Lidar Receiver Detectors and Arrays Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
Lidar receiver detectors and arrays: mapping the patents behind photon detection efficiency, crosstalk and dynamic range
24.5% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees hold 168 of 685 records in scope — a real cluster, but three-quarters of the field still sits outside it. Filings ran at 52 in 2017, rose to a peak of 88 in 2018, then declined through the mid-2020s — 45 in 2021 down to 16 in 2024, a -64% move. 2025 and 2026 figures are undercounted because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; they should not yet be read as a continued fall.
- 1WAYMO LLC9.8%
- 2THERMO FISHER SCI BREMEN4.7%
- 3MESO SCALE TECH LLC3.9%
- 4KYOCERA SLD LASER INC3.4%
- 5MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH2.8%
See the full lidar receiver detectors and arrays 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 lidar receiver patents
Who holds the most patents on lidar receiver detectors and arrays?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 67 of the 685 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-placed filer at 19. The top five combined hold 168 records, 24.5% of the total, so while there is a clear leader, the remaining three-quarters of the field is spread across a long tail of filers including automotive, semiconductor and life-sciences instrument companies. No single company controls receiver-side claim space outright.
Is patent filing in lidar receiver technology growing or slowing?
Filing peaked in 2018 at 88 records and has declined since, with the 2021-to-2024 window showing a -64% drop from 45 to 16 records. That pullback is measured on years considered complete; 2025 and 2026 figures are artificially low because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. Treat the recent-year numbers as provisional rather than as evidence of a further slowdown.
What patent classes cover lidar receiver and detector claims?
The largest share, 53.7% of the 685 records, sits in G01S, the radar, sonar and positioning class that covers system-level ranging claims. Material analysis (G01N, 15.8%) and semiconductor devices (H01L, 13.4%) follow, with radiation measurement, optical elements, length measurement, electron-tube and bioreactor classes each covering smaller slices. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%.
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 Lidar Receiver Detectors and Arrays 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.