Microtomy and Sectioning Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 39.2% concentration at the top. The top 5 of 96 ranked assignees hold 127 of 324 records in scope — a tight leading group over a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- +1150% filing growth, 2021 to 2024. Annual filings moved from 2 in 2021 to 25 in 2024, the fastest sustained climb in the dataset's coverage window; 2025-2026 figures are still filling in due to publication lag.
- G01N and A61K dominate, but overlap thins fast. 41.4% of records touch material analysis (G01N) and 34.6% touch medicinal preparations (A61K), while classes like C12N sit under 10% — signalling where claim density drops off.
Filing growth compares 2021 (2 records) with 2024 (25) — 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 324 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the microtomy and sectioning patent record shows
Microtomy and sectioning sits at the mechanical front end of histopathology: how tissue is cut, ribboned, floated and mounted before it ever reaches a stain or a scanner. The 324 records in scope span classic instrument mechanics — blade wear, water bath temperature, chatter artifact — alongside a newer wave of claims tied to downstream molecular and imaging workflows, visible in the heavy overlap with A61K and C12Q classifications.
That overlap is the story: sectioning is no longer filed as a standalone mechanical problem. A large share of recent records pair section-handling claims with the diagnostic or therapeutic use the section feeds into, which changes who the competitive set actually is and what a freedom-to-operate search needs to cover.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 324-record set: the year-by-year filing curve, and the IPC subclasses those filings carry.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings ran from 17 in 2017 to a peak of 34 in 2018, then troughed at 2 in 2021 before climbing to 25 in 2024 — a +1150% move over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 read low because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months; treat the tail as incomplete, not as a slowdown.
IPC subclass composition
G01N (material analysis & testing) and A61K (medicinal preparations) each cover more than a third of the 324 records, with A61P, A61B and G02B each in the mid-teens by share. Because records carry multiple classes, these figures sum past 100% — they show where claim overlap concentrates, not a partition of the field.
Shares are the percentage of the 324 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Microtomy and Sectioning with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about microtomy and sectioning and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Method and apparatus for preparing cells for microtome sectioning and archiving nucleic acids and proteins
A flow-through embedding technique positions cell fragments so a microtome blade sections them with minimal cell loss, using an inflow tube, sample port and filtered tissue cassette connected to both a cell flow pathway and a reagent flow pathway for delivering reagents through the sample port to the cassette.Filed by University of Massachusetts; published 2004-10-14.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6330348B1 | Method and apparatus for measurement of microtome performance | 139 |
| 2 | US20040004614A1 | Focusable virtual microscopy apparatus and method | 123 |
| 3 | WO2003073365A1 | Focusable virtual microscopy apparatus and method | 83 |
| 4 | US20100167334A1 | Systems and methods for processing tissue samples for histopathology | 79 |
| 5 | WO2023150163A1 | Methods, compositions, and systems for capturing analytes from lymphatic tissue | 78 |
| 6 | US5753263A | Method to deliver compositions conferring resistance to alopecia to hair follicles | 78 |
| 7 | WO2023150098A1 | Methods, kits, compositions, and systems for spatial analysis | 77 |
| 8 | WO2023150171A1 | Methods, compositions, and systems for capturing analytes from glioblastoma samples | 76 |
| 9 | US20230332247A1 | Methods, compositions, and systems for capturing analytes from glioblastoma samples | 66 |
| 10 | US20140257188A1 | Delivery device | 65 |
Citation counts inside this corpus skew toward older filings — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of 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 patterns in the data change how a team should scope prior art searches and freedom-to-operate work in this space.
A tight leading group, not a monopoly
The leader holds 33 records and fifth place holds 16 — a real gap, but nowhere near dominant control. Combined with a 96-company ranking, this reads as a field where a capable new entrant still has room, provided it clears the leading group's core mechanical claims.
A sharp re-acceleration after a 2021 trough
Filings fell to 2 in 2021 before rebuilding to 25 by 2024. That climb tracks the same window in which molecular and imaging-linked classes (A61K, C12Q, G02B) show up alongside mechanical sectioning claims, suggesting the growth is driven by workflow-integration filings rather than pure instrument mechanics.
