Specimen Transport Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 65.8% concentration. The top 5 of 27 ranked assignees account for 77 of the 117 records in scope — a field with a clear head and a long single-filer tail.
- Filing fell 91% from 2021 to 2024. Annual filings dropped from 11 to 1 over that span, the last three-year window with complete publication data.
- G01N dominates, C12M and B65D trail far behind. Material analysis & testing claims sit in 54.7% of records; containers/packaging and bioreactor apparatus each sit near 9.4%, leaving room to build around a narrower base.
Filing growth compares 2021 (11 records) with 2024 (1) — 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 117 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the specimen transport and stability patent record shows
Specimen transport and stability covers how clinical and research samples are packaged, moved and kept chemically stable between collection and analysis — from tube orientation and stabilizer additives to chain-of-custody tracking during temperature excursions. The dataset behind this page spans 117 published records filed between 2015 and 2026, drawn from a search string that pairs transport and stability terms with the specific failure modes assignees actually claim around: temperature excursion, transport time, tube orientation, analyte degradation, stabilizer additives and chain of custody.
Filings peaked in 2017 at 16 records and have declined since, with 2021's 11 filings dropping to 1 by 2024 — the most recent year with largely complete publication data, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. Reading the 2025-2026 figures as a continued decline would be premature; they are still filling in.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 117 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A 2017 peak followed by a sustained pullback
Annual filings hit 16 in 2017, the high point of the dataset, then fell through the following years to 11 in 2021 and just 1 by 2024 — a 91% drop across that three-year window. Because publication lags filing, 2025 and 2026 figures will rise as later filings publish; they should not yet be read as confirmation of further decline.
G01N carries the field; adjacent classes are thinner
Material analysis & testing (G01N) appears in 54.7% of the 117 records, roughly double the next-largest classes: implants/prostheses (A61F, 23.1%), lab apparatus (B01L, 21.4%) and diagnosis/surgery (A61B, 19.7%). Business/admin data processing (G06Q, 12.0%), containers & packaging (B65D, 9.4%) and bioreactor apparatus (C12M, 9.4%) sit furthest from the core and are the classes with the fewest competing claims per record.
Shares are the percentage of the 117 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Specimen Transport and Stability with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about specimen transport and stability and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
Specimen transport system
A specimen transport system for transporting a specimen includes a preceding section, a succeeding section located apart from the preceding section, a conveyor-type rack transport mechanism attached to one or both sections and configured to transport a rack holding multiple specimen containers, and a car that travels between the two sections carrying its own conveyor-type rack transport mechanism.Filed by IDS Co., Ltd., published 2008-03-06 as US20080053790A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20080247914A1 | Sample Preparation System And Method for Processing Clinical Specimens | 244 |
| 2 | US5108927A | Specimen transport device containing a specimen stabilizing composition | 164 |
| 3 | US20170320054A1 | Transporter systems, assemblies and associated methods for transporting tissue samples | 78 |
| 4 | US7985375B2 | Sample preparation system and method for processing clinical specimens | 76 |
| 5 | US6354104B1 | Lockable specimen transporter | 76 |
| 6 | US7578383B2 | Specimen transport system | 61 |
| 7 | WO2008123882A1 | Sample preparation system for processing of clinical specimens | 42 |
| 8 | WO2016120224A1 | Transporter systems, assemblies and associated methods for transporting tissue samples | 34 |
| 9 | US20120220043A1 | Evidence collector with integral quantified reagents and method of modulating specimen drying time | 32 |
| 10 | US20190099166A1 | Collection device for diagnostics of vaginal discharge | 28 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings — treat them as a signal of influence on later art, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three figures from this dataset matter more than the raw record count when deciding where to file next.
The field has a clear head and a long tail
Five of the 27 ranked assignees hold 77 of the 117 records in scope. The tenth-ranked assignee holds only 4 records, and the drop from fifth place (10 records) to tenth is steep — most of the remaining assignees are single- or few-filing entrants rather than sustained programmes.
Filing activity has pulled back sharply
Annual filings fell from 11 in 2021 to 1 in 2024, the last year with largely complete publication data. Several of the historically active assignees show zero filings in the latest year tracked, consistent with a broader slowdown rather than one company exiting.
