Where does BAE Systems PLC rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), BAE Systems PLC ranks #671 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 BAE Systems PLC hold?

BAE Systems PLC holds 669 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 202 technology areas.

What is BAE Systems PLC's Innovation Score?

BAE Systems PLC has an Innovation Score of 62.3 out of 100 (top 2% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does BAE Systems PLC focus on?

BAE Systems PLC's top technology area is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus) with 98 patents, ranking #167 of 4,891 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 202 CPC subclasses total.

Is BAE Systems PLC's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

BAE Systems PLC's recent grant velocity is -24% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). Grant activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for BAE Systems PLC's patents?

BAE Systems PLC'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 BAE Systems PLC 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 Foreign Corporation

BAE Systems PLC

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 669 granted patents across 202 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2025. 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: G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

RSS updates for this company

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, BAE ranks #671 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 669 patents across 202 technology areas.

#671
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 2%
by Innovation Score (62.3/100): 16.4
avg claims per patent: -24%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R671 · Foreign Corporation #671 · 669 grants

GRANTS-MID · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-BROAD · INNOV-STRONG · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-FRNCORP · VEL-DOWN · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MID 669 grants
TOP-DECILE #671/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH ATI ULC
CPC-BROAD G02B · 202 areas
INNOV-STRONG 62.3/100
CLAIMS-RICH 16.4 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
VEL-DOWN -24% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: ATI Technologies ULC (±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 BAE’s 62.3 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 22.5 pts (36%) Velocity 4.9 pts (8%) Breadth 25.0 pts (40%) Claim depth 9.8 pts (16%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Harman International… · near

62
Trustees of Tufts… · near

62
BAE Systems · this assignee

62
Mazda Motor · near

62
STMicroelectronics… · near

62
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows BAE's Innovation Score is 62.3/100 (top 2% 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 BAE?

Each dot is one of BAE’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). BAE’s own 16.4 claims/patent is ABOVE the 13.9 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How BAE's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, BAE Systems PLC received 276 grants versus 363 in 2015–2019 (-24% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2019 at 88 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 41. Lead class G02B accounts for 14.6% of the portfolio across 202 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Trane International Inc. (#667) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (#675).

BAE's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, BAE Systems PLC moved from 209 to 155 grants (0.74x the prior three-year total, a multiple, not a CAGR). Among 3,296 tracked assignees with ≥100 grants and ≥20 prior-period grants, that multiple ranks #2,010. See the growth leaderboard.

Trane Internation…

671
General Electric…

670
TE Connectivity

670
ATI ULC

669
Kuraray

669
King Abdullah Uni…

669
BAE Systems ◀

669
Socionext

668
Takeda Pharmaceut…

668

What this shows BAE holds 669 patents at rank #671, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near BAE

By rank, the assignees closest to #671 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G02B (Optical Elements)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for BAE, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In G02B (Optical Elements), BAE ranks #167 of 4,891 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (62 here).

Mazda Motor Corporation 62 STMicroelectronics France 62 Harman International Industries, Incorporated 62 Trustees of Tufts College 62

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (16.4 here).

Rheem Manufacturing Company 16.4 avg AWI Licensing LLC 16.4 avg Beckhoff Automation GmbH 16.4 avg ElringKlinger AG 16.4 avg

BAE's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

62 Top 2% higher than 98% 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 · 2015–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

BAE Systems PLC patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	58	8.7%
2016	71	10.6%
2017	71	10.6%
2018	75	11.2%
2019	88	13.2%
2020	58	8.7%
2021	63	9.4%
2022	46	6.9%
2023	41	6.1%
2024	68	10.2%
2025partial year	30	4.5%

Which technologies does BAE Systems PLC patent most?

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 98

B64C - AEROPLANES; Helicopters 70

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 68

B64D - Equipment FOR Fitting IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; Flight SUITS; PARACHUTES; Arrangement OR Mounting OF Power Plants OR Propulsion Transmissions IN Aircraft 66

H04B - Transmission 59

F42B - Explosive Charges, e.g. FOR Blasting, Fireworks, Ammunition 50

G05D - Systems FOR Controlling OR Regulating Non-electric Variables 50

G01S - Radio DIRECTION-FINDING; Radio NAVIGATION; Determining Distance OR Velocity BY USE OF Radio WAVES; Locating OR Presence-detecting BY USE OF THE Reflection OR Reradiation OF Radio WAVES; Analogous Arrangements Using Other Waves 49

H04L - Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication 43

H01Q - Antennas, i.e. Radio Aerials 36

B64U - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAV]; Equipment Therefor 35

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 32

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 32

Y02T - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation 32

F41H - ARMOUR; Armoured TURRETS; Armoured OR Armed VEHICLES; Means OF Attack OR Defence, e.g. Camouflage, IN General 30

Top 15 of 202 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

BAE Systems PLC's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

BAE Systems PLC's lead technology class is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus), 14.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G02B
Ranked #671 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare BAE Systems PLC against Trane International Inc., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 62.3/100 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.