Immunoassay Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 9,506 patent families span 2015-2026, with filings peaking in 2020 at 317 and drifting flat-to-down through the mid-2020s rather than accelerating.
- G01N dominates the IPC mix at 9,249 records, while C07K (peptides & proteins, 2,464) and C12Q (enzyme/DNA-based assays, 986) mark the main adjacent claim territory.
- Co-assignee activity is thin just 10 identified co-assignee pairs, with the strongest joint filing relationship sitting at 86 shared families — collaboration is the exception, not the rule.
Filing growth compares 2021 (254 records) with 2024 (172) — 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 9,506 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the immunoassay patent record actually shows
Immunoassay technology filings sit almost entirely inside G01N (material analysis and testing), with 9,249 of 9,506 tracked families touching that subclass. The next largest technical footprint, C07K (peptides and proteins), appears in roughly a quarter of the corpus, which reflects how much of the innovation load in this field rides on antibody engineering rather than on the assay device itself. Enzyme- and DNA-adjacent testing methods under C12Q and microorganism/genetic-engineering claims under C12N form a secondary layer that connects immunoassay claims to molecular diagnostics more broadly.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2020, and has since flattened or declined through the most recent full years on record. Because publication typically lags filing by around eighteen months, the last one to two years in the trend understate true filing volume, but the shape of the curve — a plateau rather than continued acceleration — is unlikely to be an artefact of that lag alone.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 9,506-family dataset: the year-by-year filing curve, and the IPC subclasses that carry the claim volume.
Filings plateaued after a 2020 peak
From 278 families in 2017, filings climbed to a peak of 317 in 2020, held near the midpoint value of 219 in 2022, and have tapered toward the present partial year — a pattern consistent with a maturing, well-claimed field rather than one still in an expansion phase.
G01N carries the field; C07K is the largest adjacent branch
G01N (material analysis and testing) appears in 9,249 of 9,506 records, effectively defining the core of the dataset. C07K (peptides and proteins, 2,464), C12Q (enzyme/DNA-based measuring and testing, 986) and A61K (medicinal preparations, 851) form the next tier, showing where immunoassay claims most often overlap with biologics and molecular-diagnostic filings.
Shares are the percentage of the 9,506 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Immunoassay Technology with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about immunoassay technology and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records anchoring this landscape
Creation method for calibration curve, fluorescence polarization immunoassay method, device, and kit
A creation method for a calibration curve uses an antibody with bindability to a target substance and a fluorescently labeled substance in which the target substance is labeled with a fluorescent dye. The calibration curve is built from the degree of fluorescence polarization of a reference sample without the target substance and a calibration sample where target-substance concentration exceeds a defined threshold.Filed by Tianma Japan and published 2026-06-11, this filing shows fluorescence-polarization calibration methodology still generating new claims even as overall filing volume in the field has flattened.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4277437A | Kit for carrying out chemically induced fluorescence immunoassay | 2,879 |
| 2 | US4879219A | Immunoassay utilizing monoclonal high affinity IgM antibodies | 2,198 |
| 3 | US4795698A | Magnetic-polymer particles | 1,017 |
| 4 | US7335401B2 | Method for producing microparticles loaded with proteins | 779 |
| 5 | US4424279A | Rapid plunger immunoassay method and apparatus | 662 |
| 6 | US4444879A | Immunoassay with article having support film and immunological counterpart of analyte | 645 |
| 7 | US20040018577A1 | Multiple hybrid immunoassay | 583 |
| 8 | US20060160164A1 | Immunoassay device with immuno-reference electrode | 530 |
| 9 | US5006309A | Immunoassay device with liquid transfer between wells by washing | 504 |
| 10 | WO2005026689A2 | Immunoassay device with immuno-reference electrode | 501 |
Citation counts accumulate over time inside this searched corpus, so older foundational filings lead the table; that reflects influence within the dataset, not current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-outs from the dataset that matter more for strategy than the raw counts alone.
The field has stopped expanding
Filings peaked in 2020 and have declined or held flat since, with the midpoint year (2022, at 219) already below peak. New entrants filing broad immunoassay method claims now compete against a decade of dense prior art rather than open space.
Nearly the entire corpus sits in one IPC subclass
G01N defines the field almost by itself, which means differentiation increasingly has to come from the secondary classifications — C07K antibody engineering, C12Q enzymatic detection — rather than from the core assay method.
