Where does First Solar, Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), First Solar, Inc. ranks #2,207 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 First Solar, Inc. hold?

First Solar, Inc. holds 178 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 52 technology areas.

What is First Solar, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

First Solar, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 63.0 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 First Solar, Inc. focus on?

First Solar, Inc.'s top technology area is Y02E (Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution) with 138 patents, ranking #108 of 5,963 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 52 CPC subclasses total.

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

First Solar, Inc.'s recent grant velocity is -65% 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 First Solar, Inc.'s patents?

First Solar, Inc.'s patents average 18.2 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 First Solar, 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

First Solar, Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 178 granted patents across 52 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: Y02E (Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, First ranks #2,207 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 178 patents across 52 technology areas.

#2,207
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 2%
by Innovation Score (63.0/100): 18.2
avg claims per patent: -65%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R2207 · US Corporation #2,207 · 178 grants

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

GRANTS-MID 178 grants
TOP-DECILE #2,207/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Brain
CPC-WIDE Y02E · 52 areas
INNOV-STRONG 63.0/100
CLAIMS-RICH 18.2 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -65% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Brain Corporation (±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 First’s 63.0 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 17.9 pts (28%) Velocity 9.2 pts (15%) Breadth 25.0 pts (40%) Claim depth 10.9 pts (17%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Leviton Manufacturing · near

63
University of South… · near

63
UTI · near

63
BAE Systems… · near

63
First Solar · this assignee

63
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows First's Innovation Score is 63.0/100 (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 First?

Each dot is one of First’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). First’s own 18.2 claims/patent is ABOVE the 16.2 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How First's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, First Solar, Inc. received 44 grants versus 124 in 2015–2019 (-65% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2016 at 48 grants and bottomed in 2019 at 6. Lead class Y02E accounts for 77.5% of the portfolio across 52 subclasses. Volume neighbours: The University of Toledo (#2,203) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC (#2,211).

First's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, First Solar, Inc. moved from 21 to 29 grants (1.38x 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 #540. See the growth leaderboard.

The University of…

179
ZF CV Systems Eur…

179
Brain

178
Campagnolo S R L

178
Guangdong Univers…

178
Korea Research In…

178
Morgan Stanley Se…

178
Oxford Nanopore

178
First Solar ◀

178

What this shows First holds 178 patents at rank #2,207, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near First

By rank, the assignees closest to #2,207 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in Y02E (Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for First, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In Y02E (Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions), First ranks #108 of 5,963 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (63 here).

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc. 63 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc. 63 UTI Inc. 63 University of South Florida 63

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (18.2 here).

Quest Software Inc. 18.2 avg Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC 18.2 avg Sabic Global Technologies B.V. 18.2 avg Payrange LLC 18.2 avg

First's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

63 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 · 2015–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

First Solar, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	44	24.7%
2016	48	27.0%
2017	15	8.4%
2018	11	6.2%
2019	6	3.4%
2020	9	5.1%
2021	6	3.4%
2022	9	5.1%
2023	8	4.5%
2024	12	6.7%
2025partial year	10	5.6%

Which technologies does First Solar, Inc. patent most?

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 138

H10F - Inorganic Semiconductor Devices Sensitive TO Infrared Radiation, Light, Electromagnetic Radiation OF Shorter Wavelength OR Corpuscular Radiation 123

Y02P - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies IN THE Production OR Processing OF Goods 78

H01L - Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10 34

C23C - Coating Metallic MATERIAL; Coating Material With Metallic MATERIAL; Surface Treatment OF Metallic Material BY Diffusion Into THE Surface, BY Chemical Conversion OR SUBSTITUTION; Coating BY Vacuum Evaporation, BY Sputtering, BY ION Implantation OR BY Chemical Vapour Deposition, IN General 31

H02S - Generation OF Electric Power BY Conversion OF Infrared Radiation, Visible Light OR Ultraviolet Light, e.g. Using Photovoltaic [PV] Modules 25

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 11

F24S - Solar Heat COLLECTORS; Solar Heat Systems 10

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 6

Y02B - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Buildings, e.g. Housing, House Appliances OR Related End-user Applications 6

H02J - Circuit Arrangements OR Systems FOR Supplying OR Distributing Electric POWER; Systems FOR Storing Electric Energy 5

H01J - Electric Discharge Tubes OR Discharge Lamps 5

G01B - Measuring Length, Thickness OR Similar Linear DIMENSIONS; Measuring ANGLES; Measuring AREAS; Measuring Irregularities OF Surfaces OR Contours 4

B23K - Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam 4

H01R - Electrically-conductive CONNECTIONS; Structural Associations OF A Plurality OF Mutually-insulated Electrical Connecting ELEMENTS; Coupling DEVICES; Current Collectors 3

Top 15 of 52 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

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

First Solar, Inc.'s lead technology class is Y02E (Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution), 77.5% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore Y02E
Ranked #2,207 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare First Solar, Inc. against The University of Toledo, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 63.0/100 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.