NMR Spectroscopy Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has flattened, not grown. annual filings peaked at 23 in 2018 and sat at 21 by the 2022 midpoint, with no clear upward trend since.
- No assignee is pulling ahead right now. every organisation tracked for recent-year momentum, including General Electric and the University of Queensland, shows zero filings in the latest year — a sign of a maturing, cited-but-not-actively-claimed field.
- Claim density sits outside pure spectroscopy. 574 records touch G01R electric/magnetic measurement but 174 also touch A61B diagnosis and surgery, meaning much of the crowding comes from applying NMR hardware to medical use, not from spectroscopy method claims themselves.
Filing growth compares 2021 (15 records) with 2024 (6) — 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 619 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the patent record shows
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy patenting spans hardware (magnet and coil design), pulse sequence methods, and downstream applications from crude oil analysis to medical diagnostics. The dataset covers 619 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, filtered to records that combine NMR spectroscopy terminology with claim language on magnet field strength, pulse sequences, sensitivity enhancement, structure elucidation or benchtop instrumentation. Most filings sit in the G01R electric and magnetic measurement subclass, with material analysis (G01N) and medical diagnosis (A61B) as the next largest overlapping categories.
Filing activity rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2018, and has not returned to that level since. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the final one or two years in any such trend will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be — but the flattening visible from 2019 through 2022 predates that lag effect and reflects a genuine plateau in new filing activity.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below cover the same 619 families from different angles: one tracks filing volume by year, the other shows how those filings distribute across IPC subclasses.
A plateau, not a growth curve
Filings climbed from 13 in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2018, then settled near the low-20s through the 2022 midpoint. There is no sustained upward or downward slope in the data — this reads as a mature, steady-state filing pattern rather than an emerging or declining one.
Measurement hardware dominates, medicine is close behind
G01R (electric and magnetic measurement) appears in 572 of 619 records, confirming that most claims are anchored in instrumentation rather than pure chemistry. A61B (diagnosis and surgery) at 174 and A61K (medicinal preparations) at 48 show a meaningful secondary cluster applying NMR to clinical and pharmaceutical contexts, while G01V (geophysics), C12Q (enzyme/DNA assays) and E21B (drilling) mark smaller, more specialised offshoots.
Shares are the percentage of the 619 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe prior art everyone in this space cites
US4521732A — Pulse sequence for use in performing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
A liquid sample comprising a system made up of two types of heteronuclei is pulsed in a particular manner in an NMR experiment so that the resulting NMR signal from one type of heteronucleus depends on the scalar-coupled interaction with the other type. The pulse sequence lets the two heteronuclei interact via polarization transfer and correlated motion in the transverse plane of the doubly rotating reference frame, combining both phenomena to produce NMR signals with reduced dependence on certain relaxation effects.Filed by Varian, Inc., granted 1985 — a foundational polarization-transfer pulse sequence patent still referenced in later filings.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5306640A | Method for determining preselected properties of a crude oil | 315 |
| 2 | US20040119471A1 | Downhole high resolution NMR spectroscopy with polarization enhancement | 128 |
| 3 | WO2001096895A1 | Method for investigating the fate of a test compound or the stateof a biological system by means of NMR of hy… | 107 |
| 4 | US6456072B1 | Method and apparatus for simultaneous acquisition of high resolution NMR spectra from multiple samples | 101 |
| 5 | US4480228A | Selective volume method for performing localized NMR spectroscopy | 92 |
| 6 | US6163154A | Small scale NMR spectroscopic apparatus and method | 87 |
| 7 | US20080204022A1 | Biological detector and method | 82 |
| 8 | US7126332B2 | Downhole high resolution NMR spectroscopy with polarization enhancement | 82 |
| 9 | US5903149A | Three-dimensional localized proton NMR spectroscopy using a hybrid of one-dimensional hadamard with two-dimen… | 82 |
| 10 | US6404197B1 | Small scale NMR spectroscopic apparatus and method | 75 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records such as the 1994 crude-oil patent naturally lead the list; treat this as a map of influence, not of current filing activity.
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 matter more than the raw counts: where claim density concentrates, where citation influence sits, and where momentum has gone quiet.
Instrumentation, not chemistry, is the crowded zone
The overwhelming majority of records classify under G01R electric and magnetic measurement. Claims on magnet configuration, coil design and detection hardware sit on the densest prior art; method claims tied purely to sample chemistry are comparatively less represented.
