Fc Engineering and Effector Function Patents
29.1% concentration. The five leading assignees hold 19,775 of the 67,903 records in scope — a genuinely top-heavy field for a therapeutic antibody sub-domain. Annual filings rose to a peak of 1,636 records in 2021, then eased to 985 by 2024 — a 40% decline over that three-year window. 2017 opened the tracked window at 1,124 records; years from 2025 onward are still incomplete because of publication lag and should not be read as a continued fall.
- 1GENENTECH INC16.4%
- 2F HOFFMANN LA ROCHE & CO AG7.5%
- 3GENMAB AS2.1%
- 4AMGEN INC1.7%
- 5MACROGENICS INC1.5%
See the full fc engineering and effector function 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 Fc engineering patents
Who holds the most patents in Fc engineering and effector function?
One assignee leads clearly with 11,107 records, well ahead of the field. Filing density then narrows into a tighter mid-tier between fifth place (993 records) and tenth place (825 records), rather than falling off a cliff after the leader. Together the five leading assignees account for 29.1% of the 67,903 records in scope, so the field is concentrated but far from closed to new entrants.
Is Fc engineering patent activity slowing down?
Filing volume peaked in 2021 at 1,636 records and eased to 985 by 2024, a 40% decline over that span. Data for 2025 and 2026 shows much lower counts, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than a real drop, since filings made in the last year or two are still working through to publication. The honest read is a cooling from a 2021 high, not a collapse.
What does US7790858B2 actually cover?
US7790858B2, assigned to Genentech, claims polypeptides comprising a variant Fc region that carries altered effector function as a result of one or more amino acid modifications to the Fc region. It sits within a family that includes some of the field's most-cited prior filings, including US6737056B1 and US6194551B1. Anyone modifying an Fc region's amino acid sequence to change ADCC, ADCP or CDC activity should review this family's claim scope before finalising a construct.
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 Fc Engineering and Effector Function 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.