Where does Aqua Metals Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Aqua Metals Inc. ranks #20,753 of 49,997 assignees by granted-patent volume, the same sort as the companies listing and top-holders ranking. See /methodology/#corpus-placement.

How many patents does Aqua Metals Inc. hold?

Aqua Metals Inc. holds 13 US utility patents granted between 2017 and 2025, spanning 12 technology areas.

What is Aqua Metals Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Aqua Metals Inc. has an Innovation Score of 32.7 out of 100 (42nd percentile of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Aqua Metals Inc. focus on?

Aqua Metals Inc.'s top technology area is Y02W (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewater Treatment OR Waste Management) with 11 patents, ranking #66 of 1,160 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 12 CPC subclasses total.

Is Aqua Metals Inc.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Aqua Metals Inc.'s recent grant velocity is +200% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). This indicates accelerating grant output.

What does claim depth mean for Aqua Metals Inc.'s patents?

Aqua Metals Inc.'s patents average 16.4 claims each. This is an aggregate descriptive count from the grant record; it does not establish claim scope, legal strength, enforceability, or design-around risk.

How is the Aqua Metals Inc. patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Aqua Metals Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 13 granted patents across 12 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2017–2025. Grant-trend analysis is cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search; it does not measure application filings, current R&D, or legal strength. Primary class: Y02W (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewater Treatment OR Waste Management).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Aqua ranks #20,753 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 13 patents across 12 technology areas.

#20,753
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: 42nd percentile
by Innovation Score (32.7/100): 16.4
avg claims per patent: +200%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R20753 · US Corporation #20,753 · 13 grants

GRANTS-MICRO · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-SURGE · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MICRO 13 grants
MID-PACK #20,753/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Apci
CPC-FOCUS Y02W · 12 areas
INNOV-THIN 32.7/100
CLAIMS-RICH 16.4 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-SURGE +200% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Apci LLC (±0 grants)

Instrument codes from this assignee’s USPTO PatentsView grant sheet: volume band, corpus rank, photo-finish peer, lead CPC, Innovation Score, claim depth, assignee type, velocity, and book completeness. Not a USPTO rating of patent strength.

How Aqua’s 32.7 Innovation Score adds up

The same four weighted components behind every Innovation Score on PlainPatent: portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth.

Volume 9.1 pts (28%) Velocity 1.5 pts (5%) Breadth 12.2 pts (37%) Claim depth 9.8 pts (30%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Aqua Metals · this assignee

33
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Aqua's Innovation Score is 32.7/100 (42nd percentile of the PatentsView-derived corpus). The chart places that score against the nearest Innovation Score peers plus corpus poles, not a reprint of the volume ranking.

Does more volume mean deeper claims for Aqua?

Each dot is one of Aqua’s 8 nearest volume peers (same corpus rank neighbourhood as the chart above), placed by total granted patents (horizontal) against average claims per patent (vertical). Aqua’s own 16.4 claims/patent is ABOVE the 15.6 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

Aqua vs its 8 nearest volume peers: granted patents vs average claims per patent. Source: USPTO PatentsView.

Where Aqua's grants concentrate

Aqua Metals Inc. is a focused PatentsView assignee: 12 CPC subclasses with 84.6% of grants classified under Y02W (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewater Treatment OR Waste Management). Peak complete grant year is 2020 (4 grants) versus a trough of 1 in 2017. By volume, Aqua sits between Apci LLC and Arlanxeo Netherlands B.V..

Aqua's three-year grant acceleration

Aqua Metals Inc. shows 2 grants in 2022–2024 against only 9 in 2019–2021. That prior window is too thin for a growth multiple (rename and spin-out assignees look artificially high when the baseline is near zero), so PlainPatent withholds a ranked acceleration claim here.

Apci

13
API Healthcare

13
Apollo Precision…

13
Applied Brain Res…

13
Archer Oiltools AS

13
Arinc Incorporated

13
Arkamys

13
Arlanxeo Netherla…

13
Aqua Metals ◀

13

What this shows Aqua holds 13 patents at rank #20,716, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Aqua

By rank, the assignees closest to #20,716 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in Y02W (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewa…)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Aqua's primary technology class.

Aqua's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

33 42nd percentile higher than 42% of 49,997 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2017–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2017–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Aqua Metals Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2017	1	7.7%
2019	2	15.4%
2020	4	30.8%
2021	3	23.1%
2022	1	7.7%
2023	1	7.7%
2025partial year	1	7.7%

Which technologies does Aqua Metals Inc. patent most?

Y02W - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewater Treatment OR Waste Management 11

C25C - Processes FOR THE Electrolytic Production, Recovery OR Refining OF METALS; Apparatus Therefor 10

Y02P - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies IN THE Production OR Processing OF Goods 10

H01M - Processes OR Means, e.g. Batteries, FOR THE Direct Conversion OF Chemical Energy Into Electrical Energy 9

C22B - Production AND Refining OF Metals ; Pretreatment OF RAW Materials 5

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 5

C25B - Electrolytic OR Electrophoretic Processes FOR THE Production OF Compounds OR NON-METALS; Apparatus Therefor 1

B21K - Making Forged OR Pressed Metal Products, e.g. Horse-shoes, Rivets, Bolts OR Wheels 1

B21J - FORGING; HAMMERING; Pressing METAL; RIVETING; Forge Furnaces 1

B82Y - Specific Uses OR Applications OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Measurement OR Analysis OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Manufacture OR Treatment OF Nanostructures 1

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 1

C01G - Compounds Containing Metals NOT Covered BY Subclasses C01d OR C01f 1

Top 12 of 12 technology areas

More on this record

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

View all rankings → How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

Aqua Metals Inc.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Aqua Metals Inc.'s lead technology class is Y02W (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Wastewater Treatment OR Waste Management), 84.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore Y02W
Ranked #20,753 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Aqua Metals Inc. against Apci LLC, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 32.7/100 blends volume, velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth. How it's calculated

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through May 2026; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled by PlainPatent , US Patent Intelligence Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.