Remote Sensing Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Remote Sensing Patents: Filing Trends and Where the Field Is Still Open
Filing grew 76% from 2021 to 2024, the last year the dataset treats as complete, before publication lag starts understating recent activity. Filings climbed from 353 in 2017 to a peak of 973 in 2024, with 2021 (552) to 2024 (973) marking a 76% run-up. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a decline.
- 1HUAWEI TECH CO LTD18.3%
- 2DIGITAL GLOBAL SYSTEMS INC3.5%
- 3STRONG FORCE IOT PORTFOLIO 2016 LLC3.1%
- 4DELL PROD LP1.5%
- 5ATTOCHRON LLC1.2%
See the full remote sensing patent landscape 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 remote sensing patents
Who are the leading patent holders in remote sensing?
One assignee holds a clear lead with 1,718 records, well ahead of the rest of the ranked field, where fifth place sits at 117 records and tenth place at 57. The top 5 assignees combined account for 27.7% of all 9,382 records in scope, and the top 10 account for 31.0%. That leaves the large majority of filings spread across a long tail of assignees filing in smaller numbers, so a new entrant is not necessarily blocked just because a leader exists.
Is remote sensing patent filing growing or slowing down?
Filing volume grew substantially, rising from 552 records in 2021 to a peak of 973 in 2024, a 76% increase over that three-year span. The years after 2024 show lower counts in the raw data, but that reflects publication lag of roughly 18 months rather than a real drop in filing activity, since recent applications have not all published yet. 2024 is the most recent year that can be read as a complete picture.
What technology areas dominate remote sensing patents?
Wireless communication networks (H04W) lead at 20.1% of the 9,382 records, followed by radar, sonar and positioning (G01S) at 17.0% and material analysis and testing (G01N) at 14.4%. Transmission-related classes H04B and H04L each clear 12%, and AI-based computing (G06N) already reaches 6.7%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total and should not be treated as a strict breakdown of shares.
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 Remote Sensing Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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.