Positioning, Navigation & Timing Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 22.8% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees combine for 13,699 of 59,976 records in scope — a concentrated core with a long tail of single-digit filers behind it.
- Filings cooled from a 2021 peak. Published filings ran from 1,704 in 2021 to 1,095 in 2024, a 36% pullback over that span, though 2025-2026 counts are still filling in as publication catches up with filing.
- G01S dominates the classification mix. Radar, sonar and positioning art (G01S) touches 20.2% of all records — roughly four times the share of the next-largest subclass, H04W wireless networks.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1,704 records) with 2024 (1,095) — 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 59,976 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the positioning, navigation and timing patent record shows
Positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) patenting spans everything from raw GNSS receiver design to the software layer that turns a satellite signal into a usable position or clock reference. The 59,976 records in scope, drawn from a search string built around satellite navigation, precision timing and GNSS receiver terms, run from 2015 through the current data cut-off in mid-2026. The dataset is dense in classical radionavigation art but also reaches into wireless communication, digital data processing and vehicle control, reflecting how PNT has become an embedded component in phones, cars and industrial systems rather than a standalone product category.
Filing activity rose through the back half of the 2010s, peaked in 2021, and has since eased — a pattern consistent with a technology that reached broad commercial deployment and is now consolidating around incremental improvements rather than foundational claims. Recent-year counts should be read cautiously: publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent two years understate real filing activity.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Published filings and classification codes across the 59,976 records in scope, showing where PNT patenting is concentrated and how that concentration has shifted year over year.
Filing trend: rise to a 2021 peak, then pullback
Annual filings climbed from 1,013 in 2017 to a peak of 1,704 in 2021, then fell to 1,095 by 2024 — a 36% decline over that three-year window. Counts for 2025 and 2026 are partial and will continue to rise as later-filed applications publish.
IPC composition: positioning art dominates, communication and compute follow
G01S (radar, sonar and positioning) appears in 20.2% of all records, far ahead of H04W wireless networks at 5.9% and G01C navigation/gyroscopes at 4.3%. Smaller but persistent shares in H04L, G06F, G05D and G08G show PNT claims increasingly reaching into data processing, autonomous control and traffic systems rather than staying confined to the radio front end.
Shares are the percentage of the 59,976 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Positioning, Navigation & Timing Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about positioning, navigation & timing patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
US9274227B2 — GNSS radio signal with an improved navigation message
A GNSS positioning method built around a navigation message transmitted as a sequence of frames and subframes. Each subframe carries a first, precise set of ephemeris and clock correction data, plus at least two copies of a second, more compact set of the same data — the redundancy and timing offset between copies let a receiver compute a usable, if less accurate, position and clock error before the full precise dataset has been received.Filed by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, published 2016-03-01.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5999124A | Satellite positioning system augmentation with wireless communication signals | 898 |
| 2 | US20200259896A1 | Industrial Automation with 5G and Beyond | 751 |
| 3 | US9002641B2 | Navigation system configured to integrate motion sensing device inputs | 706 |
| 4 | US5712899A | Mobile location reporting apparatus and methods | 669 |
| 5 | US20190209022A1 | Wearable electronic device and system for tracking location and identifying changes in salient indicators of … | 626 |
| 6 | US4785463A | Digital global positioning system receiver | 590 |
| 7 | US20140100774A1 | Navigation system configured to integrate motion sensing device inputs | 587 |
| 8 | US6061018A | Method and system for using altitude information in a satellite positioning system | 568 |
| 9 | US20100273504A1 | Network Autonomous Wireless Location System | 468 |
| 10 | US6215441B1 | Satellite positioning reference system and method | 443 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations within the searched corpus — treat them as a signal of influence on later filings, not as a measure of current commercial importance.
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Three figures from the dataset matter more than the rest for anyone deciding where to file or who to watch.
The core is concentrated, the tail is long
13,699 of 59,976 records sit with five assignees, and the top 10 combined reach 30.7%. Below that the ranking of 100 companies thins quickly toward single-digit filers, meaning most of the field is held by entrants with a handful of records rather than a defensive portfolio.
