Where does Duke University rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Duke University ranks #431 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 Duke University hold?

Duke University holds 1,050 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 152 technology areas.

What is Duke University's Innovation Score?

Duke University has an Innovation Score of 68.2 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%).

What technology areas does Duke University focus on?

Duke University's top technology area is A61K (Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes) with 462 patents, ranking #22 of 7,163 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 152 CPC subclasses total.

Is Duke University's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Duke University's recent grant velocity is +16% 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 Duke University's patents?

Duke University's patents average 19.3 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 Duke University 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

Duke University

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,050 granted patents across 152 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: A61K (Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Duke ranks #431 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 1,050 patents across 152 technology areas.

#431
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (68.2/100): 19.3
avg claims per patent: +16%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R431 · US Corporation #431 · 1,050 grants

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

GRANTS-LARGE 1.1K grants
TOP-DECILE #431/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH University of…
CPC-WIDE A61K · 152 areas
INNOV-STRONG 68.2/100
CLAIMS-RICH 19.3 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-UP +16% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: University of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education (±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 Duke’s 68.2 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 (35%) Velocity 7.6 pts (11%) Breadth 25.0 pts (37%) Claim depth 11.6 pts (17%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Subaru · near

68
Duke University · this assignee

68
Illumina · near

68
Macom Technology… · near

68
View · near

68
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Duke's Innovation Score is 68.2/100 (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 Duke?

Each dot is one of Duke’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). Duke’s own 19.3 claims/patent is ABOVE the 18.4 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How Duke's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Duke University received 523 grants versus 450 in 2015–2019 (+16% equal-window velocity, above median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2022 at 126 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 68. Lead class A61K accounts for 44% of the portfolio across 152 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Zoox, Inc. (#427) and Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki (#435).

Duke's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Duke University moved from 291 to 332 grants (1.14x 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 #887. See the growth leaderboard.

Zoox

1,064
Universal Display

1,058
RTX

1,055
Servicenow

1,052
University of Pit…

1,050
Duke University ◀

1,050
Largan Precision

1,046
Avaya

1,044
Toyota Jidoshokki

1,041

What this shows Duke holds 1,050 patents at rank #431, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Duke

By rank, the assignees closest to #431 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in A61K (Preparations FOR Medical)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Duke, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In A61K (Preparations FOR Medical), Duke ranks #22 of 7,163 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (68 here).

Illumina, Inc. 68 Macom Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. 68 Subaru Corporation 68 View, Inc. 68

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (19.3 here).

EMC Corporation 19.3 avg Twilio Inc. 19.3 avg Yahoo Assets LLC 19.3 avg Slack Technologies, LLC 19.3 avg

Duke's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

68 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

Duke University patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	68	6.5%
2016	81	7.7%
2017	96	9.1%
2018	105	10.0%
2019	100	9.5%
2020	98	9.3%
2021	93	8.9%
2022	126	12.0%
2023	92	8.8%
2024	114	10.9%
2025partial year	77	7.3%

Which technologies does Duke University patent most?

A61K - Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes 462

A61P - Specific Therapeutic Activity OF Chemical Compounds OR Medicinal Preparations 349

C07K - Peptides 230

C12N - Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media 214

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 165

A61B - DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification 142

A61N - ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; Radiation THERAPY; Ultrasound Therapy 113

C12Q - Measuring OR Testing Processes Involving Enzymes, Nucleic Acids OR Microorganisms ; Compositions OR Test Papers THEREFOR; Processes OF Preparing Such COMPOSITIONS; Condition-responsive Control IN Microbiological OR Enzymological Processes 108

C07D - Heterocyclic Compounds 65

G01R - Measuring Electric VARIABLES; Measuring Magnetic Variables 61

C12Y - Enzymes 59

A61M - Devices FOR Introducing Media Into, OR Onto, THE Body ; Devices FOR Transducing Body Media OR FOR Taking Media From THE Body ; Devices FOR Producing OR Ending Sleep OR Stupor 47

A61L - Methods OR Apparatus FOR Sterilising Materials OR Objects IN GENERAL; Disinfection, Sterilisation OR Deodorisation OF AIR; Chemical Aspects OF Bandages, Dressings, Absorbent Pads OR Surgical ARTICLES; Materials FOR Bandages, Dressings, Absorbent Pads OR Surgical Articles 44

G16H - Healthcare Informatics, i.e. Information AND Communication Technology [ICT] Specially Adapted FOR THE Handling OR Processing OF Medical OR Healthcare Data 43

Y02A - Technologies FOR Adaptation TO Climate Change 42

Top 15 of 152 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

Duke University's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Duke University's lead technology class is A61K (Preparations FOR Medical, Dental OR Toiletry Purposes), 44% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore A61K
Ranked #431 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Duke University against Zoox, Inc., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 68.2/100 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.