Freeform Progressive Lens Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Freeform Progressive Lens Design Patents: Concentration, Trends and Open Claim Space
Extreme concentration. the top 5 assignees hold 77.1% of all 536 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 92.4% — this is a field with almost no long tail. Filings rose to a peak of 32 in 2019, then declined; the 2021-to-2024 span shows an -88% drop (8 to 1), a figure that reflects both the field's early consolidation and the fact that later years are still being filled in as publications catch up with filing dates.
- 1ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL(COMPAGNIE GENERALE D OPTIQUE)229
- 2CARL ZEISS VISION AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LTD73
- 3CARL ZEISS VISION INTERNATIONAL GMBH41
- 4HOYA LENS THAILAND LTD37
- 5HOYA CORPORATION33
See the full freeform progressive lens design 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 freeform progressive lens patents
Who holds the most patents in freeform progressive lens design?
One assignee dominates this dataset, holding 229 of the 536 records in scope — more than six times the count held by the fifth-ranked company (33). The top 5 assignees together account for 77.1% of all records, and the top 10 account for 92.4%, so the field is best understood as a small group of large ophthalmic optics companies plus a long, thin tail of single- or few-filing entrants. Any competitive analysis in this space should treat the leader’s portfolio as the primary reference point rather than surveying the full ranked list evenly.
Is patent filing in freeform progressive lens design still growing?
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 32 records and has declined since, with a documented drop of 88% between 2021 (8 filings) and 2024 (1 filing). However, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset will understate true activity and should not yet be read as a sustained slowdown. The most reliable read is that the field consolidated its core claims earlier in the period and filing has become more selective since.
What technology areas overlap with freeform progressive lens patents?
The overwhelming majority of records (93.3%) sit in IPC subclass G02C, spectacles and lenses, confirming this is fundamentally a lens-design field. Secondary overlap appears in G02B optical elements (8.8%), A61B diagnosis and measurement (8.0%), and computational subclasses G06F and G06Q (6.0% each), reflecting the role of digital surfacing software and prescribing/dispensing workflows alongside the physical lens claims. B24B grinding and polishing (5.2%) and A61F implants (3.4%) show smaller manufacturing and medical-device crossovers.
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 Freeform Progressive Lens Design 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.