Volume peaked in 2021 and has since eased
Filings rose steadily to 1,704 in 2021 before falling to 1,095 in 2024. Momentum data at the individual-assignee level shows the same direction: several leading filers show sharp year-over-year declines in their latest disclosed year, though those figures are still partial.
Positioning art still anchors the field
G01S radar, sonar and positioning claims touch one in five records, well ahead of wireless networking (H04W, 5.9%) and navigation/gyroscope art (G01C, 4.3%). The presence of G06F, G05D and G08G in smaller but real shares shows the field extending into software and control claims around the core radio technology.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to positioning, navigation & timing patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders span consumer electronics, automotive, industrial and dedicated navigation firms — a mix that reflects how PNT technology now sits inside far more product categories than it did a decade ago.
Chipset makers hold the largest single position
The leading assignee's filing volume alone exceeds the combined total of several mid-ranked competitors, concentrated around GNSS receiver architecture and signal processing claims that sit inside mobile and wearable chipsets.
Automotive OEMs and industrial equipment makers form a second tier
Automotive and heavy-equipment assignees appear well inside the top ranks, reflecting navigation claims built around vehicle guidance, autonomous control and precision agriculture rather than the radio front end itself.
Specialist navigation firms persist despite platform-company scale
Firms whose core business is navigation and timing equipment still hold ranked positions well inside the top ten, and their strongest co-assignee pairings point to individual named inventors with long-running, concentrated portfolios rather than diffuse corporate filing.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Qualcomm Inc | 5 | -93% |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 3 | -70% |
| Honeywell International Inc | 1 | -95% |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson | 1 | -67% |
| TORC ROBOTICS INC | 1 | -96% |
| Trimble Navigation Limited | 0 | — |
| Deere & Company | 0 | -100% |
| TRIMBLE INC | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking or identifying open claim space.
Map claim scope on the most-cited records
Start with the highest-cited filings in the table above — they define the prior art that later navigation-message and receiver-architecture claims had to design around.
Explore cited records in EurekaTrack the leading assignees' recent filings
Momentum figures show sharp year-over-year swings among top filers; watching new publications from those assignees flags where the concentrated core is still moving.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaTest white space claims against full-text search
The under-claimed branches identified here are starting points, not conclusions — a full-text search against the complete record set will confirm how thin the prior art actually is.
Run a white space search in EurekaFrequently asked questions
Patent filing in this field is concentrated at the top: the five leading assignees together account for 13,699 of the 59,976 records in scope, or 22.8%. The leader alone holds 7,136 records, more than five times the count at fifth place. Beyond the top ten, which together hold 30.7% of records, the ranking thins into a long tail of companies with far smaller counts, so a single dominant filer coexists with broad participation across consumer electronics, automotive and industrial sectors.
Filing rose through the late 2010s to a peak of 1,704 published records in 2021, then declined to 1,095 by 2024, a 36% drop over that span. That is the most reliable trend reading available, because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months and 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete. It is more accurate to describe the field as past its filing peak and consolidating than as accelerating.
G01S, covering radar, sonar and positioning, appears in 20.2% of all 59,976 records, making it by far the largest single classification. Wireless networking (H04W, 5.9%) and navigation/gyroscope art (G01C, 4.3%) follow at much lower shares. Smaller but persistent shares in digital transmission, data processing, non-electric control and traffic systems show positioning technology increasingly claimed alongside the software and control layers that consume its output.
US9274227B2, held by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, claims a GNSS navigation message structure where each subframe carries a precise ephemeris and clock-correction dataset alongside at least two copies of a more compact version of the same data. The compact copies let a receiver compute a lower-accuracy position and clock error before the full precise dataset arrives, using the timing offset between the copies. Anyone designing a receiver or signal format that relies on a similarly structured dual-precision subframe with redundant compact copies should map their claims against this patent specifically, rather than assuming general navigation-message prior art clears it.
The classification data shows most filing density sitting in core G01S positioning claims, while adjacent branches such as compact clock-correction formats, multi-constellation ephemeris compression and traffic-integrated navigation control carry comparatively thin coverage relative to their technical relevance. These are not gaps in the underlying technology, just gaps in claim density, so a first-filed claim there can still secure meaningful scope. Confirming this requires a full-text search against the complete record set rather than relying on classification-level counts alone.
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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.