Where does Carl Zeiss AG rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Carl Zeiss AG ranks #2,738 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 Carl Zeiss AG hold?

Carl Zeiss AG holds 141 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 36 technology areas.

What is Carl Zeiss AG's Innovation Score?

Carl Zeiss AG has an Innovation Score of 52.2 out of 100 (top 10% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Carl Zeiss AG focus on?

Carl Zeiss AG's top technology area is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus) with 57 patents, ranking #273 of 4,891 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 36 CPC subclasses total.

Is Carl Zeiss AG's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Carl Zeiss AG's recent grant velocity is +2% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). The company is maintaining or growing its granted-patent output.

What does claim depth mean for Carl Zeiss AG's patents?

Carl Zeiss AG's patents average 16.3 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 Carl Zeiss AG 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

Carl Zeiss AG

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 141 granted patents across 36 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, Carl ranks #2,738 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 141 patents across 36 technology areas.

#2,738
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 10%
by Innovation Score (52.2/100): 16.3
avg claims per patent: +2%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R2738 · Foreign Corporation #2,738 · 141 grants

GRANTS-MID · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-PAR · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-FRNCORP · VEL-FLAT · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MID 141 grants
TOP-DECILE #2,738/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Altec Industries
CPC-FOCUS G02B · 36 areas
INNOV-PAR 52.2/100
CLAIMS-RICH 16.3 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
VEL-FLAT +2% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Altec Industries, Inc. (±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 Carl’s 52.2 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 17.1 pts (33%) Velocity 4.1 pts (8%) Breadth 21.2 pts (41%) Claim depth 9.8 pts (19%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Carl Zeiss · this assignee

52
JGC Catalysts and… · near

52
Leoni Kabel · near

52
Mjnn · near

52
VeriSilicon Holdings · near

52
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Carl's Innovation Score is 52.2/100 (top 10% 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 Carl?

Each dot is one of Carl’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). Carl’s own 16.3 claims/patent is ABOVE the 15.9 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

Where Carl's grants concentrate

Carl Zeiss AG is a focused PatentsView assignee: 36 CPC subclasses with 40.4% of grants classified under G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus). Peak complete grant year is 2019 (24 grants) versus a trough of 5 in 2023. By volume, Carl sits between Technische UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN and Kemet Electronics Corporation.

Carl's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Carl Zeiss AG moved from 55 to 34 grants (0.62x 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 #2,397. See the growth leaderboard.

Technische Univer…

142
The George Washin…

142
Amosense

141
Altec Industries

141
Dresser-rand

141
Dynaenergetics Eu…

141
International Tru…

141
Kemet

141
Carl Zeiss ◀

141

What this shows Carl holds 141 patents at rank #2,738, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Carl

By rank, the assignees closest to #2,738 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G02B (Optical Elements)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Carl, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In G02B (Optical Elements), Carl ranks #273 of 4,891 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (52 here).

Leoni Kabel GMBH 52 JGC Catalysts and Chemicals Ltd. 52 Mjnn LLC 52 VeriSilicon Holdings Co., Ltd. 52

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (16.3 here).

Avigilon Corporation 16.3 avg Giesecke & Devrient GMBH 16.3 avg Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics AG 16.3 avg American Air Liquide, Inc. 16.3 avg

Carl's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

52 Top 10% higher than 90% 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

Carl Zeiss AG patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	9	6.4%
2016	9	6.4%
2017	13	9.2%
2018	9	6.4%
2019	24	17.0%
2020	19	13.5%
2021	12	8.5%
2022	14	9.9%
2023	5	3.5%
2024	15	10.6%
2025partial year	12	8.5%

Which technologies does Carl Zeiss AG patent most?

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 57

H04N - Pictorial Communication, e.g. Television 28

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 23

G02C - SPECTACLES; Sunglasses OR Goggles Insofar AS They Have THE Same Features AS SPECTACLES; Contact Lenses 23

A61B - DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification 17

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 13

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 9

G01B - Measuring Length, Thickness OR Similar Linear DIMENSIONS; Measuring ANGLES; Measuring AREAS; Measuring Irregularities OF Surfaces OR Contours 9

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 8

G01M - Testing Static OR Dynamic Balance OF Machines OR STRUCTURES; Testing OF Structures OR Apparatus, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 7

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; 6

A61F - Filters Implantable Into Blood VESSELS; PROSTHESES; Devices Providing Patency TO, OR Preventing Collapsing OF, Tubular Structures OF THE Body, e.g. STENTS; Orthopaedic, Nursing OR Contraceptive DEVICES; FOMENTATION; Treatment OR Protection OF Eyes OR EARS; Bandages, Dressings OR Absorbent PADS; Firs 5

A61N - ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; Radiation THERAPY; Ultrasound Therapy 4

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 4

G06V - Image OR Video Recognition OR Understanding 3

Top 15 of 36 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

Carl Zeiss AG's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Carl Zeiss AG's lead technology class is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus), 40.4% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G02B
Ranked #2,738 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Carl Zeiss AG against Technische UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 52.2/100 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.