PFO & Septal Closure Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Patent Foramen Ovale and Septal Closure Patents: Concentration, Momentum and Open Claim Space
37.0% of all 711 records sit with the top five assignees combined — a concentrated core rather than a fragmented field. Annual filings rose to a peak of 69 in 2020, then eased; the 2021-to-2024 comparison shows a 14% decline (29 to 25), the only complete-year window in scope. Years after 2024 are still filling in as publications catch up with filing dates.
- 1WL GORE & ASSOC INC122
- 2NMT MEDICAL INC40
- 3ST JUDE MEDICAL CARDILOGY DIV INC36
- 4MVRX INC34
- 5EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORP31
See the full patent foramen ovale and septal closure 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 on PFO and septal closure patents
Who holds the most patents in PFO and septal defect closure devices?
One assignee leads with 122 of the 711 records in this dataset, well ahead of the rest of the ranked field — fifth place holds 31 and tenth place holds 18. The top five assignees combined account for 37.0% of all records in scope, and the top ten account for 53.4%, so ownership is concentrated at the top even though 100 companies appear across the full ranking. Several of the largest historical filers, however, recorded zero filings in the most recent tracked year, so current leadership by portfolio size does not necessarily match current filing activity.
Is patent filing activity in septal occluder devices growing or slowing?
Filing activity peaked in 2020 at 69 records in this dataset and has since eased; comparing the two most recent complete years available, 2021 and 2024, filings fell 14% from 29 to 25. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those years should not yet be read as a continued decline. The honest read is a post-peak plateau rather than either sustained growth or a collapse.
What does US20030191495A1 actually cover, and does it block new occluder designs?
US20030191495A1, assigned to W.L. Gore & Associates, describes a septal occluder with a proximal anchor member, a distal anchor member, and a flexible center joint connecting the two — a dual-anchor-plus-joint architecture for closing septal defects such as PFOs. It predates the 2015 start of this dataset’s search window but is a foundational reference that later occluder filings in this space cite heavily. Anyone designing a new disc-and-joint occluder should check claim scope around the specific anchor-and-joint connection mechanism, since that is the architecture this filing protects, rather than occluders generally.
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 Patent Foramen Ovale and Septal Closure 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.