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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/genomics-and-sequencing-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Genomics & SequencingGenomics and sequencing patents: mapping who holds ground and where filing has slowed
- Filing has cooled from its peak. annual filings fell from 803 in 2021 to 453 in 2024, a 44% drop over that span, though 2025-2026 counts are still filling in as publication catches up.
- No single assignee dominates. the leader holds 8,263 records and the top 10 combined account for only 11.4% of all 364,560 records in scope — a long tail follows the leaders.
- Enzyme and DNA measurement claims are the densest ground. C12Q covers 3.2% of records and C12N a further 3.0%, well ahead of bioinformatics (G16B) at 0.5%.
364.6K
Published Records
7%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-44%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (803 records) with 2024 (453) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 364,560 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This landscape draws on 364,560 published records matching genomics and molecular sequencing terms combined with nucleic acid, expression level and sequence analysis concepts, filed from 2015 through the current data cut-off. Records span methods for sequencing, target identification, expression measurement and the underlying molecular tools rather than any single downstream application. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years understate true filing activity and should be read as provisional.
The picture that emerges is a field with an identifiable core of enzyme- and nucleic-acid-based measurement methods, a group of well-resourced institutional and corporate filers, and a wide dispersion of smaller filers behind them. Family counts, not raw document counts, anchor the assignee ranking, which reduces distortion from continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
Filing volume and technology composition, 2015 to present
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 364,560 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend: a peak in 2018, then a real decline
Annual filings peaked at 868 in 2018. From 2021 to 2024 — the last year that can be treated as complete once publication lag is accounted for — filings dropped from 803 to 453, a 44% fall. Counts for 2025 and 2026 are still low relative to that trajectory, but treat this as an artefact of publication timing rather than a continued decline until later data confirms it.
Technology composition: measurement and engineering methods lead
C12Q (enzyme and DNA-based measuring and testing) and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) each cover roughly 3% of the 364,560 records in scope, well ahead of peptide and protein claims (C07K, 1.5%) and medicinal preparations (A61K, 1.3%). Bioinformatics (G16B) sits at just 0.5% of records — a small share given how central computational analysis is to modern sequencing workflows, and a signal of where claim space remains comparatively open.
Shares are the percentage of the 364,560 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records anchor the prior art
Representative record
Method for increasing the expression level of a nucleic acid molecule of interest in a cell
KWS SAAT SE & CO. KGAA
Filed by KWS Saat, this record describes promoter-activating nucleic acid sequences that raise expression of a target nucleic acid molecule when introduced site-specifically into a recipient promoter, together with methods to identify and introduce such elements into a cell or organism.Plant-cell expression engineering via promoter-activating sequences, rather than the coding sequence itself, is the claim strategy worth noting here.
Most-cited records in this dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2013176772A1 | Methods and compositions for RNA-directed target DNA modification and for RNA-directed modulation of transcri… | 2,571 |
| 2 | US7115400B1 | Methods of nucleic acid amplification and sequencing | 2,274 |
| 3 | US20140068797A1 | Methods and compositions for RNA-directed target DNA modification and for RNA-directed modulation of transcri… | 2,218 |
| 4 | US5837832A | Arrays of nucleic acid probes on biological chips | 2,192 |
| 5 | US6274320B1 | Method of sequencing a nucleic acid | 2,167 |
| 6 | US6355431B1 | Detection of nucleic acid amplification reactions using bead arrays | 1,920 |
| 7 | US6040138A | Expression monitoring by hybridization to high density oligonucleotide arrays | 1,769 |
| 8 | WO1998044151A1 | Method of nucleic acid amplification | 1,455 |
| 9 | WO2000018957A1 | Methods of nucleic acid amplification and sequencing | 1,414 |
| 10 | US7244559B2 | Method of sequencing a nucleic acid | 1,308 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations within the searched corpus; treat this list as a map of influential prior art, not of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-outs from the dataset that matter more than the raw counts on their own.
Concentration
11.4%
of 364,560 records held by the top 10
Leadership is real but not exclusionary
The leading assignee holds 8,263 records and the top 5 combined account for 6.8% of all records in scope. That leaves the overwhelming majority of filing activity spread across a long tail of universities, biotechs and single-filing entrants — concentration exists at the very top, but it does not foreclose the field.
Top 5: 24,773 records · Top 10: 41,514 records
Momentum
-44%
filings, 2021 to 2024
The slowdown is measured, not assumed
Annual filings fell from 803 in 2021 to 453 in 2024. That decline is measured against 2024, the most recent year treatable as complete; 2025-2026 figures are still filling in under an 18-month publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of the drop.
