USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

PFU Limited

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 324 granted patents across 39 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

324

Total patents granted

CPC technology areas

8.8

Avg claims per patent

-5%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

PFU holds 324 US patents across 39 technology areas, rank #1,308 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#1,308
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 8%
by Innovation Score (54.6/100): 8.8
avg claims per patent: -5%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

PFU Limited has been granted 324 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing PFU Limited at rank #1,308 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 39 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 8.8 claims per patent with primary concentration in H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION). As a Foreign Corporation, PFU Limited is one of the more focused assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, PFU sits between Continental Reifen Deutschland Gmbh (325 patents, rank #1,304) and Crown Equipment Corporation (323 patents, rank #1,312) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 54.6/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 158 grants, compared with 166 in the 2015–2019 window, a -5% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The Foreign Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. PFU Limited's 8.8 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, while a multi-domain presence across 39 subclasses balances depth with breadth. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark PFU Limited against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Continental Reife…

325
Sony Interactive…

325
Ablic

324
Express Scripts S…

324
The Hong Kong Uni…

324
UAB 360 IT

324
Virginia TECH Int…

324
PFU ◀

324
Crown Equipment

323

What this shows PFU holds 324 patents at rank #1,308, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near PFU

By rank, the assignees closest to #1,308 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H04N (Pictorial Communication)

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

PFU's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

55 Top 8% higher than 92% 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

PFU Limited patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	47	14.5%
2016	35	10.8%
2017	36	11.1%
2018	18	5.6%
2019	30	9.3%
2020	22	6.8%
2021	26	8.0%
2022	25	7.7%
2023	34	10.5%
2024	26	8.0%
2025	25	7.7%

Which technologies does PFU Limited patent most?

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 150

B65H - HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES 100

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 36

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 34

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 32

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 26

G03G - ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY 14

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 9

B41J - TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS 8

G09G - ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION 5

B66B - ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS 4

G06K - GRAPHICAL DATA READING ; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS 3

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 3

G06Q - INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 2

H05B - ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL 2

Top 15 of 39 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Moderate

Tech Breadth Multi-domain

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#1,308

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

54.6 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does PFU Limited hold?

PFU Limited holds 324 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 39 technology areas.

What is PFU Limited's Innovation Score?

PFU Limited has an Innovation Score of 54.6 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does PFU Limited focus on?

PFU Limited's top technology area is H04N (PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION) with 150 patents. The company has filed patents in 39 CPC subclasses total.

Is PFU Limited's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

PFU Limited's recent filing velocity is -5% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for PFU Limited's patents?

PFU Limited's patents average 8.8 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the PFU Limited 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

PFU's 324 grants land it in the top 8% 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 - PFU ranks #1,308 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in H04N - see who else leads that technology area. H04N 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 Editorial

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 byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · 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.