Ion-Selective and Electrochemical Water Sensor Patents
Filing has cooled sharply. from 12 families in the 2021 peak to 1 in 2024, a 92% drop over that span, though 2025-26 counts are still filling in due to publication lag. Filings ran near 9-12 per year through the late 2010s and into the 2021 peak, then fell to 1 by 2024 — a -92% move over that three-year span. Treat 2025 and 2026 as incomplete: publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the true recent trend is understated.
- 1FUJIFILM HLDG CORP22
- 2KK TOSHIBA20
- 3HITACHI LTD16
- 4BECKMAN COULTER INC11
- 5ECOWATER SYST LLC10
See the full ion-selective and electrochemical water sensors 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 about this landscape
Who holds the most patents in ion-selective and electrochemical water sensors?
The leading assignee in this 261-record dataset holds 22 records, noticeably ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 10 and the tenth-ranked filer at 7. The names at the top are dominated by diagnostic-instrument and analytical-equipment companies rather than water-utility or environmental firms, reflecting the field's roots in clinical and laboratory electrochemistry. The top 5 assignees together account for 30.3% of all 261 records, and the top 10 account for 44.8%, so more than half the field is spread across a long tail of smaller filers.
Is patent filing in ion-selective water sensors growing or shrinking?
Filings peaked in 2021 at 12 records and had fallen to 1 by 2024, a drop of 92% over that three-year span. That decline is real, but 2025 and 2026 figures should not yet be read as confirming a continued fall, since publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months and those recent years are still filling in. The honest read is a marked slowdown from a 2021 peak rather than a technology in active decline today.
What patent classes cover electrochemical water sensor technology?
The overwhelming majority — 95.4% of the 261 records in scope — carry the G01N classification for material analysis and testing, which is the natural home for sensor and measurement claims. Smaller but recurring secondary classes include A61B (diagnosis and surgery, 6.1%), B01D (separation processes, 4.6%) and A61M (devices for body fluids, 3.8%), reflecting how ion-selective electrode technology crosses into clinical and filtration applications. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be summed.
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 Ion-Selective and Electrochemical Water Sensors 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.