NMR Logging Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging Patents: Who Files, and Where the Field Is Still Open
Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. 70 records that year against 47 in 2017, with the tracked 2021→2024 span down 64% (39 to 14) as the field matures. Filings ran from 47 in 2017 to a peak of 70 in 2019, then eased through the early 2020s; the tracked 2021→2024 window fell 64% (39 to 14 records). 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under the publication lag and should not be read as a continued decline.
- 1HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC349
- 2SCHLUMBERGER TECH CORP340
- 3BAKER HUGHES CO303
- 4SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY BV248
- 5SCHLUMBERGER HLDG LTD218
See the full nuclear magnetic resonance logging 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 NMR logging patents
Who holds the most NMR logging patents?
The assignee ranking for this dataset is led by one company with 349 records, well ahead of fifth place at 218 and tenth place at 39. Because oilfield service majors often file under several corporate entity names for the same corporate family, a single practical owner can appear as multiple names in the raw ranking. Anyone doing freedom-to-operate work should check the full family tree behind the top names rather than relying on the entity label alone.
Is NMR logging patent activity still growing?
No: filings peaked at 70 records in 2019, and the tracked 2021-to-2024 window shows a 64% decline, from 39 down to 14. That said, publication lags filing by roughly eighteen months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any chart are still incomplete and should not be read as proof of continued decline. The honest reading is a field that cooled from its late-2010s peak, with the very latest data too thin to call.
What technology areas do NMR logging patents cover?
Within the 1,714 records in scope, 85.4% carry the G01V geophysics and gravity-surveying class and 51.9% carry G01R for electric and magnetic measurement, confirming that most claims describe the physical measurement itself. Smaller shares touch E21B drilling (22.2%) and G01N material analysis (21.6%), while data-processing and AI-related classes such as G06F and G06N stay under 3% each. That leaves computational interpretation of NMR data comparatively under-claimed relative to the core measurement hardware and methods.
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 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging 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.