USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Kla-tencor Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,173 granted patents across 84 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: G01N (INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,173

Total patents granted

CPC technology areas

23.4

Avg claims per patent

-71%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Kla-tencor holds 1,173 US patents across 84 technology areas, rank #371 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#371
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 2%
by Innovation Score (64.1/100): 23.4
avg claims per patent: -71%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Kla-tencor Corporation has been granted 1,173 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Kla-tencor Corporation at rank #371 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 84 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 23.4 claims per patent with primary concentration in G01N (INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES). As a US Corporation, Kla-tencor Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Kla-tencor sits between UOP Llc (1,188 patents, rank #367) and Syngenta Participations Ag (1,167 patents, rank #375) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 64.1/100 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 262 grants, compared with 911 in the 2015–2019 window, a -71% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. 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. Kla-tencor Corporation's 23.4 average claims per patent reflects complex, broadly scoped inventions that are difficult for competitors to design around, while a multi-domain presence across 84 subclasses balances depth with breadth. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Kla-tencor Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

UOP

1,188
Vestas Wind Syste…

1,179
Cardiac Pacemakers

1,178
Karsten Manufactu…

1,177
Kla-tencor ◀

1,173
Smith & Nephew

1,172
Quanta Computer

1,171
Volvo Truck

1,171
Syngenta Particip…

1,167

What this shows Kla-tencor holds 1,173 patents at rank #371, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Kla-tencor

By rank, the assignees closest to #371 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G01N (Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their…)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Kla-tencor's primary technology class.

Kla-tencor's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

64 Top 2% higher than 98% 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

Kla-tencor Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	142	12.1%
2016	166	14.2%
2017	194	16.5%
2018	174	14.8%
2019	235	20.0%
2020	162	13.8%
2021	55	4.7%
2022	32	2.7%
2023	7	0.6%
2024	4	0.3%
2025	2	0.2%

Which technologies does Kla-tencor Corporation patent most?

G01N - INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 583

G03F - PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; 379

H01L - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10 300

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 257

G01B - MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS 230

H01J - ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS 181

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 129

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 120

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 53

G01J - MEASUREMENT OF INTENSITY, VELOCITY, SPECTRAL CONTENT, POLARISATION, PHASE OR PULSE CHARACTERISTICS OF INFRARED, VISIBLE OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT; COLORIMETRY; RADIATION PYROMETRY 49

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 44

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 42

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 41

G05B - CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS 41

G06N - COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS 40

Top 15 of 84 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Multi-domain

Claim Depth Complex

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#371

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

64.1 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 Kla-tencor Corporation hold?

Kla-tencor Corporation holds 1,173 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 84 technology areas.

What is Kla-tencor Corporation's Innovation Score?

Kla-tencor Corporation has an Innovation Score of 64.1 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Kla-tencor Corporation focus on?

Kla-tencor Corporation's top technology area is G01N (INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES) with 583 patents. The company has filed patents in 84 CPC subclasses total.

Is Kla-tencor Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Kla-tencor Corporation's recent filing velocity is -71% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Kla-tencor Corporation's patents?

Kla-tencor Corporation's patents average 23.4 claims each. This indicates complex, broadly scoped patents that are harder for competitors to design around.

How is the Kla-tencor 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

Kla-tencor's 1,173 grants land it in the top 2% 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 - Kla-tencor ranks #371 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in G01N - see who else leads that technology area. G01N 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.