USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Ciena Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,148 granted patents across 75 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: H04L (TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,148

Total patents granted

CPC technology areas

18.5

Avg claims per patent

+29%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Ciena holds 1,148 US patents across 75 technology areas, rank #383 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#383
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (67.2/100): 18.5
avg claims per patent: +29%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Ciena Corporation has been granted 1,148 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Ciena Corporation at rank #383 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 75 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 18.5 claims per patent with primary concentration in H04L (TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION). As a US Corporation, Ciena Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Ciena sits between Borgwarner Inc. (1,156 patents, rank #379) and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (1,140 patents, rank #387) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 67.2/100 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 646 grants, compared with 502 in the 2015–2019 window, a +29% shift in five-year velocity. Steady filing volume suggests sustained innovation without dramatic pivots. The US 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. Ciena Corporation's 18.5 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a multi-domain presence across 75 subclasses balances depth with breadth. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Ciena Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Borgwarner

1,156
Analog Devices

1,151
The United States…

1,151
Cypress Semicondu…

1,149
Jvckenwood

1,148
Ciena ◀

1,148
Hitachi Astemo

1,145
Osram Opto Semico…

1,141
Northrop Grumman…

1,140

What this shows Ciena holds 1,148 patents at rank #383, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Ciena

By rank, the assignees closest to #383 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information)

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

Ciena's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

67 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

Ciena Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	69	6.0%
2016	85	7.4%
2017	127	11.1%
2018	98	8.5%
2019	123	10.7%
2020	113	9.8%
2021	106	9.2%
2022	118	10.3%
2023	118	10.3%
2024	109	9.5%
2025	82	7.1%

Which technologies does Ciena Corporation patent most?

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 599

H04B - TRANSMISSION 366

H04J - MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION 289

H04Q - SELECTING 179

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 124

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 113

H05K - PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 71

H03M - CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL 46

G02F - OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS 41

G06N - COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS 39

H03L - AUTOMATIC CONTROL, STARTING, SYNCHRONISATION OR STABILISATION OF GENERATORS OF ELECTRONIC OSCILLATIONS OR PULSES 36

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 36

H01L - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10 25

H01S - DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL 25

G01M - TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 22

Top 15 of 75 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Multi-domain

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Growing

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#383

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

67.2 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 Ciena Corporation hold?

Ciena Corporation holds 1,148 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 75 technology areas.

What is Ciena Corporation's Innovation Score?

Ciena Corporation has an Innovation Score of 67.2 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Ciena Corporation focus on?

Ciena Corporation's top technology area is H04L (TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION) with 599 patents. The company has filed patents in 75 CPC subclasses total.

Is Ciena Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Ciena Corporation's recent filing velocity is +29% compared to the prior five-year period. The company is maintaining or growing its patent output.

What does claim depth mean for Ciena Corporation's patents?

Ciena Corporation's patents average 18.5 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the Ciena Corporation 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

Ciena's 1,148 grants land it in the top 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 - Ciena ranks #383 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in H04L - see who else leads that technology area. H04L 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.