Joint filing is rare and concentrated
Only ten co-assignee relationships surface in the data, and the strongest single pairing accounts for 86 shared families. Where collaboration does happen, it clusters around a small number of diagnostics-pharma pairings rather than being distributed across the field.
Filing strategy still centres on US and EPO
The United States and European Patent Office together account for nearly half the tracked filings, with WIPO/PCT, Canada, Australia and China each representing a smaller but still material share — a signal that global-diagnostics players are filing broadly rather than picking a single jurisdiction.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to immunoassay technology, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active, and how recent momentum looks
Recent-year filing counts are small in absolute terms across the board, which is consistent with a field past its filing peak rather than one with a dominant emerging leader.
Fujirebio shows the most recent-year activity
Fujirebio recorded 2 filings in the latest tracked year, the highest count among assignees with visible recent-year momentum in this dataset — a modest figure that underscores how little new filing volume the field is generating overall.
Established diagnostics leaders show zero recent filings
Roche Diagnostics and Abbott both show zero filings in the latest year, with Roche Diagnostics down 100% year-on-year. This does not mean these firms have exited the space; publication lag means recent filings may simply not have surfaced yet.
Janssen and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics anchor the densest partnership
The strongest co-assignee relationship in the dataset links Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics at 86 shared families, with a second cluster linking Roche entities and a third linking Janssen to Saladax Biomedical.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Fujirebio Inc. | 2 | — |
| Ortho Clinical Diagnostics | 1 | — |
| Saladax Biomedical, Inc. | 1 | — |
| Nordic Biosite | 1 | -89% |
| Abbott | 0 | — |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd | 0 | -100% |
| Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Sekisui Medical Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature, densely claimed core with a small number of active edges. These are the logical next checks.
Map the calibration-curve sub-branch
Fluorescence polarization and calibration-curve methodology still shows fresh filings, including the most recent representative record in this dataset. Confirm freedom to operate before extending a device or kit design here.
Explore in EurekaWatch for delayed incumbent filings
Zero recent-year counts from established diagnostics firms may reflect publication lag rather than withdrawal. Re-run the trend analysis in six to twelve months as more of the latest filing year publishes.
Track assignee activityAssess the C07K overlap
A quarter of the corpus touches peptide and protein claims. Antibody-pair engineering decisions should be checked against this adjacent subclass, not just against core G01N assay-method prior art.
Search antibody-pair claimsCommon questions about immunoassay patents
This dataset tracks 9,506 patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine immunoassay terminology with claim elements like antibody pairs, signal amplification, calibration curves, interference handling or automation, classified under G01N33, G01N21 or C07K16. Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2020 at 317 families, and has since flattened. Because publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, the most recent one to two years in any such count will always look lower than they eventually turn out to be.
Established diagnostics and pharma companies including Roche Diagnostics, Abbott, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Fujirebio and Becton Dickinson appear repeatedly across the dataset's assignee and co-assignee data. Recent-year filing counts across these firms are small in absolute terms, and several incumbents show zero filings in the latest tracked year — more likely a sign of publication lag than of exit. Co-assignee relationships are rare, with only ten identified pairs and the strongest linking Janssen Pharmaceuticals to Ortho Clinical Diagnostics.
The core of the field sits in G01N (material analysis and testing), which touches 9,249 of the 9,506 tracked families. The largest adjacent branch is C07K, peptides and proteins, covering roughly a quarter of the corpus and reflecting how much immunoassay innovation depends on antibody engineering. Enzyme- and DNA-based testing (C12Q), medicinal preparations (A61K) and microorganism/genetic engineering (C12N) form a secondary layer connecting immunoassay claims to molecular diagnostics and biologics more broadly.
The filing trend points to a plateau rather than continued growth: activity climbed from 278 families in 2017 to a peak of 317 in 2020, held near 219 by the 2022 midpoint, and has tapered through the latest partial year. This pattern is typical of a technology area where the core claim space — signal detection methods, calibration approaches, antibody-pair formats — is already densely occupied. New filers are more likely to be defending narrow improvements than staking out broad new territory.
The most-cited historical patents cluster around foundational chemiluminescence and magnetic-particle methods, which means the core assay mechanics are heavily precedented. Lighter claim density shows up in more specific sub-areas such as fluorescence-polarization calibration methodology, multiplexed antibody-pair interference correction, and point-of-care automation layered onto existing chemiluminescence platforms. These adjacent, narrower branches are where a first-claim filing is more likely to clear prior art than a broad immunoassay-method claim would.
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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.