed to filings that combine event-based vision sensor, event camera or dynamic vision sensor terminology with classification in H04N25/47, H01L27/146 or G01J1. That is a relatively small, specialised corpus rather than a broad imaging category, which is why individual assignees and individual highly-cited records carry noticeable weight in the ranking. A broader search without the classification filter would return a larger but less targeted set.
Sony's sensor-focused entities and Samsung Electronics appear prominently in this dataset, alongside dedicated event-sensor developers Insightness and Prophesee. Sony Group Corporation and Sony Semiconductor Solutions also co-file together, the strongest co-assignee pairing in the set, reflecting a split between corporate and semiconductor-manufacturing filing. No single assignee shows filings in the latest tracked year, so current leadership should be read from cumulative family counts rather than recent momentum.
Based on this dataset, growth is flat rather than accelerating: filings opened at 4 families in 2017, dropped to a midpoint of 2 in 2022, and rose to a peak of 5 in 2024 before the most recent years show no filings yet. Because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around eighteen months, the 2025-2026 figures are very likely incomplete rather than a genuine stop in activity. Anyone using this trend for planning should treat the last one to two years as provisional.
US20190364230A1, assigned to Samsung Electronics and published in November 2019, covers a method of converting event frames from a dynamic vision sensor into a compressed image frame through a data format conversion step. It is relevant to any product pipeline that takes raw asynchronous event output and produces a conventional compressed image, rather than to the underlying photodetector or pixel design itself. Teams building event-to-frame conversion or compression stages should review its granted claims specifically, since the abstract describes the general pipeline but the enforceable scope depends on the claim language actually issued.
The classification data shows H04N (pictorial communication and processing) present in all 20 families, while H01L27/146, the semiconductor pixel-architecture class, appears in only one. That imbalance suggests pixel-level photoreceptor and readout circuit design is comparatively under-claimed relative to the systems and data-processing layer built on top of the sensor. Areas like logarithmic photoreceptor circuit variants, on-chip event filtering, and temporal contrast threshold calibration are worth checking closely before assuming the space is occupied.
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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.