Claim density falls off fast outside the core classes
G01N and A61K each cover more than a third of records, but C12N (microorganisms & genetic engineering) sits under 10%. That gap is where sectioning methods tied to live-cell or organism-level workflows remain comparatively lightly claimed.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to microtomy and sectioning, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and what's still open
The ranked leaders sit atop a long tail of single- and few-filing organisations; recent-year momentum data shows even some ranked leaders posting no new filings in the latest year, consistent with the 18-month publication lag rather than a pullback.
A clear but not overwhelming leader
The top assignee's 33 records set the pace, but the gap to fifth place (16) and tenth place (10) is gradual rather than a cliff, meaning the ranked leaders' portfolios are worth checking individually rather than treated as a single blocking bloc.
Cross-filing is concentrated, not widespread
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest pairing appearing 8 times. Most organisations in this field file independently, which limits how much can be learned from co-assignment mapping alone.
US-centred, with meaningful EPO and PCT filing
The United States leads filing volume, followed by EPO (54) and WIPO/PCT (43) routes, with Australia and Canada also represented. A freedom-to-operate check limited to one jurisdiction would miss a substantial share of the record.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Scholar Rock, Inc. | 1 | 0% |
| Singular Genomics Systems, Inc. | 1 | -83% |
| Vaxxas Pty Ltd | 0 | — |
| University of Queensland | 0 | — |
| TISSUEVISION INC | 0 | — |
| Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine | 0 | — |
| Standard BioTools Canada Inc. | 0 | — |
| President & Fellows of Harvard College | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy, or spotting a filing opening.
Check the leading group's core claims first
Before scoping a new filing, review the top-ranked assignees' patents on the mechanical fundamentals — blade interaction, section thickness control — since that is where claim density is highest.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches against your own workflow
Ribbon handling automation and chatter artifact suppression show thinner filing density than the core classes; a workflow that touches either is worth a targeted search before committing to a claim shape.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack the 2024 filing surge as it publishes forward
The +1150% move into 2024 is the clearest recent signal in the data; watching which assignees drive the 2025-2026 publications as they land will show whether the surge broadens or stays concentrated.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaCommon questions on microtomy and sectioning patents
The assignee ranking covers 96 companies across 324 records, with the top-ranked assignee holding 33 records and the top 5 combined holding 127 records, or 39.2% of all records in scope. That leaves a substantial long tail of organisations with only a handful of filings each, so the field is led but not locked up by a single player. Anyone doing competitive tracking should look at the top 5 and top 10 groups separately, since the drop from fifth place (16 records) to tenth place (10 records) is gradual rather than sharp.
Filings grew sharply from 2 in 2021 to 25 in 2024, a +1150% increase over that three-year span, after an earlier peak of 34 in 2018. The apparent decline in 2025 and 2026 is not a real slowdown — patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any filing trend will always look artificially low until later data catches up. Treat 2024 as the most recent year with a reasonably complete picture.
Material analysis and testing (G01N) appears in 41.4% of the 324 records and medicinal preparations (A61K) in 34.6%, making these the two dominant overlapping classes. Therapeutic activity of compounds (A61P), diagnosis and surgery (A61B), and optical elements (G02B) each appear in roughly 16-18.5% of records. Because a single patent can carry several IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, reflecting how often sectioning claims are bundled with the downstream diagnostic or therapeutic use of the tissue section.
US20040203089A1, filed by University of Massachusetts and published in 2004, covers a flow-through embedding apparatus that positions cell fragments so a microtome blade sections them with minimal cell loss, using a cell flow pathway and a separate reagent flow pathway feeding a filtered tissue cassette. It matters as a representative early filing because it ties mechanical sectioning positioning directly to sample preservation for downstream nucleic acid and protein analysis, a combination that recurs across many later records in this dataset. Anyone designing an automated embedding-to-sectioning workflow should review its claim scope before finalising a mechanical approach.
Under-claimed branches include automated ribbon handling, water bath temperature control, chatter artifact suppression, cryosectioning automation, and blade wear monitoring — areas that show up far less often than the dominant G01N and A61K classes. The class-level data shows C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) present in only 9.3% of the 324 records, well below the 41.4% seen for G01N, indicating lighter claim density around sectioning methods tied to live-cell or organism-level workflows. These are the areas worth a targeted novelty search before assuming a claim is blocked.
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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.