Microscope Objectives Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked up. the ranked leader holds 1,746 records yet the top 5 combined account for only 13.7% of all 36,147 records in scope.
- Optics still dominates the claim space. G02B (optical elements & systems) covers 25.7% of records, well ahead of material analysis (G01N) at 14.8%.
- Filing pace has cooled from its peak. 2019 was the high point at 818 filings a year, and 2021-to-2024 volume fell 37%, from 764 to 481.
Filing growth compares 2021 (764 records) with 2024 (481) — 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 36,147 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this dataset covers
This landscape draws on 36,147 published records matching claims and descriptions around microscope objectives, immersion optics and aberration correction, cross-referenced against numerical aperture, chromatic correction, working distance, coverslip correction and field-flatness terms. The scope spans classic optical microscopy design alongside adjacent fields that reuse the same optical building blocks: photolithography exposure systems, semiconductor inspection tooling, and DNA sequencing optics all show up because they claim the same objective-lens physics.
That overlap is the first thing to understand about this field: a claim written for a microscope objective can just as easily block a lithography stepper lens or a sequencing instrument's optical path, and vice versa. Reading the technology composition below with that in mind changes how a freedom-to-operate search should be scoped.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Annual filing counts and IPC-class distribution across the 36,147 records in scope, drawn directly from publication data with no adjustment for the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 689 in 2017 to a peak of 818 in 2019, then declined; the 2021-to-2024 window shows a 37% drop, from 764 to 481. The 2026 figure of 37 is a partial year and the 2025-2026 tail generally should be read as incomplete rather than as a slowdown, given publication lag.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
G02B (optical elements & systems) accounts for 25.7% of the 36,147 records, more than any other class. G01N (material analysis & testing) follows at 14.8%, then G11B (optical/magnetic storage) at 6.2%, G03F (photolithography) at 5.2%, A61B (diagnosis & surgery) at 4.5%, G01B (length measurement) at 3.8%, C12Q (enzyme/DNA testing) at 3.5%, and H04N (pictorial communication) at 2.8%. Records can carry multiple classes, so these shares sum to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 36,147 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Microscope Objectives and Optics with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about microscope objectives and optics and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited records
Immersion microscope objective and microscope using the same (US20150109682A1)
The filing describes an immersion microscope objective built from three lens groups arranged from the object side, where the first group carries positive refractive power and converts light from the object into a convergent beam, the second group carries a smaller refractive power than the first, and the design must satisfy a conditional expression relating object-side numerical aperture to a defined distance term.Filed by Evident Corporation, published 2015-04-23.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2007123744A2 | Systems and devices for sequence by synthesis analysis | 2,073 |
| 2 | US5825043A | Focusing and tilting adjustment system for lithography aligner, manufacturing apparatus or inspection apparat… | 2,023 |
| 3 | US6485413B1 | Methods and apparatus for forward-directed optical scanning instruments | 1,840 |
| 4 | WO2004019128A2 | Projection optical system and method for photolithography and exposure apparatus and method using same | 1,714 |
| 5 | US20110102753A1 | Apparatus and Method of Measuring a Property of a Substrate | 1,539 |
| 6 | US20060066855A1 | Method and apparatus for angular-resolved spectroscopic lithography characterization | 1,450 |
| 7 | US5715039A | Projection exposure apparatus and method which uses multiple diffraction gratings in order to produce a solid… | 1,419 |
| 8 | US20110027704A1 | Methods and Scatterometers, Lithographic Systems, and Lithographic Processing Cells | 1,358 |
| 9 | EP1628164A2 | Method and apparatus for angular-resolved spectroscopic lithography characterisation | 1,331 |
| 10 | US20100111768A1 | Systems and devices for sequence by synthesis analysis | 1,242 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within this searched corpus; treat them as a signal of influence rather than of current technical relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Four read-outs from the dataset that matter more for filing strategy than the raw record count.
The field is led but not enclosed
The leading assignee holds 1,746 records and the top 5 combined reach 4,963, which is 13.7% of the 36,147 records in scope. That leaves the large majority of filings distributed across a long tail of entrants, including university and hospital-affiliated applicants.
Optics claims dominate, but adjacent classes matter
G02B carries a quarter of all records, but material analysis (G01N), photolithography (G03F) and DNA/enzyme testing (C12Q) each carry meaningful shares, showing how objective-lens claims get reused across instrument categories.
