Where does North Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), North Inc. ranks #3,139 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 North Inc. hold?

North Inc. holds 120 US utility patents granted between 2018 and 2020, spanning 35 technology areas.

What is North Inc.'s Innovation Score?

North Inc. has an Innovation Score of 46.1 out of 100 (top 22% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does North Inc. focus on?

North Inc.'s top technology area is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus) with 96 patents, ranking #171 of 4,891 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 35 CPC subclasses total.

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

North Inc.'s recent grant velocity is -52% 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 North Inc.'s patents?

North Inc.'s patents average 14.4 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 North 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 Foreign Corporation

North Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 120 granted patents across 35 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2018–2020. 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: G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, North ranks #3,139 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 120 patents across 35 technology areas.

#3,139
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 22%
by Innovation Score (46.1/100): 14.4
avg claims per patent: -52%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R3139 · Foreign Corporation #3,139 · 120 grants

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

GRANTS-MID 120 grants
TOP-DECILE #3,139/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH K-tronics (SUZHOU)…
CPC-FOCUS G02B · 35 areas
INNOV-PAR 46.1/100
CLAIMS-RICH 14.4 claims/avg
TYPE-FRNCORP Foreign Corp
VEL-DROP -52% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: K-tronics (SUZHOU) Technology 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 North’s 46.1 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 16.6 pts (36%) Velocity 0.0 pts (0%) Breadth 20.9 pts (45%) Claim depth 8.6 pts (19%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
AAC Kaitai (Wuhan) · near

46
Elliptic Laboratorie… · near

46
eMoMo Technology · near

46
North · this assignee

46
Sunonwealth… · near

46
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows North's Innovation Score is 46.1/100 (top 22% 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 North?

Each dot is one of North’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). North’s own 14.4 claims/patent is at or below the 16.2 median for these volume peers. Volume here does not track with deeper claims; several lower-volume peers claim more thoroughly per patent.

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

Where North's grants concentrate

North Inc. is a focused PatentsView assignee: 35 CPC subclasses with 80% of grants classified under G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus). Peak complete grant year is 2019 (79 grants) versus a trough of 2 in 2018. By volume, North sits between K-tronics (SUZHOU) Technology Co., Ltd. and Sercel, Inc.

K-tronics (Suzhou…

120
Linak A/S

120
Monash University

120
Mythical

120
Novaled

120
Quantum-si Incorp…

120
Research Institut…

120
Sercel

120
North ◀

120

What this shows North holds 120 patents at rank #3,139, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near North

By rank, the assignees closest to #3,139 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G02B (Optical Elements)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for North, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In G02B (Optical Elements), North ranks #171 of 4,891 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (46 here).

Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd. 46 eMoMo Technology Co., Ltd. 46 Elliptic Laboratories ASA 46 AAC Kaitai Technologies (Wuhan) Co., Ltd 46

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (14.4 here).

UNIVERSITÉ Paris CITÉ 14.4 avg Rockwool International A/S 14.4 avg Bissell Inc. 14.4 avg HFI Innovation Inc. 14.4 avg

North's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

46 Top 22% higher than 78% 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 · 2018–2020

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2018–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

North Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2018	2	1.7%
2019	79	65.8%
2020	39	32.5%

Which technologies does North Inc. patent most?

G02B - Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus 96

H04N - Pictorial Communication, e.g. Television 45

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 37

G03B - Apparatus OR Arrangements FOR Taking Photographs OR FOR Projecting OR Viewing THEM; Apparatus OR Arrangements Employing Analogous Techniques Using Waves Other Than Optical WAVES; Accessories Therefor 21

H01S - Devices Using THE Process OF Light Amplification BY Stimulated Emission OF Radiation [LASER] TO Amplify OR Generate LIGHT; Devices Using Stimulated Emission OF Electromagnetic Radiation IN Wave Ranges Other Than Optical 19

G03H - Holographic Processes OR Apparatus 15

G02C - SPECTACLES; Sunglasses OR Goggles Insofar AS They Have THE Same Features AS SPECTACLES; Contact Lenses 13

G09G - Arrangements OR Circuits FOR Control OF Indicating Devices Using Static Means TO Present Variable Information 13

G06T - Image Data Processing OR Generation, IN General 9

H04B - Transmission 5

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 5

B29D - Producing Particular Articles From Plastics OR From Substances IN A Plastic State 5

G06V - Image OR Video Recognition OR Understanding 5

H05K - Printed CIRCUITS; Casings OR Constructional Details OF Electric APPARATUS; Manufacture OF Assemblages OF Electrical Components 4

H03K - Pulse Technique 4

Top 15 of 35 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

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

North Inc.'s lead technology class is G02B (Optical Elements, Systems OR Apparatus), 80% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G02B
Ranked #3,139 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare North Inc. against K-tronics (SUZHOU) Technology Co., Ltd., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 46.1/100 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.