Sensors & MEMS Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak. the leading year recorded 1,295 filings; by 2024, the last complete year, activity was down to 760 — a 32% decline from 2021's 1,113.
- Ownership is unusually diffuse. the top 5 assignees together hold just 6.3% of all 35,846 records, and the top 10 only 10.7% — no single filer dominates this field.
- MEMS manufacturing trails MEMS design. B81B (MEMS devices, 5.7% of records) outweighs B81C (MEMS manufacturing, 4.3%), suggesting more claims on device architecture than on fabrication process.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1,113 records) with 2024 (760) — 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 35,846 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
A fragmented field built on diagnostic and material-analysis claims
The sensors, MEMS, metrology and instrumentation field spans 35,846 published records filed between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off. Filing activity concentrates around diagnosis and surgical instrumentation (A61B) and material analysis and testing (G01N), the two largest IPC subclasses in scope, ahead of MEMS-specific device and manufacturing classes. The most-cited records in the corpus — spanning augmented-reality sensing, surgical MEMS instruments and microprocessor-controlled medication delivery — show how sensor and MEMS claims have migrated deep into medical devices rather than staying confined to standalone measurement hardware.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend understate real activity; 2024 is treated here as the most recent complete filing year.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 35,846-record dataset: filings by year, and the IPC subclasses that carry the most claim density.
Filings peaked in 2018 and have since declined
Filings ran from 1,239 in 2017 to a peak of 1,295 in 2018. By 2024, the last complete filing year, volume had fallen to 760 — down 32% from 2021's 1,113. The 2025-2026 figures shown are still filling in as publications catch up with filings.
Diagnostic and material-analysis classes lead
A61B (diagnosis & surgery) covers 9.7% of records and G01N (material analysis & testing) 6.9%, the two largest classes in scope. MEMS-specific classes B81B (5.7%) and B81C (4.3%) sit below semiconductor devices (H01L, 4.7%) and digital data processing (G06F, 5.6%), and because records can carry multiple IPC codes these shares sum to more than 100% of the record total.
Shares are the percentage of the 35,846 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Sensors, MEMS, Metrology & Instrumentation Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about sensors, mems, metrology & instrumentation patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim: hybrid MEMS/non-MEMS integration
Hybrid system having a non-MEMS device and a MEMS device (US8461935B2)
A hybrid system having a non-MEMS device and a MEMS device is described. The apparatus includes a non-MEMS device and an integrated circuit including a MEMS device, the integrated circuit formed on a substrate. The integrated circuit includes a control circuit for the non-MEMS device and a MEMS control circuit for the MEMS device.Filed by Silicon Laboratories Inc., granted 2013-06-11.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160026253A1 | Methods and systems for creating virtual and augmented reality | 3,439 |
| 2 | US20050131390A1 | Surgical instruments including mems devices | 2,863 |
| 3 | US5925021A | Medication delivery device with a microprocessor and characteristic monitor | 2,064 |
| 4 | US20190200981A1 | Method of compressing tissue within a stapling device and simultaneously displaying the location of the tissu… | 1,940 |
| 5 | US8808311B2 | Surgical instruments including MEMS devices | 1,834 |
| 6 | US6806808B1 | Wireless event-recording device with identification codes | 1,821 |
| 7 | US20050046584A1 | Asset system control arrangement and method | 1,780 |
| 8 | US20130201316A1 | System and method for server based control | 1,727 |
| 9 | US20070078484A1 | Gentle touch surgical instrument and method of using same | 1,708 |
| 10 | US5957854A | Wireless medical diagnosis and monitoring equipment | 1,612 |
Ranked by citation count within the searched corpus; older records accumulate citations simply by being available longer, so treat this as a signal of influence rather than current relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing data actually shows
Three findings that shape where to file next and who to watch.
No single assignee controls this field
The top 5 assignees together account for only 6.3% of all 35,846 records, and the top 10 for 10.7%. That is a genuinely long tail: even the leader holds 561 records against a field of 35,846, so freedom-to-operate analysis has to look well past the household names.
Filing volume has pulled back from its 2018 peak
After peaking at 1,295 filings in 2018, volume declined to 760 by 2024, a 32% drop from 2021's 1,113. That is the most recent period that can be read as complete; 2025-2026 figures are still filling in as publications catch up with the roughly 18-month lag behind filing.
