Where does NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. ranks #547 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 NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. hold?

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. holds 823 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 119 technology areas.

What is NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s Innovation Score?

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. has an Innovation Score of 54.3 out of 100 (top 8% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s recent grant velocity is -59% 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 NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s patents?

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s patents average 7.6 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 NGK Spark Plug Co., 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.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.

Q: What technology areas does NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. focus on?

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s top technology area is H01T (Spark GAPS; Overvoltage Arresters Using Spark GAPS; Sparking PLUGS; Corona DEVICES; Generating Ions TO BE Introduced Into Non-enclosed Gases) with 304 patents. Grants appear in 119 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 823 granted patents across 119 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2025. 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: H01T (Spark GAPS; Overvoltage Arresters Using Spark GAPS; Sparking PLUGS; Corona DEVICES; Generating Ions TO BE Introduced Into Non-enclosed Gases).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, NGK ranks #547 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 823 patents across 119 technology areas.

#547
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 8%
by Innovation Score (54.3/100): 7.6
avg claims per patent: -59%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R547 · Foreign Corporation #547 · 823 grants

GRANTS-MID · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-WIDE · INNOV-PAR · CLAIMS-SPARSE · TYPE-FRNCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MID 823 grants
TOP-DECILE #547/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Industry-academic…
CPC-WIDE H01T · 119 areas
INNOV-PAR 54.3/100
CLAIMS-SPARSE 7.6 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
VEL-DROP -59% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Industry-academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University (±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.

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Aalborg Universitet · near

54
Anheuser-busch Inbev · near

54
NGK Spark Plug · this assignee

54
THE Asan Foundation · near

54
Toyo INK SC Holdings · near

54
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows NGK's Innovation Score is 54.3/100 (top 8% 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.

How NGK's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. received 238 grants versus 584 in 2015–2019 (-59% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2016 at 123 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 4. Lead class H01T accounts for 36.9% of the portfolio across 119 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Silicon Laboratories Inc. (#543) and Sony Mobile Communications Inc. (#551).

NGK's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. moved from 282 to 68 grants (0.24x the prior three-year total, a multiple, not a CAGR). Among 3,296 tracked assignees with ≥100 grants and ≥20 prior-period grants, that multiple ranks #3,050. See the growth leaderboard.

Silicon Laborator…

825
E Ink Holdings

824
Kaneka

824
Industry-academic…

823
NGK Spark Plug ◀

823
National Institut…

822
Mitutoyo

820
Saint-gobain Glas…

820
Sony Mobile Commu…

815

What this shows NGK holds 823 patents at rank #547, 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 #547 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H01T (Spark GAPS)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for NGK, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above).

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (54 here).

Anheuser-busch Inbev S.A. 54 Toyo INK SC Holdings Co., Ltd. 54 THE Asan Foundation 54 Aalborg Universitet 54

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (7.6 here).

Fuji Corporation 7.5 avg Toda Kogyo Corp. 7.5 avg Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation 7.6 avg Fuji Machine MFG. Co., Ltd. 7.6 avg

NGK's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

54 Top 8% higher than 92% 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 · 2015–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	111	13.5%
2016	123	14.9%
2017	116	14.1%
2018	122	14.8%
2019	112	13.6%
2020	102	12.4%
2021	68	8.3%
2022	35	4.3%
2023	29	3.5%
2024	4	0.5%
2025partial year	1	0.1%

Which technologies does NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. patent most?

H01T - Spark GAPS; Overvoltage Arresters Using Spark GAPS; Sparking PLUGS; Corona DEVICES; Generating Ions TO BE Introduced Into Non-enclosed Gases 304

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 220

H01L - Semiconductor Devices NOT Covered BY Class H10 89

H05K - Printed CIRCUITS; Casings OR Constructional Details OF Electric APPARATUS; Manufacture OF Assemblages OF Electrical Components 71

F02P - Ignition, Other Than Compression Ignition, FOR Internal-combustion ENGINES; Testing OF Ignition Timing IN Compression-ignition Engines 62

C04B - Lime, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; Compositions Thereof, e.g. Mortars, Concrete OR Like Building MATERIALS; Artificial Stone ; Ceramics ; REFRACTORIES; Treatment OF Natural Stone 59

F01N - Gas-flow Silencers OR Exhaust Apparatus FOR Machines OR Engines IN GENERAL; Gas-flow Silencers OR Exhaust Apparatus FOR Internal-combustion Engines 52

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 46

Y02T - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation 41

G01M - Testing Static OR Dynamic Balance OF Machines OR STRUCTURES; Testing OF Structures OR Apparatus, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 41

F23Q - Ignition ; Extinguishing-devices 35

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 32

H05B - Electric HEATING; Electric Light Sources NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Circuit Arrangements FOR Electric Light Sources, IN General 32

F02D - Controlling Combustion Engines 30

H01M - Processes OR Means, e.g. Batteries, FOR THE Direct Conversion OF Chemical Energy Into Electrical Energy 29

Top 15 of 119 technology areas

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#547

of 49,997 tracked assignees

Innovation Score

54.3 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.'s lead technology class is H01T (Spark GAPS; Overvoltage Arresters Using Spark GAPS; Sparking PLUGS; Corona DEVICES; Generating Ions TO BE Introduced Into Non-enclosed Gases), 36.9% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore H01T
Ranked #547 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. against Silicon Laboratories Inc., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 54.3/100 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.