USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 27 granted patents across 16 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: G01C (MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY).

Compiled by PlainPatent, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

Total patents granted

CPC technology areas

11.6

Avg claims per patent

-87%

5-year grant velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Northrop ranks #11,369 of 50,000 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 27 patents across 16 technology areas.

#11,369
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 52%
by Innovation Score (34.5/100): 11.6
avg claims per patent: -87%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh has been granted 27 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh at #11,369 of 50,000 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 16 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 11.6 claims per patent with primary concentration in G01C (MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY). As a Foreign Corporation, Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh is one of the more focused assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Northrop sits between Netzch-feinmahltechnik Gmbh (27 patents, rank #11,357) and Nuvolo Technologies Corporation (27 patents, rank #11,365) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 34.5/100 blends portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Grant cadence records the difference between two grant-year windows. Between 2020 and 2024 the company received 3 grants, compared with 23 in the 2015–2019 window, a -87% shift in five-year grant velocity. Both windows cover five complete grant years; the latest PatentsView year is a partial release and is excluded from this comparison, though it still appears in the yearly table and chart below. Grant timing can lag the related application by years, so this comparison does not establish current R&D spending, strategic intent, or a company’s application activity. The Foreign Corporation classification provides context for the assignee record, not a conclusion about its business strategy.

Claim depth and technology breadth describe this aggregate record. Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's 11.6 average claims per patent is an average count, not a measure of claim scope, legal strength, enforceability, or design-around risk. The record spans 16 CPC subclasses. Combined with portfolio volume, these figures let readers compare the documented grant records of assignees in similar technology classes.

Netzch-feinmahlte…

27
Netzsch-gerätebau

27
Nextronics Engine…

27
Nikon Metrology

27
NRI R&D Patent Li…

27
Nubia Technology

27
Nureva

27
Nuvolo

27
Northrop Grumman… ◀

27

What this shows Northrop holds 27 patents at rank #11,361, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Northrop

By rank, the assignees closest to #11,361 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G01C (Measuring Distances)

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

Northrop's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

34 Top 52% higher than 48% 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

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	2	7.4%
2016	5	18.5%
2017	3	11.1%
2018	7	25.9%
2019	6	22.2%
2021	1	3.7%
2023	1	3.7%
2024	1	3.7%
2025partial year	1	3.7%

Which technologies does Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh patent most?

G01C - MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY 19

B81B - MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES 4

G01P - MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT 4

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 3

G01D - MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVERED IN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 3

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 2

G02F - OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS 2

B81C - PROCESSES OR APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS 2

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 2

G01B - MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS 1

G01R - MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES 1

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 1

Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION 1

H01M - PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY 1

H03L - AUTOMATIC CONTROL, STARTING, SYNCHRONISATION OR STABILISATION OF GENERATORS OF ELECTRONIC OSCILLATIONS OR PULSES 1

Top 15 of 16 technology areas

Grant record at a glance

Portfolio Volume 27 grants

CPC subclasses 16

Avg. claims / grant 11.6

Velocity -87%

Historical grant data only; it does not rate legal strength or current strategy.

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#11,369

of 50,000 tracked assignees

Innovation Score

34.5 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh ranks #11,369 of 50,000 assignees by granted-patent volume, the same sort as the companies listing and top-holders ranking. See /methodology/#corpus-placement.

How many patents does Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh hold?

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh holds 27 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 16 technology areas.

What is Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's Innovation Score?

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh has an Innovation Score of 34.5 out of 100 (top 52% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh focus on?

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's top technology area is G01C (MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY) with 19 patents. Grants appear in 16 CPC subclasses total.

Is Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's recent grant velocity is -87% 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 Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's patents?

Northrop Grumman Litef Gmbh's patents average 11.6 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 Northrop Grumman Litef 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.

How to use this portfolio

Northrop's 27 grants land it in the top 52% 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 - Northrop ranks #11,369 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in G01C - see who else leads that technology area. G01C 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

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.