USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

Merck Patent Gmbh

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,728 granted patents across 159 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: C09K (MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,728

Total patents granted

159

CPC technology areas

17.5

Avg claims per patent

-16%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Merck holds 1,728 US patents across 159 technology areas, rank #243 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#243
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (66.5/100): 17.5
avg claims per patent: -16%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Merck Patent Gmbh has been granted 1,728 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Merck Patent Gmbh at rank #243 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 159 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 17.5 claims per patent with primary concentration in C09K (MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE). As a Foreign Corporation, Merck Patent Gmbh is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Merck sits between AT&T Mobility II Llc (1,742 patents, rank #239) and Wuhan China STAR Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd. (1,717 patents, rank #247) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 66.5/100 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 789 grants, compared with 939 in the 2015–2019 window, a -16% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The Foreign 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. Merck Patent Gmbh's 17.5 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Merck Patent Gmbh against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

AT&T Mobility II

1,742
Airbus Operations…

1,734
Northwestern Univ…

1,734
Globus Medical

1,728
Merck Patent ◀

1,728
THE Johns Hopkins…

1,727
Hitachi Automotiv…

1,718
Xilinx

1,718
Wuhan China STAR…

1,717

What this shows Merck holds 1,728 patents at rank #243, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Merck

By rank, the assignees closest to #243 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C09K (Materials FOR Miscellaneous Applications)

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

Merck's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

66 Top 1% higher than 99% 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

Merck Patent Gmbh patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	199	11.5%
2016	170	9.8%
2017	205	11.9%
2018	186	10.8%
2019	179	10.4%
2020	167	9.7%
2021	158	9.1%
2022	157	9.1%
2023	119	6.9%
2024	121	7.0%
2025	67	3.9%

Which technologies does Merck Patent Gmbh patent most?

C09K - MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE 719

C07D - HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS 587

H10K - ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES 545

Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION 439

A61P - SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS 354

A61K - PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES 330

C07C - ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS 205

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 197

C07F - ACYCLIC, CARBOCYCLIC OR HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS CONTAINING ELEMENTS OTHER THAN CARBON, HYDROGEN, HALOGEN, OXYGEN, NITROGEN, SULFUR, SELENIUM OR TELLURIUM 197

C09D - COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR 138

H05B - ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL 136

C08G - MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS 135

C09B - ORGANIC DYES OR CLOSELY-RELATED COMPOUNDS FOR PRODUCING DYES ; , e.g. PIGMENTS; MORDANTS; LAKES 125

C07K - PEPTIDES 88

Y02P - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS 73

Top 15 of 159 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#243

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

66.5 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 Merck Patent Gmbh hold?

Merck Patent Gmbh holds 1,728 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 159 technology areas.

What is Merck Patent Gmbh's Innovation Score?

Merck Patent Gmbh has an Innovation Score of 66.5 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Merck Patent Gmbh focus on?

Merck Patent Gmbh's top technology area is C09K (MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE) with 719 patents. The company has filed patents in 159 CPC subclasses total.

Is Merck Patent Gmbh's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Merck Patent Gmbh's recent filing velocity is -16% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Merck Patent Gmbh's patents?

Merck Patent Gmbh's patents average 17.5 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the Merck Patent Gmbh 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

Merck's 1,728 grants land it in the top 1% 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 - Merck ranks #243 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in C09K - see who else leads that technology area. C09K 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.