Where does Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. ranks #187 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 Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. hold?

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. holds 2,117 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 97 technology areas.

What is Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 70.8 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 Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. focus on?

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s top technology area is A61B (DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification) with 1,921 patents, ranking #6 of 7,127 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 97 CPC subclasses total.

Is Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s recent grant velocity is +68% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). This indicates accelerating grant output.

What does claim depth mean for Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s patents?

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s patents average 18.4 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 Intuitive Surgical Operations, 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

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 2,117 granted patents across 97 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: A61B (DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Intuitive ranks #187 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 2,117 patents across 97 technology areas.

#187
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (70.8/100): 18.4
avg claims per patent: +68%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R187 · US Corporation #187 · 2,117 grants

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

GRANTS-LARGE 2.1K grants
TOP-DECILE #187/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Dolby Laboratories…
CPC-WIDE A61B · 97 areas
INNOV-STRONG 70.8/100
CLAIMS-RICH 18.4 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-SURGE +68% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (±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 Intuitive’s 70.8 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 26.5 pts (37%) Velocity 8.3 pts (12%) Breadth 25.0 pts (35%) Claim depth 11.1 pts (16%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Intuitive Surgical… · this assignee

71
Berkshire Grey… · near

71
Pratt & Whitney Canada · near

71
Verb Surgical · near

71
Juniper Networks · near

71
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Intuitive's Innovation Score is 70.8/100 (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 Intuitive?

Each dot is one of Intuitive’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). Intuitive’s own 18.4 claims/patent is ABOVE the 16.3 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How Intuitive's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. received 1,169 grants versus 695 in 2015–2019 (+68% equal-window velocity, above median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2024 at 307 grants and bottomed in 2015 at 115. Lead class A61B accounts for 90.7% of the portfolio across 97 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Nokia Solutions AND Networks OY (#183) and Rovi Guides, Inc. (#191).

Intuitive's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. moved from 603 to 752 grants (1.25x 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 #710. See the growth leaderboard.

Nokia Solutions A…

2,149
Alcatel Lucent

2,140
Shimadzu

2,128
Dolby Laboratorie…

2,118
Intuitive Surgica… ◀

2,117
Walmart Apollo

2,112
Interdigital Pate…

2,111
Milwaukee Electri…

2,095
Rovi Guides

2,091

What this shows Intuitive holds 2,117 patents at rank #187, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Intuitive

By rank, the assignees closest to #187 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in A61B (Diagnosis)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Intuitive, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In A61B (Diagnosis), Intuitive ranks #6 of 7,127 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (71 here).

Berkshire Grey Operating Company, Inc. 71 Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. 71 Verb Surgical Inc. 71 Juniper Networks, Inc. 71

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (18.4 here).

Novatek Microelectronics Corp. 18.4 avg Panasonic Avionics Corporation 18.4 avg Cancer Research Technology Limited 18.4 avg Equifax Inc. 18.4 avg

Intuitive's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

71 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

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	115	5.4%
2016	130	6.1%
2017	119	5.6%
2018	145	6.8%
2019	186	8.8%
2020	217	10.3%
2021	200	9.4%
2022	203	9.6%
2023	242	11.4%
2024	307	14.5%
2025partial year	253	12.0%

Which technologies does Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. patent most?

A61B - DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification 1,921

B25J - MANIPULATORS; Chambers Provided With Manipulation Devices 470

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 176

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 163

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 163

G16H - Healthcare Informatics, i.e. Information AND Communication Technology [ICT] Specially Adapted FOR THE Handling OR Processing OF Medical OR Healthcare Data 145

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 144

Y10S - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former Uspc Cross-reference ART Collections [XRACs] AND Digests 137

H04N - Pictorial Communication, e.g. Television 131

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 128

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 105

G01L - Measuring Force, Stress, Torque, Work, Mechanical Power, Mechanical Efficiency, OR Fluid Pressure 62

F16H - Gearing 60

G01B - Measuring Length, Thickness OR Similar Linear DIMENSIONS; Measuring ANGLES; Measuring AREAS; Measuring Irregularities OF Surfaces OR Contours 57

G01D - Measuring NOT Specially Adapted FOR A Specific VARIABLE; Arrangements FOR Measuring TWO OR More Variables NOT Covered IN A Single Other SUBCLASS; Tariff Metering APPARATUS; Measuring OR Testing NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 51

Top 15 of 97 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

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.'s lead technology class is A61B (DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification), 90.7% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore A61B
Ranked #187 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. against Nokia Solutions AND Networks OY, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 70.8/100 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.