Where does Oxford Instruments PLC rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Oxford Instruments PLC ranks #32,791 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 Oxford Instruments PLC hold?

Oxford Instruments PLC holds 8 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2018, spanning 4 technology areas.

What is Oxford Instruments PLC's Innovation Score?

Oxford Instruments PLC has an Innovation Score of 22.9 out of 100 (11th percentile of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is Oxford Instruments PLC's patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Oxford Instruments PLC's recent grant velocity is -100% 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 Oxford Instruments PLC's patents?

Oxford Instruments PLC's patents average 13.8 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 Oxford Instruments PLC 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

Oxford Instruments PLC

Q: What technology areas does Oxford Instruments PLC focus on?

Oxford Instruments PLC's top technology area is G01Q (Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM]) with 6 patents, ranking #16 of 81 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 4 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 8 granted patents across 4 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2018. 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: G01Q (Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM]).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Oxford ranks #32,791 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 8 patents across 4 technology areas.

#32,791
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: 11th percentile
by Innovation Score (22.9/100): 13.8
avg claims per patent: -100%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R32791 · US Corporation #32,791 · 8 grants

GRANTS-MICRO · MID-PACK · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-NARROW · INNOV-THIN · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MICRO 8 grants
MID-PACK #32,791/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Ott-Jakob Spanntechnik
CPC-NARROW G01Q · 4 areas
INNOV-THIN 22.9/100
CLAIMS-RICH 13.8 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -100% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Ott-Jakob Spanntechnik GmbH (±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 Oxford’s 22.9 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 7.6 pts (33%) Velocity 0.0 pts (0%) Breadth 7.1 pts (31%) Claim depth 8.3 pts (36%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Oxford Instruments · this assignee

23
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Oxford's Innovation Score is 22.9/100 (11th percentile 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 Oxford?

Each dot is one of Oxford’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). Oxford’s own 13.8 claims/patent is at or below the 15.9 median for these volume peers. Volume here does not track with deeper claims; several lower-volume peers claim more thoroughly per patent.

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

Where Oxford's grants concentrate

Oxford Instruments PLC is a focused PatentsView assignee: 4 CPC subclasses with 75% of grants classified under G01Q (Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM]). Peak complete grant year is 2015 (4 grants) versus a trough of 1 in 2017. By volume, Oxford sits between Ott-Jakob Spanntechnik GmbH and P.V. Nano Cell Ltd..

Ott-jakob Spannte…

8
Otto Aero

8
Outsense Diagnost…

8
Overair

8
Oztent Australia…

8
P-cure

8
P T Archery

8
P V Nano Cell

8
Oxford Instruments ◀

8

What this shows Oxford holds 8 patents at rank #32,776, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Oxford

By rank, the assignees closest to #32,776 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G01Q (Scanning-probe Techniques OR Apparatus)

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

Oxford's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

23 11th percentile higher than 11% 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 · 2015–2018

Grants by year

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

View data table

Oxford Instruments PLC patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	4	50.0%
2016	2	25.0%
2017	1	12.5%
2018	1	12.5%

Which technologies does Oxford Instruments PLC patent most?

G01Q - Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM] 6

B82Y - Specific Uses OR Applications OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Measurement OR Analysis OF NANOSTRUCTURES; Manufacture OR Treatment OF Nanostructures 5

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 2

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 1

Top 4 of 4 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

Oxford Instruments PLC's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Oxford Instruments PLC's lead technology class is G01Q (Scanning-probe Techniques OR APPARATUS; Applications OF Scanning-probe Techniques, e.g. Scanning Probe Microscopy [SPM]), 75% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore G01Q
Ranked #32,791 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Oxford Instruments PLC against Ott-Jakob Spanntechnik GmbH, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 22.9/100 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.