Where does KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. ranks #26,681 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 KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. hold?

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. holds 10 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2022, spanning 10 technology areas.

What is KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s Innovation Score?

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. has an Innovation Score of 37.8 out of 100 (top 43% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s recent grant velocity is -57% 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 KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s patents?

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s patents average 45.0 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 KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. 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

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.

Q: What technology areas does KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. focus on?

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s top technology area is 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;) with 6 patents, ranking #176 of 595 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 10 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 10 granted patents across 10 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: 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;).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Kla-tencor ranks #26,681 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 10 patents across 10 technology areas.

#26,681
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 43%
by Innovation Score (37.8/100): 45.0
avg claims per patent: -57%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R26681 · US Corporation #26,681 · 10 grants

GRANTS-MICRO · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-DENSE · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MICRO 10 grants
MID-PACK #26,681/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH King LAI Hygienic…
CPC-FOCUS G03F · 10 areas
INNOV-THIN 37.8/100
CLAIMS-DENSE 45.0 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -57% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: King LAI Hygienic Materials Co., Ltd (±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 Kla-tencor’s 37.8 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 8.3 pts (22%) Velocity 3.3 pts (9%) Breadth 11.2 pts (30%) Claim depth 15.0 pts (40%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
KLA-Tencor · this assignee

38
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Kla-tencor's Innovation Score is 37.8/100 (top 43% 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 Kla-tencor?

Each dot is one of Kla-tencor’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). Kla-tencor’s own 45.0 claims/patent is ABOVE the 8.1 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

Where Kla-tencor's grants concentrate

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. is a focused PatentsView assignee: 10 CPC subclasses with 60% of grants classified under 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;). Peak complete grant year is 2015 (6 grants) versus a trough of 1 in 2016. By volume, Kla-tencor sits between King LAI Hygienic Materials Co., Ltd and Kobayashi & Co., Ltd..

Kla-tencor's three-year grant acceleration

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. shows 1 grants in 2022–2024 against only 2 in 2019–2021. That prior window is too thin for a growth multiple (rename and spin-out assignees look artificially high when the baseline is near zero), so PlainPatent withholds a ranked acceleration claim here.

King LAI Hygienic…

10
King's Flair Mark…

10
Kingsand Machinery

10
Kinoo

10
Klus

10
Kmew

10
Knowmadics

10
Kobayashi &

10
Kla-tencor ◀

10

What this shows KLA-Tencor holds 10 patents at rank #26,664, 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 #26,664 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G03F (Photomechanical Production OF Textured OR Patterned Surfaces)

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, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

38 Top 43% higher than 57% 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

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	6	60.0%
2016	1	10.0%
2020	1	10.0%
2021	1	10.0%
2022	1	10.0%

Which technologies does KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. patent most?

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; 6

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

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 4

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 2

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 1

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 1

G21K - Techniques FOR Handling Particles OR Ionising Radiation NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Irradiation DEVICES; Gamma RAY OR X-ray Microscopes 1

H05G - X-ray Technique 1

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 1

H05H - Plasma Technique ; Production OF Accelerated Electrically-charged Particles OR OF NEUTRONS; Production OR Acceleration OF Neutral Molecular OR Atomic Beams 1

Top 10 of 10 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

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp.'s lead technology class is 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;), 60% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G03F
Ranked #26,681 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp. against King LAI Hygienic Materials Co., Ltd, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 37.8/100 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.