Where does NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH ranks #17,931 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 NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH hold?

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH holds 16 US utility patents granted between 2020 and 2025, spanning 13 technology areas.

What is NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's Innovation Score?

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH has an Innovation Score of 38.0 out of 100 (top 42% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH focus on?

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's top technology area is H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication) with 8 patents, ranking #2,806 of 8,956 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 13 CPC subclasses total.

Is NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Insufficient historical data is available to calculate a velocity trend for NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH.

What does claim depth mean for NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's patents?

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's patents average 16.1 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 NEC Laboratories Europe 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.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 16 granted patents across 13 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2020–2025. 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: H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, NEC ranks #17,931 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 16 patents across 13 technology areas.

#17,931
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 42%
by Innovation Score (38.0/100): 16.1
avg claims per patent

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R17931 · Foreign Corporation #17,931 · 16 grants

GRANTS-MICRO · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-FRNCORP · SPAN-YRS · BOOK-RICH

GRANTS-MICRO 16 grants
MID-PACK #17,931/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH National Oilwell…
CPC-FOCUS H04L · 13 areas
INNOV-THIN 38.0/100
CLAIMS-RICH 16.1 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
SPAN-YRS 2020–2025 · 6y
BOOK-RICH 9/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: National Oilwell Varco UK Limited (±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 NEC’s 38.0 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 9.8 pts (26%) Velocity 5.8 pts (15%) Breadth 12.7 pts (33%) Claim depth 9.7 pts (26%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
NEC Laboratories… · this assignee

38
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows NEC's Innovation Score is 38.0/100 (top 42% 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 NEC?

Each dot is one of NEC’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). NEC’s own 16.1 claims/patent is ABOVE the 12.6 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

Where NEC's grants concentrate

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH is a focused PatentsView assignee: 13 CPC subclasses with 50% of grants classified under H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication). Peak complete grant year is 2020 (4 grants) versus a trough of 2 in 2023. By volume, NEC sits between National Oilwell Varco UK Limited and Nidec Instruments Corporation.

NEC's three-year grant acceleration

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH shows 7 grants in 2022–2024 against only 8 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.

National Oilwell…

16
Navy Federal Cred…

16
NBD Nanotechnolog…

16
Nbe-therapeutics

16
Netappli

16
Neurophet

16
Nguyen CHI

16
Nidec Instruments

16
NEC Laboratories… ◀

16

What this shows NEC holds 16 patents at rank #17,924, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near NEC

By rank, the assignees closest to #17,924 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information)

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

NEC's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

38 Top 42% higher than 58% 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 · 2020–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2020	4	25.0%
2021	4	25.0%
2022	3	18.8%
2023	2	12.5%
2024	2	12.5%
2025partial year	1	6.3%

Which technologies does NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH patent most?

H04L - Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication 8

H04W - Wireless Communication Networks 5

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 4

G06N - Computing Arrangements Based ON Specific Computational Models 4

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 2

G08G - Traffic Control Systems 2

G06Q - Information AND Communication Technology [ICT] Specially Adapted FOR Administrative, Commercial, Financial, Managerial OR Supervisory PURPOSES; Systems OR Methods Specially Adapted FOR Administrative, Commercial, Financial, Managerial OR Supervisory Purposes, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 1

G06V - Image OR Video Recognition OR Understanding 1

H04M - Telephonic Communication 1

B60Q - Arrangement OF Signalling OR Lighting Devices, THE Mounting OR Supporting Thereof OR Circuits Therefor, FOR Vehicles IN General 1

G05D - Systems FOR Controlling OR Regulating Non-electric Variables 1

B60W - Conjoint Control OF Vehicle Sub-units OF Different Type OR Different FUNCTION; Control Systems Specially Adapted FOR Hybrid VEHICLES; Road Vehicle Drive Control Systems FOR Purposes NOT Related TO THE Control OF A Particular Sub-unit 1

G01S - Radio DIRECTION-FINDING; Radio NAVIGATION; Determining Distance OR Velocity BY USE OF Radio WAVES; Locating OR Presence-detecting BY USE OF THE Reflection OR Reradiation OF Radio WAVES; Analogous Arrangements Using Other Waves 1

Top 13 of 13 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

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH's lead technology class is H04L (Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication), 50% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore H04L
Ranked #17,931 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH against National Oilwell Varco UK Limited, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 38.0/100 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.