Claims cluster in material analysis, not packaging
Over half of records touch G01N (material analysis & testing), while containers & packaging (B65D) and bioreactor apparatus (C12M) each sit at 9.4%. A record can carry multiple IPC classes, so these figures overlap rather than sum to 100%, but the gap between the core and the edges is wide.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to specimen transport and stability, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the claim space is still open
The ranked assignee list covers 27 companies and inventors across the full 117-record dataset — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, the complete set the data endpoint returns.
One assignee sets the pace, the rest thin out fast
The leading assignee holds 19 of the 117 records, with the fifth-ranked assignee at 10 and the tenth-ranked at just 4. That gradient signals a field where one or two sustained filing programmes coexist with many single-filing entrants rather than a broad competitive middle.
Inventor teams, not corporate alliances, drive co-filing
Co-assignee activity is limited to seven pairs, with the strongest pairings — each appearing together on 5 records — linking individual inventor names rather than separate corporate entities. This points to internal inventor teams as the source of joint filings, not cross-company partnerships.
Filing is US-anchored with meaningful EPO and PCT activity
The United States receives the largest single share of filings (33), followed by the EPO (25), Canada (14) and WIPO/PCT filings (13), with Australia and Austria trailing. That spread suggests applicants are prioritising US and European protection first, using PCT routes to keep options open elsewhere.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| QuraSense Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Ventana Medical Systems Inc. | 0 | — |
| Becton Dickinson & Co. | 0 | — |
| DORN GORDON L | 0 | — |
| WADLEY TECHNOLOGIES INC | 0 | — |
| BODE TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC | 0 | — |
| Hitachi High-Tech Corporation | 0 | — |
| MESSINA MARK | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated field with a cooling filing rate — the next steps depend on whether you are filing, licensing or tracking a competitor.
Check freedom-to-operate against the cited core
The most-cited records in this space, several dating to the 1990s and 2000s, still anchor claim scope in specimen transport and stabilizing composition. Any new filing in that area should be checked against them before drafting.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaTrack the assignees still filing after 2021
Most historically active assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, but the field has not gone to zero — watching which of the ranked leaders keeps filing past the 2021 peak identifies who still sees commercial value here.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaDraft around the thin classes, not the crowded one
G01N carries more than half of all records; B65D and C12M sit near 9% each. A first claim built around packaging or bioreactor-linked conditioning has fewer direct competitors to design around than one built on material analysis.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions on specimen transport and stability patents
Across the 117 records in this dataset, the leading assignee holds 19, and the top 5 of 27 ranked assignees together hold 77 records, or 65.8% of the field. That leaves a long tail: the tenth-ranked assignee holds only 4 records, and most of the remaining ranked companies appear with just a handful of filings each. This pattern — one clear leader, a mid-tier of a few sustained filers, and many single-filing entrants — is typical of a preanalytical niche rather than a broad, evenly contested technology area.
Filing activity peaked in 2017 at 16 records and has fallen since, dropping from 11 in 2021 to 1 in 2024, a 91% decline over that span. 2024 is the most recent year with largely complete data, since patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 numbers will rise as pending filings publish. Based on the complete years, the field has cooled from its 2017 high rather than accelerated.
Material analysis and testing (IPC class G01N) appears in 54.7% of the 117 records, making it the dominant classification by a wide margin. Implants/prostheses (A61F, 23.1%), lab apparatus (B01L, 21.4%) and diagnosis/surgery (A61B, 19.7%) follow at meaningfully lower shares. Containers & packaging (B65D) and bioreactor apparatus (C12M) each sit at just 9.4%, marking them as the least-claimed of the eight tracked classes and a possible entry point for narrower claims.
The classes furthest from the G01N core — containers & packaging (B65D) and bioreactor/enzyme apparatus (C12M), each present in only 9.4% of records — carry the fewest competing claims in this dataset. Sub-areas like stabilizer additive chemistry for room-temperature hold, tube orientation sensing during transit, and chain-of-custody data logging integration sit adjacent to the crowded core without being saturated themselves. A first claim in one of these areas would face less direct prior art than one drafted squarely inside G01N material-analysis claim space.
US20080053790A1, filed by IDS Co., Ltd. and published in 2008, claims a specimen transport system built around a preceding section, a succeeding section, conveyor-type rack transport mechanisms, and a travelling car that shuttles specimen-holding racks between the two sections. It matters because it sits inside the lab-apparatus (B01L) and material-analysis (G01N) claim space that carries over half of all records in this dataset, meaning new mechanical transport designs in a similar layout need to be checked against it. It is one representative filing among several highly cited older records — including one cited 244 times — that continue to anchor prior art in this field.
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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.