Nanopore Sequencing Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Nanopore Sequencing Patents: Filing Trends and the Companies Behind Them
Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees account for 49.2% of all 2,772 records in scope, and the top ten hold 62.4% — this field is not a level playing field. Filings ran from 208 in 2017 to a peak of 259 in 2018, then eased to 250 in 2021 and 201 in 2024 — a 20% decline across that three-year window. 2025 and 2026 figures (24 in 2026) are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months; they should not be read as a continuation of the decline.
- 1THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG488
- 2ILLUMINA INC393
- 3OXFORD NANOPORE TECH LTD276
- 4GRAIL INC119
- 5CENT FOR NOVOSTICS89
See the full nanopore sequencing 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 nanopore sequencing patents
Who holds the most nanopore sequencing patents?
The assignee ranking in this dataset is led by a single company with 488 records, well ahead of the rest of the field — fifth place holds 89 and tenth place holds 56. The top five assignees combined account for 49.2% of all 2,772 records in scope, and the top ten reach 62.4%. That said, the ranking covers 100 companies rather than a narrow top tier, so there is meaningful depth below the leaders.
Is nanopore sequencing patent filing still growing?
Filing peaked at 259 records in 2018 and has since eased, running from 250 records in 2021 down to 201 in 2024, a 20% decline over that span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years are always undercounted at the point of measurement. The honest read is that volume has cooled from its peak rather than that the field is shrinking.
What technology areas do nanopore sequencing patents cover?
The dominant classification is C12Q, covering enzyme- and DNA-related measuring and testing, present on 78.2% of the 2,772 records in scope. Material analysis (G01N) appears on 34.9% and bioinformatics (G16B) on 18.0%, reflecting a growing layer of signal-processing and basecalling claims on top of the core wet-chemistry filings. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, 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 Nanopore Sequencing 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.