Volume has pulled back from its 2019 peak
Annual filings peaked at 818 in 2019 and fell to 481 by 2024, a 37% decline over that window. Years after 2024 are still filling in due to publication lag and should not be read as confirming a continued decline.
US and EPO dominate the receiving offices
The United States accounts for the largest single share of receiving-office records at 11,552, with Europe (EPO) at 3,865 and WIPO/PCT filings at 2,557. Australia, Canada and the UK each show smaller but non-trivial volumes.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to microscope objectives and optics, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity is shifting
The ranked leaders span optics majors, semiconductor lithography suppliers, and university technology-transfer offices, with the two groups pursuing different claim strategies.
A single leader well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 1,746 records, more than double the fifth-place holder's 650, but even that scale represents a small slice of the full 36,147-record corpus.
Combined top 10 still under a quarter of the field
The top 10 assignees together account for 7,599 records, 21.0% of all records in scope, leaving the remaining roughly four-fifths spread across the other 90 ranked entities and unranked filers.
Recent-year filing has slowed sharply among top assignees
Several of the most active historical filers show steep year-over-year declines in the latest recorded year, though this pattern is consistent with publication lag rather than necessarily a strategic pullback.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH | 2 | +100% |
| Nikon Corporation | 1 | -89% |
| Olympus Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| ASML Netherlands B.V. | 0 | -100% |
| Panasonic Holdings Corporation | 0 | — |
| Canon Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | -100% |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up work depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing, or R&D scoping.
Run a claims-level FTO check
Class-level composition shows overlap between microscope-objective claims and lithography, sequencing and inspection optics; a freedom-to-operate search should span all of those classes, not just G02B.
Explore claim scope in EurekaTrack leader momentum, not just rank
Static rank hides the recent slowdown among several top assignees; a momentum view by year and assignee gives a better read on where competitive pressure is actually building.
Build a momentum view in EurekaScope the under-claimed branches
Coverslip-correction, field-flatness and manufacturing-tolerance sub-areas show thinner coverage than the core optics classes and may be worth a targeted novelty search before committing R&D spend.
Search white space in EurekaCommon questions about microscope objective patents
Filing activity in this dataset is led by a single assignee with 1,746 records out of 36,147 total, well ahead of the next-ranked holders. The top 5 assignees combined account for 13.7% of all records, and the top 10 reach 21.0%, which means the majority of filings sit outside the most active handful of companies. The ranked list includes major optics and lithography suppliers alongside university and research-hospital applicants, reflecting how broadly objective-lens technology gets reused across instrument categories.
Annual filings peaked in 2019 at 818 and declined to 481 by 2024, a drop of 37% over that three-year window. Filings in 2025 and 2026 appear lower still, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years understate actual filing activity and should not be read as confirming a continued decline. The more reliable read is that filing pace cooled from its 2019 high through 2024.
The largest class is G02B, optical elements and systems, covering 25.7% of the 36,147 records in scope. G01N (material analysis and testing) follows at 14.8%, then smaller shares in G11B (optical storage), G03F (photolithography), A61B (diagnosis and surgery), G01B (length measurement), C12Q (enzyme and DNA testing) and H04N (pictorial communication). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100%, and a thorough search should not stop at G02B alone.
Relative to the dense core optics and lithography classes, sub-areas such as coverslip-correction collar mechanisms, field-flatness correction for wide-field imaging arrays, multi-immersion objective switching, and manufacturing-tolerance compensation in objective assembly show thinner coverage. These are still active engineering problems in commercial instrument design, so lighter patent density there is more likely to reflect narrower claim scope than genuine technical exhaustion. A targeted novelty search in these specific sub-areas is worth running before committing significant R&D spend.
US20150109682A1, assigned to Evident Corporation and published in 2015, claims an immersion microscope objective built from three lens groups where the first group has positive refractive power and converts incoming light to a convergent beam, and where a specific conditional expression relates object-side numerical aperture to a working-distance-related term. It is a representative example of how immersion-objective claims are structured around numerical relationships between optical parameters rather than purely structural description. Anyone designing a competing immersion objective in this NA range should check the conditional expression against their own optical prescription.
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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.