Diagnostic and surgical claims dominate the class mix
A61B (diagnosis & surgery) and G01N (material analysis & testing) are the two largest IPC subclasses, ahead of MEMS-specific codes B81B and B81C. That pattern tracks the most-cited records in the corpus, several of which sit at the intersection of MEMS sensing and surgical instrumentation.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to sensors, mems, metrology & instrumentation patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Bosch GmbH | YAMA GARY | 13 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | OBRIEN GARY | 13 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | GRAHAM ANDREW | 10 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | PARTRIDGE AARON | 8 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | LUTZ MARKUS | 8 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | Akustica Inc. | 7 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | KRONMUELLER SILVIA | 6 |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | FEYH ANDO | 6 |
The dataset surfaces only 10 recurring co-assignee pairs, with the strongest links running through individual named inventors filing alongside a single large German industrial group — a pattern typical of internal inventor teams rather than cross-company joint development.
A diffuse field with a long tail of single-digit filers
The ranked leaders span semiconductor foundries, MEMS specialists, medical device makers and diversified industrials — none of them commanding more than a small slice of the total.
The top filer barely clears 1.5% of the field
With 561 records against 35,846 total, the leading assignee's share illustrates how fragmented ownership is here compared with fields where a handful of firms hold a third or more of filings.
Recent-year activity is down sharply across most tracked assignees
Year-over-year momentum among tracked assignees ranges from flat to down more than 90%, with several long-time filers recording only a handful of filings in the latest year. This aligns with the broader 2021-2024 decline rather than signalling a single company's retreat.
Joint filing is the exception, not the rule
Only 10 recurring co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest ones link a single large industrial group to named individual inventors rather than to other companies. Most records in this field are filed by a single assignee.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC) | 3 | 0% |
| InvenSense Inc. | 1 | -91% |
| Infineon Technologies AG | 1 | -75% |
| MENTOR ACQUISITION ONE LLC | 1 | -93% |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | 1 | 0% |
| Osterhout Group Inc. | 0 | — |
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| DEKA Products Limited Partnership | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a fragmented ownership structure and a post-2018 filing pullback — both of which change how a freedom-to-operate or whitespace search should be scoped.
Run a claim-level search on the under-claimed branches
Wafer-level packaging and sensor-fusion calibration show thinner filing density than core MEMS and diagnostic classes — worth a targeted novelty search before committing to a filing strategy there.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack the long tail, not just the leader
With the top 10 holding only 10.7% of all 35,846 records, competitive monitoring needs to extend well past the largest few assignees to catch emerging filers.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about this field
The field is unusually fragmented: the leading assignee holds 561 records out of 35,846 total, and the top 5 assignees combined account for only 6.3% of all records in scope. Ownership spans semiconductor foundries, MEMS specialists, medical device manufacturers and diversified industrial groups, with no single company commanding a dominant share. This means competitive tracking needs to look beyond the largest few names to catch meaningful activity.
Filing peaked in 2018 at 1,295 records and has declined since; by 2024, the last complete filing year, volume had fallen to 760, a 32% drop from 2021's 1,113. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the most recent years understate real activity. Based on the complete-year data available, the trend through 2024 is a pullback rather than continued growth.
Diagnosis and surgical instrumentation (A61B) is the largest IPC subclass at 9.7% of the 35,846 records, followed by material analysis and testing (G01N) at 6.9%. MEMS-specific classes — B81B for devices and B81C for manufacturing — sit lower, at 5.7% and 4.3% respectively. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages overlap and should not be summed.
Sub-areas such as wafer-level MEMS packaging, sensor-fusion calibration algorithms and low-power MEMS control circuitry show comparatively thin filing density relative to the dominant diagnostic and material-analysis classes. That does not guarantee an open field — it means a targeted novelty and freedom-to-operate search is worthwhile before committing filing resources there. Thin density in a broad IPC bucket can still hide dense sub-claims, so any whitespace call needs claim-level verification.
With the top 10 assignees holding just 10.7% of all 35,846 records, this field is markedly less concentrated than sectors where a handful of firms control a third or more of filings. That structure suggests a technology area built by many independent contributors — startups, academic spinouts and diversified industrials — rather than one shaped primarily by a few large incumbents. It also means new entrants face less concentrated blocking patent risk from any single competitor.
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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.