Where does Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH ranks #441 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 SMT GmbH hold?

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH holds 1,028 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 86 technology areas.

What is Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's Innovation Score?

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH has an Innovation Score of 66.2 out of 100 (top 1% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

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

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's recent grant velocity is -51% 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 Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's patents?

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's patents average 21.8 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 SMT GmbH 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 SMT GmbH

Q: What technology areas does Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH focus on?

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's top technology area is 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;) with 919 patents, ranking #4 of 595 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 86 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,028 granted patents across 86 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: 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;).

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 #441 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 1,028 patents across 86 technology areas.

#441
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (66.2/100): 21.8
avg claims per patent: -51%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R441 · Foreign Corporation #441 · 1,028 grants

GRANTS-LARGE · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-WIDE · INNOV-STRONG · CLAIMS-DENSE · TYPE-FRNCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-LARGE 1.0K grants
TOP-DECILE #441/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Align Technology
CPC-WIDE G03F · 86 areas
INNOV-STRONG 66.2/100
CLAIMS-DENSE 21.8 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
VEL-DROP -51% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Align Technology, Inc. (±1 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 66.2 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 24.0 pts (36%) Velocity 4.2 pts (6%) Breadth 25.0 pts (38%) Claim depth 13.1 pts (20%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Arista Networks · near

66
Philip Morris Products · near

66
Singular Genomics… · near

66
Carl Zeiss SMT · this assignee

66
University of… · near

66
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Carl's Innovation Score is 66.2/100 (top 1% 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 21.8 claims/patent is ABOVE the 16.0 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.

How Carl's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH received 320 grants versus 652 in 2015–2019 (-51% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2017 at 154 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 36. Lead class G03F accounts for 89.4% of the portfolio across 86 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Genentech, Inc. (#437) and Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated (#445).

Carl's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH moved from 257 to 161 grants (0.63x 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 #2,375. See the growth leaderboard.

Genentech

1,039
Seoul National Un…

1,030
Align Technology

1,029
Contemporary Ampe…

1,029
Carl Zeiss SMT ◀

1,028
DSM IP Assets B V

1,027
Aptiv

1,025
Deka Products Par…

1,025
Palo Alto Researc…

1,025

What this shows Carl holds 1,028 patents at rank #441, 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 #441 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G03F (Photomechanical Production OF Textured OR Patterned Surfaces)

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 G03F (Photomechanical Production OF Textured OR Patterned Surfaces), Carl ranks #4 of 595 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (66 here).

University of Virginia Patent Foundation 66 Philip Morris Products S.A. 66 Arista Networks, Inc. 66 Singular Genomics Systems, Inc. 66

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (21.8 here).

Luxtera, Inc. 21.8 avg TRON—Translationale Onkologie an der Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz 21.8 avg Lagree Technologies, Inc. 21.8 avg Skyhook Wireless, Inc. 21.8 avg

Carl's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

66 Top 1% higher than 99% 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 SMT GmbH patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	123	12.0%
2016	132	12.8%
2017	154	15.0%
2018	145	14.1%
2019	98	9.5%
2020	79	7.7%
2021	80	7.8%
2022	65	6.3%
2023	36	3.5%
2024	60	5.8%
2025partial year	56	5.4%

Which technologies does Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH patent most?

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; 919

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 585

G21K - Techniques FOR Handling Particles OR Ionising Radiation NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Irradiation DEVICES; Gamma RAY OR X-ray Microscopes 130

G01B - Measuring Length, Thickness OR Similar Linear DIMENSIONS; Measuring ANGLES; Measuring AREAS; Measuring Irregularities OF Surfaces OR Contours 69

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 68

G01M - Testing Static OR Dynamic Balance OF Machines OR STRUCTURES; Testing OF Structures OR Apparatus, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 53

H01J - Electric Discharge Tubes OR Discharge Lamps 44

B82Y - Specific Uses OR Applications OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Measurement OR Analysis OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Manufacture OR Treatment OF Nanostructures 37

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 27

G01Q - Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM] 26

G01J - Measurement OF Intensity, Velocity, Spectral Content, Polarisation, Phase OR Pulse Characteristics OF Infrared, Visible OR Ultraviolet LIGHT; COLORIMETRY; Radiation Pyrometry 23

H05G - X-ray Technique 21

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 19

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 16

H01L - Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10 16

Top 15 of 86 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 SMT GmbH's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH's lead technology class is 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;), 89.4% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G03F
Ranked #441 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH against Genentech, Inc., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 66.2/100 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.