USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 34,378 granted patents across 322 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

34,378

Total patents granted

322

CPC technology areas

15.1

Avg claims per patent

-8%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Canon ranks #3 of 50,000 US assignees, with 34,378 patents across 322 technology areas.

#3
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 0.1%
by Innovation Score (75.5/100): 15.1
avg claims per patent: -8%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha has been granted 34,378 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Canon Kabushiki Kaisha at rank #3 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 322 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 15.1 claims per patent with primary concentration in H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION). As a Foreign Corporation, Canon Kabushiki Kaisha is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. The composite Innovation Score of 75.5/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 16,497 grants, compared with 17,881 in the 2015–2019 window, a -8% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The Foreign Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's 15.1 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Canon Kabushiki Kaisha against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Samsung

106,890
International Bus…

72,926
Canon ◀

34,378
LG

32,607
Taiwan Semiconduc…

31,041
Apple

30,560
Qualcomm Incorpor…

30,354
Intel

27,498
Microsoft Technol…

24,392

What this shows Canon sits among the ten largest US patent holders, a tier dominated by electronics and semiconductor multinationals.

Other top-10 patent holders

The other largest US assignees by granted patent volume.

Leaders in H04N (Pictorial Communication)

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

Canon's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

76 Top 1% higher than 99% of 50,000 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

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	4,170	12.1%
2016	3,688	10.7%
2017	3,332	9.7%
2018	3,097	9.0%
2019	3,594	10.5%
2020	3,298	9.6%
2021	3,106	9.0%
2022	2,771	8.1%
2023	2,940	8.6%
2024	2,385	6.9%
2025	1,997	5.8%

Which technologies does Canon Kabushiki Kaisha patent most?

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 12,328

G03G - ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY 7,776

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 5,662

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 3,282

B41J - TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS 3,133

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 2,525

G03B - APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR 1,705

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 1,549

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 1,476

G06K - GRAPHICAL DATA READING ; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS 1,345

B65H - HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES 1,301

H10F - INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION 1,254

A61B - DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION 1,231

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 1,226

G03F - PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; 1,041

Top 15 of 322 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Deep

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

75.5 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does Canon Kabushiki Kaisha hold?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha holds 34,378 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 322 technology areas.

What is Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's Innovation Score?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha has an Innovation Score of 75.5 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Canon Kabushiki Kaisha focus on?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's top technology area is H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION) with 12,328 patents. The company has filed patents in 322 CPC subclasses total.

Is Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's recent filing velocity is -8% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's patents?

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha's patents average 15.1 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 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.

How to use this portfolio

Canon's 34,378 grants land it in the top 0.1% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - Canon ranks #3 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in H04N - see who else leads that technology area. H04N leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

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

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 byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · 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.