USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

NGK Insulators, Ltd.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,631 granted patents across 177 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: C04B (LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE ; CERAMICS ; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

1,631

Total patents granted

177

CPC technology areas

9.8

Avg claims per patent

+30%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

NGK holds 1,631 US patents across 177 technology areas, rank #260 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#260
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 3%
by Innovation Score (62.1/100): 9.8
avg claims per patent: +30%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

NGK Insulators, Ltd. has been granted 1,631 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing NGK Insulators, Ltd. at rank #260 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 177 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 9.8 claims per patent with primary concentration in C04B (LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE ; CERAMICS ; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE). As a Foreign Corporation, NGK Insulators, Ltd. is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, NGK sits between Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (1,659 patents, rank #256) and Hamamatsu Photonics K.k. (1,615 patents, rank #264) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 62.1/100 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 923 grants, compared with 708 in the 2015–2019 window, a +30% shift in five-year velocity. Steady filing volume suggests sustained innovation without dramatic pivots. 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. NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s 9.8 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, 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 NGK Insulators, Ltd. against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Wisconsin Alumni…

1,659
PURE Storage

1,652
Infineon Austria

1,650
Au Optronics

1,648
NGK Insulators ◀

1,631
Rambus

1,626
Stryker

1,619
Lenovo (Beijing)

1,618
Hamamatsu Photoni…

1,615

What this shows NGK holds 1,631 patents at rank #260, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near NGK

By rank, the assignees closest to #260 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C04B (LIME)

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

NGK's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

62 Top 3% higher than 97% 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

NGK Insulators, Ltd. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	136	8.3%
2016	138	8.5%
2017	110	6.7%
2018	135	8.3%
2019	189	11.6%
2020	189	11.6%
2021	168	10.3%
2022	178	10.9%
2023	139	8.5%
2024	146	9.0%
2025	103	6.3%

Which technologies does NGK Insulators, Ltd. patent most?

C04B - LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE ; CERAMICS ; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE 451

B01D - SEPARATION 417

F01N - GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES 319

H01L - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10 258

Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION 227

G01N - INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 219

B01J - CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS 213

H01M - PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY 211

Y02T - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION 190

Y10T - TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION 135

B32B - LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM 117

B28B - SHAPING CLAY OR OTHER CERAMIC COMPOSITIONS; SHAPING SLAG; SHAPING MIXTURES CONTAINING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL, e.g. PLASTER 112

H05B - ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL 97

C30B - SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH ; UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL ; PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE ; SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WI 88

Y02P - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS 85

Top 15 of 177 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Growing

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#260

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

62.1 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 NGK Insulators, Ltd. hold?

NGK Insulators, Ltd. holds 1,631 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 177 technology areas.

What is NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s Innovation Score?

NGK Insulators, Ltd. has an Innovation Score of 62.1 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does NGK Insulators, Ltd. focus on?

NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s top technology area is C04B (LIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE ; CERAMICS ; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE) with 451 patents. The company has filed patents in 177 CPC subclasses total.

Is NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s recent filing velocity is +30% compared to the prior five-year period. The company is maintaining or growing its patent output.

What does claim depth mean for NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s patents?

NGK Insulators, Ltd.'s patents average 9.8 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the NGK Insulators, Ltd. 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

NGK's 1,631 grants land it in the top 3% 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 - NGK ranks #260 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in C04B - see who else leads that technology area. C04B 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.