Where does National Science Foundation rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), National Science Foundation ranks #11,359 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 National Science Foundation hold?

National Science Foundation holds 27 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2023, spanning 54 technology areas.

What is National Science Foundation's Innovation Score?

National Science Foundation has an Innovation Score of 51.3 out of 100 (top 12% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does National Science Foundation focus on?

National Science Foundation's top technology area is G06F (Electric Digital Data Processing) with 6 patents, ranking #5,405 of 13,878 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 54 CPC subclasses total.

Is National Science Foundation's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

National Science Foundation's recent grant velocity is -58% 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 National Science Foundation's patents?

National Science Foundation's patents average 15.7 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 National Science Foundation 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

National Science Foundation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 27 granted patents across 54 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2023. 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: G06F (Electric Digital Data Processing).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, National ranks #11,359 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 27 patents across 54 technology areas.

#11,359
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 12%
by Innovation Score (51.3/100): 15.7
avg claims per patent: -58%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R11359 · US Corporation #11,359 · 27 grants

GRANTS-SMALL · UPPER-Q · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-WIDE · INNOV-PAR · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-SMALL 27 grants
UPPER-Q #11,359/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Mitsubishi Materials…
CPC-WIDE G06F · 54 areas
INNOV-PAR 51.3/100
CLAIMS-RICH 15.7 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -58% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Mitsubishi Materials Electronic Chemicals 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 National’s 51.3 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 11.5 pts (22%) Velocity 5.3 pts (10%) Breadth 25.0 pts (49%) Claim depth 9.4 pts (18%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Appareo Systems · near

51
Northwest Instrument · near

51
Vektor Medical · near

51
Aetna Group S P A · near

51
National Science… · this assignee

51
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows National's Innovation Score is 51.3/100 (top 12% 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 National?

Each dot is one of National’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). National’s own 15.7 claims/patent is ABOVE the 13.1 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How National's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, National Science Foundation received 8 grants versus 19 in 2015–2019 (-58% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2017 at 7 grants and bottomed in 2019 at 1. Lead class G06F accounts for 22.2% of the portfolio across 54 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Mitsubishi Materials Electronic Chemicals Co., Ltd. (#11,352) and Nikon Metrology NV (#11,360).

National's three-year grant acceleration

National Science Foundation shows 4 grants in 2022–2024 against only 5 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.

Mitsubishi Materi…

27
Morphotrak

27
Munters

27
National Defense…

27
Netzch-feinmahlte…

27
Netzsch-gerätebau

27
Nextronics Engine…

27
Nikon Metrology

27
National Science… ◀

27

What this shows National holds 27 patents at rank #11,356, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near National

By rank, the assignees closest to #11,356 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G06F (Electric Digital Data Processing)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for National, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In G06F (Electric Digital Data Processing), National ranks #5,405 of 13,878 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (51 here).

Aetna Group S.P.A 51 Appareo Systems, LLC 51 Northwest Instrument Inc. 51 Vektor Medical, Inc. 51

National's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

51 Top 12% higher than 88% 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 · 2015–2023

Grants by year

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

View data table

National Science Foundation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	4	14.8%
2016	4	14.8%
2017	7	25.9%
2018	3	11.1%
2019	1	3.7%
2020	3	11.1%
2021	1	3.7%
2022	1	3.7%
2023	3	11.1%

Which technologies does National Science Foundation patent most?

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 6

H04L - Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication 4

B01L - Chemical OR Physical Laboratory Apparatus FOR General USE 2

C12Q - Measuring OR Testing Processes Involving Enzymes, Nucleic Acids OR Microorganisms ; Compositions OR Test Papers THEREFOR; Processes OF Preparing Such COMPOSITIONS; Condition-responsive Control IN Microbiological OR Enzymological Processes 2

C07K - Peptides 2

C12N - Microorganisms OR ENZYMES; Compositions THEREOF; Propagating, Preserving, OR Maintaining MICROORGANISMS; Mutation OR Genetic ENGINEERING; Culture Media 2

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 2

Y02D - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies IN Information AND Communication Technologies [ICT], I.E. Information AND Communication Technologies Aiming AT THE Reduction OF Their OWN Energy USE 2

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 2

C09K - Materials FOR Miscellaneous Applications, NOT Provided FOR Elsewhere 2

C08F - Macromolecular Compounds Obtained BY Reactions Only Involving Carbon-to-carbon Unsaturated Bonds 2

B01D - Separation 2

A61B - DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; Identification 2

H04B - Transmission 2

B01F - Mixing, e.g. Dissolving, Emulsifying OR Dispersing 1

Top 15 of 54 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

National Science Foundation's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

National Science Foundation's lead technology class is G06F (Electric Digital Data Processing), 22.2% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G06F
Ranked #11,359 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare National Science Foundation against Mitsubishi Materials Electronic Chemicals Co., Ltd., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 51.3/100 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.