Static Application Security Testing patents: who holds the ground and where it is still open
36.5% concentration at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 298 of 816 records in scope, but the field still has a long tail beyond the ranked leaders. Filings ran from 32 in 2017 to a peak of 70 in 2020. On the complete-year window, 2021's 62 filings fell to 37 by 2024, a -40% move. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent bars will rise as more records post.
- 1INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION11.8%
- 2MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC9.2%
- 3TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD7.1%
- 4BLACK DUCK SOFTWARE INC4.7%
- 5ORACLE INT CORP3.8%
See the full static application security testing 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 SAST patents
Who holds the most patents in static application security testing?
The ranking of 100 assignees in this dataset is led by one company holding 96 of the 816 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 31 and the tenth at 14. The top 5 assignees combined hold 298 records (36.5% of all 816), and the top 10 hold 383 (46.9%). Beyond that group the ranking thins into a long tail of assignees with only a few filings each, so most organisations active in this space hold a modest number of records rather than a dominant position.
Is SAST patent filing activity growing or declining?
Filing volume rose through the late 2010s and peaked in 2020 at 70 filings for the year. On the most recent complete-year comparison, filings fell from 62 in 2021 to 37 in 2024, a -40% change. However, because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as confirmation of continued decline.
What patent classes cover static application security testing?
The overwhelming majority of records, 94.1% of the 816 in scope, carry the G06F classification for electric digital data processing. Digital information transmission (H04L) appears on 18.6% of records and AI-based computing (G06N) on 11.0%, marking the two clearest secondary technology fronts. Smaller shares fall under business-process, wireless, alarm, education and video-related classes, reflecting SAST techniques being applied in adjacent domains at much lower volume.
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 Static Application Security Testing covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. 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.