Peak year: 2018 at 868 filings
Composition
3.2%
of records in C12Q
Measurement methods, not software, dominate claim density
C12Q and C12N together anchor the technology composition, each covering roughly 3% of the 364,560 records. G16B (bioinformatics) trails at 0.5%, a gap worth noting for teams building computational analysis pipelines around sequencing data.
C12N: 3.0% · G16B: 0.5%
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Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the collaboration ties sit
The ranked leaders include major public universities, government research bodies and large biotech and pharma filers, but the ranking's own numbers show none of them controls the field outright.
Leader
8,263
records
A single leader, not a monopoly
The top-ranked assignee holds 8,263 records, well ahead of fifth place at 3,769 and tenth place at 3,033. The gap between first and fifth is steep, but the gap between fifth and tenth narrows quickly — a sign that leadership at the very top does not extend deep into the ranking.
5th: 3,769 · 10th: 3,033
Collaboration
10
co-assignee pairs identified
Co-filing is concentrated among a few institutional pairs
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings linking a corporate filer to a national cancer research institute, and separate university-to-university and university-to-inventor pairings among the strongest ties. These recurring pairs point to specific standing research collaborations rather than one-off joint filings.
Strongest pair: 215 shared records
Recent activity
0-1
latest-year filings among named movers
Recent-year counts are thin across the board
Several previously active assignees show zero or single-digit filings in the latest year, with year-on-year drops as steep as -100% for some and -80% for others. Given the publication lag, this reads as incomplete data catching up rather than a real halt in activity from these filers.
Read against the 18-month publication lag
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Toray Industries, Inc. | 1 | -80% |
| Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Evogene Ltd. | 0 | — |
| BASF Plant Science GmbH | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | -100% |
| Sequenom, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Aprila, Inc. | 0 | — |
| PE Corporation | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's next
Where to take this
The dataset points to a field with real headroom outside its densest classes. Two directions follow naturally.
Test a claim against the crowded classes first
Before drafting in C12Q or C12N territory, run the specific method steps against the most-cited records in those classes — the density there means narrow, well-drafted claims will fare better than broad ones.
Explore the technology in EurekaTrack the thin classes for freedom to operate
G16B, C12P and C07H carry a smaller share of records than the core measurement classes, which is worth confirming with a fuller search before committing R&D spend to those branches.
Run a white space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about genomics and sequencing patents
The dataset's leading assignee holds 8,263 records, a clear lead over the rest of the ranked group, but the top 10 assignees combined only account for 11.4% of the 364,560 records in scope. That means no single organisation, including the leader, controls a majority of the field. The remaining records are spread across a long tail of universities, government research bodies, biotech companies and single-filing entrants, so freedom-to-operate analysis has to look well beyond the largest names.
Filings fell from 803 in 2021 to 453 in 2024, a 44% decline over that three-year span, following a peak of 868 filings in 2018. However, 2025 and 2026 counts are not yet complete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those most recent years should not be read as continuing the decline until later data fills in. Treat 2024 as the most recent reliable data point for trend purposes.
Enzyme- and DNA-based measurement methods (IPC class C12Q) and microorganism and genetic engineering methods (C12N) are the densest, each covering roughly 3% of the 364,560 records in scope. Peptide and protein claims (C07K) and medicinal preparation claims (A61K) follow at lower shares. Bioinformatics-specific claims (G16B) cover only about 0.5% of records, a notably smaller share given how central computational analysis has become to sequencing workflows.
Based on IPC composition, bioinformatics (G16B), fermentation and enzymatic synthesis (C12P), and sugar and nucleic-acid chemistry (C07H) all carry markedly smaller shares of the 364,560 records than the core measurement and engineering classes. That does not guarantee an area is unclaimed, but it does mean claim density is thinner there, which is where a well-drafted new filing has a better chance of standing on its own rather than competing against a dense thicket of prior art.
Concentration exists at the very top but tapers quickly: the top 5 assignees combined hold 6.8% of the 364,560 records in scope, and the top 10 combined hold 11.4%. The gap between the leader at 8,263 records and fifth place at 3,769 is steep, but the gap between fifth and tenth place, at 3,033, narrows fast. This pattern — a strong leader, a modest second tier, then a long tail — is typical of a field still open to new entrants rather than one locked up by a handful of incumbents.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Genomics & Sequencing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.