Where does Cree, Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Cree, Inc. ranks #397 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 Cree, Inc. hold?

Cree, Inc. holds 1,127 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2022, spanning 85 technology areas.

What is Cree, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Cree, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 63.9 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 Cree, Inc. focus on?

Cree, Inc.'s top technology area is H01L (Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10) with 409 patents, ranking #57 of 3,373 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 85 CPC subclasses total.

Is Cree, Inc.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Cree, Inc.'s recent grant velocity is -88% 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 Cree, Inc.'s patents?

Cree, Inc.'s patents average 24.1 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 Cree, Inc. 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 US Corporation

Cree, Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,127 granted patents across 85 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2022. 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: H01L (Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

RSS updates for this company

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Cree ranks #397 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 1,127 patents across 85 technology areas.

#397
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 2%
by Innovation Score (63.9/100): 24.1
avg claims per patent: -88%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R397 · US Corporation #397 · 1,127 grants

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

GRANTS-LARGE 1.1K grants
TOP-DECILE #397/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Cornell University
CPC-WIDE H01L · 85 areas
INNOV-STRONG 63.9/100
CLAIMS-DENSE 24.1 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -88% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Cornell University (±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 Cree’s 63.9 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 24.3 pts (38%) Velocity 0.1 pts (0%) Breadth 25.0 pts (39%) Claim depth 14.5 pts (23%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Cree · this assignee

64
Novocure · near

64
Shenzhen TCL NEW… · near

64
Lear · near

64
University of… · near

64
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Cree's Innovation Score is 63.9/100 (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 Cree?

Each dot is one of Cree’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). Cree’s own 24.1 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.

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

How Cree's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Cree, Inc. received 125 grants versus 1,002 in 2015–2019 (-88% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2016 at 269 grants and bottomed in 2022 at 3. Lead class H01L accounts for 36.3% of the portfolio across 85 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Orange (#393) and ASM IP Holding B.V. (#401).

Cree's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Cree, Inc. moved from 242 to 3 grants (0.01x 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 #3,279. See the growth leaderboard.

Orange

1,134
Molex

1,132
Toshiba Medical S…

1,132
Bytedance

1,130
Cree ◀

1,127
Cornell University

1,126
BSH Hausgeräte

1,122
Regeneron Pharmac…

1,117
ASM IP Holding B V

1,116

What this shows Cree holds 1,127 patents at rank #397, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Cree

By rank, the assignees closest to #397 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H01L (Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Cree, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In H01L (Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10), Cree ranks #57 of 3,373 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (64 here).

Novocure GMBH 64 Shenzhen TCL NEW Technology Co., Ltd. 64 Lear Corporation 64 University of Southern California 64

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (24.1 here).

Brooks Automation US, LLC 24.1 avg Knauf Insulation, Inc. 24.1 avg Sensel, Inc. 24.2 avg Allegro MicroSystems, LLC 24.1 avg

Cree's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

64 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 · 2015–2022

Grants by year

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

View data table

Cree, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	239	21.2%
2016	269	23.9%
2017	232	20.6%
2018	142	12.6%
2019	120	10.6%
2020	73	6.5%
2021	49	4.3%
2022	3	0.3%

Which technologies does Cree, Inc. patent most?

H01L - Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10 409

F21Y - Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted 352

F21V - Functional Features OR Details OF Lighting Devices OR Systems THEREOF; Structural Combinations OF Lighting Devices With Other Articles, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 340

H10H - Inorganic Light-emitting Semiconductor Devices Having Potential Barriers 264

F21K - Non-electric Light Sources Using LUMINESCENCE; Light Sources Using ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE; Light Sources Using Charges OF Combustible MATERIAL; Light Sources Using Semiconductor Devices AS Light-generating ELEMENTS; Light Sources NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 248

H05B - Electric HEATING; Electric Light Sources NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Circuit Arrangements FOR Electric Light Sources, IN General 214

H10D - Inorganic Electric Semiconductor Devices 198

F21S - Non-portable Lighting DEVICES; Systems THEREOF; Vehicle Lighting Devices Specially Adapted FOR Vehicle Exteriors 155

Y02B - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Buildings, e.g. Housing, House Appliances OR Related End-user Applications 118

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 71

F21W - Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO Uses OR Applications OF Lighting Devices OR Systems 68

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 59

H05K - Printed CIRCUITS; Casings OR Constructional Details OF Electric APPARATUS; Manufacture OF Assemblages OF Electrical Components 48

H02M - Apparatus FOR Conversion Between AC AND AC, Between AC AND DC, OR Between DC AND DC, AND FOR USE With Mains OR Similar Power Supply SYSTEMS; Conversion OF DC OR AC Input Power Into Surge Output POWER; Control OR Regulation Thereof 42

H03F - Amplifiers 32

Top 15 of 85 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

Cree, Inc.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Cree, Inc.'s lead technology class is H01L (Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10), 36.3% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore H01L
Ranked #397 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Cree, Inc. against Orange, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 63.9/100 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.