Where does Nicor, Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Nicor, Inc. ranks #14,163 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 Nicor, Inc. hold?

Nicor, Inc. holds 21 US utility patents granted between 2019 and 2025, spanning 23 technology areas.

What is Nicor, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Nicor, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 41.9 out of 100 (top 32% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is Nicor, Inc.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Nicor, Inc.'s recent grant velocity is +433% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). This indicates accelerating grant output.

What does claim depth mean for Nicor, Inc.'s patents?

Nicor, Inc.'s patents average 15.8 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 Nicor, Inc. 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

Nicor, Inc.

Q: What technology areas does Nicor, Inc. focus on?

Nicor, Inc.'s top technology area is F21Y (Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted) with 10 patents, ranking #208 of 1,359 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 23 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 21 granted patents across 23 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2019–2025. 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: F21Y (Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

RSS updates for this company

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Nicor ranks #14,163 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 21 patents across 23 technology areas.

#14,163
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 32%
by Innovation Score (41.9/100): 15.8
avg claims per patent: +433%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R14163 · US Corporation #14,163 · 21 grants

GRANTS-SMALL · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-FOCUS · INNOV-PAR · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-SURGE · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-SMALL 21 grants
MID-PACK #14,163/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH National Machine
CPC-FOCUS F21Y · 23 areas
INNOV-PAR 41.9/100
CLAIMS-RICH 15.8 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-SURGE +433% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: National Machine Company (±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 Nicor’s 41.9 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 10.7 pts (25%) Velocity 4.8 pts (11%) Breadth 17.0 pts (40%) Claim depth 9.5 pts (23%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Nicor · this assignee

42
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Nicor's Innovation Score is 41.9/100 (top 32% 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 Nicor?

Each dot is one of Nicor’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). Nicor’s own 15.8 claims/patent is ABOVE the 10.3 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

Where Nicor's grants concentrate

Nicor, Inc. is a focused PatentsView assignee: 23 CPC subclasses with 47.6% of grants classified under F21Y (Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted). Peak complete grant year is 2020 (4 grants) versus a trough of 3 in 2019. By volume, Nicor sits between National Machine Company and Nisco Co., Ltd.

Nicor's three-year grant acceleration

Nicor, Inc. shows 8 grants in 2022–2024 against only 11 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 Machine

21
NB Ventures

21
NCC Nano

21
Newvoicemedia

21
Niko Semiconductor

21
Nine Stars Group…

21
Ningbo Ucome Ligh…

21
Nisco

21
Nicor ◀

21

What this shows Nicor holds 21 patents at rank #14,157, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Nicor

By rank, the assignees closest to #14,157 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in F21Y (Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k)

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

Nicor's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

42 Top 32% higher than 68% 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 · 2019–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

Nicor, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2019	3	14.3%
2020	4	19.0%
2021	4	19.0%
2023	4	19.0%
2024	4	19.0%
2025partial year	2	9.5%

Which technologies does Nicor, Inc. patent most?

F21Y - Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted 10

F21V - Functional Features OR Details OF Lighting Devices OR Systems THEREOF; Structural Combinations OF Lighting Devices With Other Articles, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 10

F21S - Non-portable Lighting DEVICES; Systems THEREOF; Vehicle Lighting Devices Specially Adapted FOR Vehicle Exteriors 7

H05B - Electric HEATING; Electric Light Sources NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Circuit Arrangements FOR Electric Light Sources, IN General 5

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 4

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 4

H02J - Circuit Arrangements OR Systems FOR Supplying OR Distributing Electric POWER; Systems FOR Storing Electric Energy 4

H04B - Transmission 3

H04L - Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication 2

G08B - Signalling OR Calling SYSTEMS; Order TELEGRAPHS; Alarm Systems 2

E04G - SCAFFOLDING; FORMS; SHUTTERING; Building Implements OR Aids, OR Their USE; Handling Building Materials ON THE SITE; Repairing, Breaking-up OR Other Work ON Existing Buildings 1

F16B - Devices FOR Fastening OR Securing Constructional Elements OR Machine Parts Together, e.g. Nails, Bolts, Circlips, Clamps, Clips OR WEDGES; Joints OR Jointing 1

E04C - Structural ELEMENTS; Building Materials 1

F21W - Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO Uses OR Applications OF Lighting Devices OR Systems 1

Y04S - Systems Integrating Technologies Related TO Power Network Operation, Communication OR Information Technologies FOR Improving THE Electrical Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Management OR Usage, i.e. Smart Grids 1

Top 15 of 23 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

Nicor, Inc.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Nicor, Inc.'s lead technology class is F21Y (Indexing Scheme Associated With Subclasses F21k, F21l, F21s and F21v, Relating TO THE Form OR THE Kind OF THE Light Sources OR OF THE Colour OF THE Light Emitted), 47.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore F21Y
Ranked #14,163 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Nicor, Inc. against National Machine Company, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 41.9/100 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.