Old oilfield and hyperpolarisation patents still anchor the field
The most-cited records date from the 1980s-2000s and cover crude oil property analysis, downhole NMR and hyperpolarised-nuclei methods. New filings in adjacent areas are likely to run into these as cited prior art regardless of application.
No single organisation is currently pulling ahead
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum, from General Electric to the University of Queensland and the UK's National Research Development Corporation, shows zero filings in the most recent year. Combined with the flat filing trend, this points to a field where existing claim positions are being held rather than actively extended.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds ground, and where the gate sits
Co-assignee pairings are sparse — only 10 pairs recorded, and the strongest links tightly to a single inventor per institution, suggesting most work here is filed by single organisations rather than joint ventures.
University research groups filed early and stayed narrow
The strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset links the University of Queensland to a named inventor across three records, with the University of California similarly paired with individual inventors on hyperpolarisation and solid-state work. These look like inventor-led academic programmes rather than broad institutional filing strategies.
Established players are holding, not extending, their positions
General Electric, a state university research foundation, and a UK medical physics company all appear among tracked assignees with zero filings in the latest year. Their historical patents remain in force and citable, but none show active recent claiming in this specific search scope.
US filing dominates, Europe and PCT follow
The United States accounts for the largest share of receiving-office filings at 193, ahead of the European Patent Office at 135 and WIPO/PCT at 81. Australia, Canada and the UK each show smaller but non-trivial volumes, indicating the technology is prosecuted across several major jurisdictions rather than concentrated in one.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| General Electric | 0 | — |
| The Research Foundation for The State University of New York | 0 | — |
| Medical Physics Ltd. | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | — |
| The University of Queensland | 0 | — |
| National Research Development Corporation (UK) | 0 | — |
| Bioprotons LLC | 0 | — |
| Oxford Natural Products Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature field with specific gaps rather than a single hot claim area. Two directions follow directly from what the data shows.
Check freedom-to-operate against the cited core
Because a handful of older patents on crude-oil analysis and hyperpolarisation carry the bulk of citation weight, any new filing touching sample polarization or downhole NMR should be checked against those specific records before drafting claims.
Explore prior art in Eureka →Scope claims toward the under-claimed branches
Benchtop and low-field sensitivity-enhancement work shows thinner IPC overlap than the core measurement cluster, suggesting more room to claim there than in general magnet or coil hardware.
Map white space in Eureka →Common questions about NMR spectroscopy patents
The dataset's recent-momentum tracking includes General Electric, the State University of New York Research Foundation, a UK medical physics company, the University of California Board of Regents, the University of Queensland, and the UK's National Research Development Corporation. All six show zero filings in the most recent tracked year, which means current holders are largely defending patents filed in earlier periods rather than actively expanding their positions. For a live competitive picture, it is worth checking each holder's full portfolio age rather than relying on recent filing counts alone.
Filing volume peaked at 23 records in 2018 and has not clearly exceeded that since, sitting at 21 by the 2022 midpoint. That is a flat-to-declining pattern rather than sustained growth. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very last one or two years in the trend will look artificially low and should not be read as a sudden drop — but the plateau visible in the middle years is real.
The most-cited record most directly relevant to pulse sequence work is the representative patent on polarization-transfer pulse sequences filed by Varian, alongside other highly cited records on multi-sample acquisition and localized volume methods. These older patents accumulate citations precisely because later filings must distinguish themselves from the pulse-sequence and polarization-transfer techniques they established. A freedom-to-operate search should start with this cited core before moving to narrower recent filings.
IPC composition data shows thinner overlap in areas like enzyme/DNA assay integration, drilling-sensor packaging, and digital processing pipelines for structure elucidation, compared to the dense core of electric/magnetic measurement and material analysis claims. Benchtop NMR and low-field sensitivity-enhancement pulse sequences also show relatively less claim density than general magnet and coil hardware. These branches are worth deeper freedom-to-operate review precisely because they sit outside the most litigated and cited cluster.
Citation counts in this field are heavily weighted toward older records: the top-cited patent, on crude oil property determination, carries 315 citations despite being decades old, and several other 1980s-2000s patents on pulse sequences and downhole NMR follow closely behind. New filings frequently cite these as foundational prior art regardless of the specific application being claimed. That makes them a mandatory starting point for any prior-art or freedom-to-operate search in this space, even though they are not recent.
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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.