Robotic Grasping Patent Landscape 2026
Robotic Grasping Patent Landscape in 2026
Google LLC leads a moderately concentrated robotic grasping patent field, holding the top position among the hundred largest filers, while Siemens AG has surged as the most active challenger. Annual filing volume peaked in 2020 and has eased since, placing the field in a post-peak phase on a multi-year basis.
Google leads a moderately concentrated field with a clear tier gap below the top two
Google LLC holds the top position with 75 patent families, nearly 60% more than second-ranked Siemens AG at 47 patent families. The top five applicants — Google, Siemens, Ocado Innovation, Amazon Tech, and Harris Corp — together account for 24% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, signaling moderate but not extreme concentration.
A clear tier gap separates the top two from the rest of the top five: Ocado Innovation at 39 patent families, Amazon Tech at 35, and Harris Corp and Nvidia Corp each at 32 represent a second tier with meaningful but lower output. Below rank five, portfolio sizes drop quickly into the teens, confirming that sustained large-scale filing is confined to a small group.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google LLC | 75 | |
| 2 | Siemens AG | 47 | |
| 3 | Ocado Innovation Ltd | 39 | |
| 4 | Amazon Technologies Inc | 35 | |
| 5 | Harris Corporation | 32 | |
| 6 | NVIDIA Corporation | 32 | |
| 7 | Distalmotion | 25 | |
| 8 | Honda Motor Co Ltd | 20 | |
| 9 | Symbotic LLC | 19 | |
| 10 | GDM Holding LLC | 17 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) | 17 | |
| 12 | Contactile Pty Ltd | 17 | |
| 13 | Regents of the University of California | 16 | |
| 14 | Bionit Labs SRL | 16 | |
| 15 | AppHarvest Technologies Inc | 14 | |
| 16 | Schmalz Flexible Gripping Inc | 14 | |
| 17 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 13 | |
| 18 | Siemens Corporation | 13 | |
| 19 | Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska | 13 | |
| 20 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 13 |
Google’s combination of scale and AI-integrated grasping focus (B25J, G06N, G05B) suggests deep platform-level investment rather than narrow application coverage. Siemens’ recent surge — up 146% in recent filings versus its prior three-year period — indicates an accelerating, not consolidating, competitive posture from the primary challenger.
The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are subject to publication lag and likely undercount actual activity; the apparent drop in 2024–2026 should not be read as a definitive acceleration of decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing peaked in 2020 and has eased; manipulator mechanics dominate but AI methods are a growing overlay
The annual filing trend reveals a field that built momentum from 2017 through 2020 and has since contracted, while the technology composition shows a clear primary branch in manipulator and robot mechanics (B25J) complemented by a meaningful but smaller cluster of AI, control, and sensing sub-fields.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings grew from 87 in 2017 to a peak of 145 in 2020, then declined across 2021–2023 (103, 91, and 80 respectively). The 2024 and 2025 counts of 67 and 64 should be treated as provisional given publication lag; the 2026 figure of 7 is an early partial count only. The overall multi-year window still shows net growth from the 2017 baseline, but the post-2020 trajectory confirms the field is past its peak annual volume.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B25J (Manipulators and robots) is the dominant branch by a wide margin, reflecting the core hardware and kinematics focus of robotic grasping IP. The next largest branches — G06N (AI models), G05B (control and regulating systems), A61B (diagnosis and surgery), G06F (digital data processing), and G06T (image data processing) — each represent a fraction of B25J’s count but collectively indicate that perception, AI-driven control, and surgical application are structurally significant sub-themes rather than peripheral interests.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Flexible fingers, robotic grasping devices equippe…
Fingers for robotic grasping devices, robotic grasping devices equipped therewith, and associated methods. Such a finger includes a flexible beam mechanism having an axis extending through a proximal end and a distal end, and a slider movably mounted on the beam. Moving the slider along the axis of the flexible beam mechanism changes the stiffness of the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machine having automatic transport with scanning a… | 292 |
| 2 | Robotic grasping of items in inventory system | 233 |
| 3 | On-line method and apparatus for coordinated mobil… | 233 |
| 4 | Articulated manipulator for minimally invasive sur… | 206 |
| 5 | Method and apparatus for positioning a robotic end… | 196 |
| 6 | Generating robotic grasping instructions for inven… | 195 |
| 7 | High throughput processing system and method of us… | 189 |
| 8 | Deep machine learning methods and apparatus for ro… | 179 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the field’s structure means for R&D strategy
The combination of a post-peak lifecycle, moderate concentration, an active collaboration network anchored by Siemens entities, and strong US jurisdictional dominance shapes where new entrants and incumbents alike can most efficiently direct effort.
Post-peak: core mechanics are mature; AI integration remains the active frontier
The lifecycle stage is assessed as Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2020 peak of 145. The dominant B25J branch — manipulator hardware and kinematics — is densely occupied. R&D differentiation is most available at the intersection of grasping mechanics and learning-based control (G06N) and advanced sensing, where filing density is lower relative to technical importance.
Post-peak · 2020 apexTop two hold a commanding lead; ranks 3–10 are competitive but thinner
Google (75 patent families) and Siemens (47 patent families) are structurally separated from the rest of the top ten. The 24% share held by the top five among the hundred largest filers implies room for challengers with focused portfolios in adjacent IPC branches. Ocado Innovation (39 families) and Amazon Tech (35 families) demonstrate that logistics-specific grasping is a viable specialization for non-platform players.
Moderate concentrationSiemens-entity co-filing is the most active collaboration cluster in the corpus
The most active co-filing relationship recorded is between Siemens AG and Siemens Corp with 8 joint patent families, reflecting coordinated trans-Atlantic filing strategy within the Siemens group. Siemens AG also co-filed with Siemens (China) and with the University of Southern California (one joint family each), indicating selective academic outreach alongside internal coordination. No other collaboration cluster of comparable scale appears in the evidence.
