Semiconductor metrology and yield patents: mapping who holds the claim space and where it is still open
Concentrated at the top. The five largest assignees hold 498 of 731 records in scope (68.1%), and the top ten hold 81.7% — a small group of equipment makers controls most of the documented claim space. Filings peaked at 59 in 2017 and have since settled into a flatter pattern; the complete-year comparison shows 40 records in 2021 against 40 in 2024, a 0% change over that three-year span. Years after 2024 are still filling in as publications catch up with filing dates, so treat the tail of the chart as a floor, not a ceiling.
- 1KLA CORP212
- 2ASML NETHERLANDS BV183
- 3LAM RES CORP41
- 4KLA TENCOR TECHNOLOGY CORP33
- 5TOKYO ELECTRON LTD29
See the full semiconductor metrology & yield 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 this landscape
Who are the leading patent holders in semiconductor metrology?
The dataset's ranked leader holds 212 of the 731 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-place assignee at 29 and tenth place at 11. The top five assignees combined account for 68.1% of all records, and the top ten account for 81.7%, so filing activity in this field is concentrated among a small group of equipment makers and metrology specialists rather than spread evenly across the 100 companies in the ranked list. Anyone assessing competitive position should treat that handful of leaders as the primary reference set.
Is semiconductor metrology patent filing growing or slowing down?
Complete-year data shows filings were flat, not falling: 40 records in 2021 and 40 records in 2024, a 0% change over that span, after an earlier peak of 59 records in 2017. Years after 2024 show lower counts in the raw data, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual drop in activity. The fair reading is a mature, plateaued field rather than a declining one.
What technology areas dominate semiconductor metrology patents?
H01L (semiconductor devices) and G03F (photolithography and photomechanics) are the two largest IPC subclasses, covering 43.4% and 38.6% of the 731 records respectively. G01N (material analysis and testing) and G01B (length and dimension measurement) follow at 32.7% and 22.0%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares overlap rather than sum to 100%, which is expected given how measurement claims often reference the device or lithography structures they inspect.
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 Semiconductor Metrology & Yield 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.