One assignee leads clearly with 601 of the 3,803 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 132 and tenth place at 77. The top five assignees together hold 35.2% of all records, and the top ten hold 47.5%. Below that, the ranked list of 100 companies thins out quickly into single or low double-digit family counts, so competitive density is concentrated almost entirely at the top.

Complete-year data shows filings falling from 295 in 2021 to 159 in 2024, a 46% decline over that span, after peaking at 327 in 2018. However, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the true current filing rate is higher than the raw counts for those years suggest. The safest read is that growth has cooled from its 2018 peak, not that the field has stopped.

C12Q, covering enzyme- and DNA-based measuring and testing methods, appears in 83.4% of the 3,803 records and is by far the largest single class. G16B bioinformatics follows at 28.7% and C12N genetic engineering at 21.8%, showing that informatics claims have become a substantial secondary layer on top of core capture chemistry. Smaller classes such as G06F, G01N, G16H and A61K mark narrower but active intersections with data processing, material analysis, healthcare informatics and therapeutics.

The technology composition data shows lower filing density in areas like coverage-uniformity correction, off-target capture suppression chemistry, panel content update and versioning methods, and turnaround-time-optimised library preparation relative to the dominant capture-chemistry claims. These are not empty categories, but they carry noticeably less claim density than the core C12Q chemistry space. A first claim there would typically pair a specific algorithmic or chemistry improvement with a measurable performance metric such as on-target rate or turnaround time, rather than claiming a hybrid capture method broadly.

US20250027076A1, filed by Nanodigmbio (Nanjing) Biotechnology, claims a liquid-phase hybrid capture method spanning probe design and synthesis, library construction and the capture step itself, aimed at increasing capture efficiency and shortening turnaround time. It is a 2025 filing and sits within a densely occupied part of the landscape, so it adds to existing prior art around liquid-phase capture rather than opening a new category. Anyone designing a liquid-phase capture workflow should review its specific process steps and optimisation claims rather than assuming freedom to operate based on the broader hybrid-capture category being crowded.