Siemens-centric clusterUS is the dominant filing jurisdiction; Europe and PCT provide secondary coverage
The United States leads all jurisdictions with 570 filing records, far ahead of Europe via EPO at 178 and WIPO PCT at 141. Germany at 49 and India at 43 are the largest national-office filers outside the US. China at 35 and Japan at 26 are present but comparatively under-represented given their general robotics activity, which may indicate that the most strategically active players are prioritizing US-centric protection for this specific technology.
US-dominant · EPO secondaryGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Siemens AG | Siemens Corporation | 8 |
| Siemens AG | Siemens (China) Co Ltd | 1 |
| Siemens AG | University of Southern California | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Google dominates on scale; Siemens is the fastest-growing major challenger
Two applicants stand clearly above the field: Google with the largest portfolio and a broad AI-plus-mechanics focus, and Siemens with a rapidly growing presence anchored in manipulator and vision-based systems.
Google LLC
Google LLC holds 75 patent families, the largest portfolio in the field. Its technology emphasis spans B25J9 (manipulators and robots), G06N3 (AI-based computing and neural networks), and G05B13 (adaptive control systems), reflecting a platform-level strategy that ties grasping hardware to learned control policies. Recent filings are down 57% versus the prior three-year period, suggesting the foundational portfolio phase is maturing rather than actively expanding.
families: 75Siemens AG
Siemens AG holds 47 patent families and is the most active filer by momentum, with recent output up 146% versus its prior three-year period — the highest growth rate among established top-tier applicants. Its technology focus centers on B25J9 (manipulators and robots), G06V10, and G06V20 (image and video recognition for robotic perception), indicating a strategy oriented toward vision-guided grasping for industrial automation. The Siemens-to-Siemens Corp co-filing relationship (8 joint families) further coordinates this portfolio across jurisdictions.
families: 47| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Google LLC | 9 | ▼ -57% |
| Siemens AG | 32 | ▲ +146% |
| Amazon Technologies Inc | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| NVIDIA Corporation | 5 | ▼ -78% |
| Distalmotion | 6 | ▲ new entrant |
| Soft Robotics Inc | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
AI-integrated control, surgical robotics, and image-based perception are under-served relative to their technical importance
Several IPC branches appear in the corpus at meaningful but relatively low counts compared with the dominant B25J cluster. Where these branches also carry plausible technical value and a realistic entry path, they represent under-served adjacent areas worth monitoring.
G06N · AI models applied to grasping control
G06N (Computing based on AI models) appears in 139 records — significant in absolute terms but only about 6% of the total branch distribution, behind B25J’s commanding share. Deep-learning grasp synthesis and reinforcement-learning-based manipulation are technically central to next-generation robotic grasping but remain sparsely covered as primary IPC designations. Entrants with existing AI software IP could extend into this branch by coupling learned grasp policies with hardware claims, without competing head-on in the densely occupied B25J9 manipulator subclass.
Search this in Eureka →A61B · Surgical and minimally invasive grasping
A61B (Diagnosis and surgery) accounts for 89 records — roughly 4% of branch distribution — and is anchored by Distalmotion’s focused portfolio (A61B34, A61B17, A61B90) in minimally invasive surgical robotics. The surgical sub-domain requires specialized end-effector compliance and haptic feedback, technical requirements distinct from industrial grasping, yet the combined patent density remains low relative to the clinical demand for dexterous surgical manipulation. Entrants with medical device regulatory pathways and compliant-mechanism expertise face a less crowded IP landscape than in the industrial grasping core.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B25J 9 · Manipulators & robots | B25J 15 · Manipulators & robots | B25J 13 · Manipulators & robots | B25J 19 · Manipulators & robots | G06N 3 · Computing based on AI models |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google LLC | Strong · 78 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 5 | Strong · 41 |
| NVIDIA Corporation | Strong · 32 | Absent | Moderate · 12 | Absent | Moderate · 16 |
| Siemens AG | Strong · 47 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Harris Corporation | Absent | Strong · 15 | Strong · 18 | Absent | Absent |
| Amazon Technologies Inc | Strong · 30 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
Google LLC leads with 75 patent families, the largest portfolio in the field. Its filings concentrate on manipulator mechanics (B25J9), AI-based computing (G06N3), and adaptive control (G05B13), reflecting a broad platform strategy.
Annual filings peaked in 2020 at 145, after growing from 87 in 2017. Since 2020, annual volume has eased: 103 in 2021, 91 in 2022, and 80 in 2023. Figures for 2024 and 2025 are provisional due to publication lag.
The United States is the dominant jurisdiction with 570 filing records, followed by Europe via EPO at 178 and WIPO PCT at 141. Germany at 49 and India at 43 are the largest national-office filers outside the US.
Siemens AG shows the strongest momentum among established large filers, with recent output up 146% versus its prior three-year period. Amazon Tech Inc, Distalmotion, Soft Robotics, Kindred Systems, and Willow Garage are all recorded as new entrants in the momentum data, though their recent family counts are smaller.
The most-cited work by forward citation count covers topics including automated transport with inventory scanning (292 citations), robotic grasping of items in inventory systems (233 citations), coordinated mobile manipulation (233 citations), articulated manipulators for minimally invasive surgery (206 citations), and deep machine learning methods for robotic grasping (179 citations).
G06N (AI models for grasp control) and A61B (surgical robotic grasping) are the two most technically significant branches with relatively low filing share — 6% and 4% of branch distribution respectively. G05B (adaptive control) and G06T (image-based grasp planning) are additional adjacent branches with lower current density relative to their technical relevance.
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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.
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