Photoplethysmography Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
Photoplethysmography and Smartwatch Cardiac Sensing Patents
Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees hold 29.3% of all 1,429 records in scope, and the ten leading assignees hold 50.2% — filing here is a competition against a small group, not a fragmented field. Volume rose from 106 records in 2017 to a peak of 132 in 2022, then declined 31% from 123 in 2021 to 85 in 2024. 2025 and 2026 are shown but understated, since publication typically lags filing by about 18 months.
- 1KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV8.7%
- 2POLAR ELECTRO5.6%
- 3SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD5.4%
- 4NIKE INNOVATE CV4.8%
- 5NIKE INC4.8%
See the full photoplethysmography and smartwatch cardiac sensing 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 this landscape
How many patents cover photoplethysmography and smartwatch heart rate sensing?
This landscape identifies 1,429 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine photoplethysmography or optical heart rate sensing with a specific engineering constraint such as motion tolerance, skin tone effect, LED design, signal quality indexing, power budget or regulatory clearance. That scoping excludes generic wearable patents that mention PPG only in passing. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 counts in any trend view are understated and will rise as later filings publish.
Who are the leading patent holders in wrist-worn optical heart rate sensing?
The ranked leaders span consumer electronics, sportswear and mobile technology firms rather than a single medical-device category, and filing is concentrated: the five leading assignees together hold 29.3% of all 1,429 records, and the ten leading assignees hold 50.2%. The leading single assignee holds 124 records, well ahead of the fifth-place figure of 68 and the tenth-place figure of 53. This is a field where a small group of companies has built substantial claim density, so competitive analysis should start with their specific claim scope rather than the field as a whole.
Is photoplethysmography patent filing activity growing or slowing?
Filing volume rose from 106 records in 2017 to a peak of 132 in 2022, then declined 31% from 123 records in 2021 to 85 in 2024, the most recent year that can be read cleanly given publication lag. That is a real pullback from the peak, not evidence the technology is being abandoned — the dense claim space built through the growth years remains in force and still needs to be cleared. Readers should treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional rather than a continuation of the decline.
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 Photoplethysmography and Smartwatch Cardiac Sensing 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.