Where does Tesla Motors, Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Tesla Motors, Inc. ranks #4,491 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 Tesla Motors, Inc. hold?

Tesla Motors, Inc. holds 79 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2019, spanning 48 technology areas.

What is Tesla Motors, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Tesla Motors, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 49.5 out of 100 (top 15% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Tesla Motors, Inc. focus on?

Tesla Motors, Inc.'s top technology area is Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation) with 30 patents, ranking #240 of 2,877 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 48 CPC subclasses total.

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

Tesla Motors, Inc.'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 Tesla Motors, Inc.'s patents?

Tesla Motors, Inc.'s patents average 16.4 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 Tesla Motors, 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

Tesla Motors, Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 79 granted patents across 48 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2019. 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: Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Tesla ranks #4,491 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 79 patents across 48 technology areas.

#4,491
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 15%
by Innovation Score (49.5/100): 16.4
avg claims per patent: -100%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R4491 · US Corporation #4,491 · 79 grants

GRANTS-SMALL · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-WIDE · INNOV-PAR · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DROP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-SMALL 79 grants
TOP-DECILE #4,491/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Savant Systems
CPC-WIDE Y02T · 48 areas
INNOV-PAR 49.5/100
CLAIMS-RICH 16.4 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DROP -100% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Savant Systems, Inc. (±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 Tesla’s 49.5 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 15.1 pts (31%) Velocity 0.0 pts (0%) Breadth 24.5 pts (49%) Claim depth 9.9 pts (20%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Carbo Ceramics · near

49
Flir Detection · near

49
INRIA—INSTITUT… · near

49
Tesla Motors · this assignee

49
Zhejiang Prulde… · near

49
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Tesla's Innovation Score is 49.5/100 (top 15% 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 Tesla?

Each dot is one of Tesla’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). Tesla’s own 16.4 claims/patent is at or below the 17.1 median for these volume peers. Volume here does not track with deeper claims; several lower-volume peers claim more thoroughly per patent.

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

Where Tesla's grants concentrate

Tesla Motors, Inc. is a focused PatentsView assignee: 48 CPC subclasses with 38% of grants classified under Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation). Peak complete grant year is 2015 (36 grants) versus a trough of 2 in 2019. By volume, Tesla sits between SK ie technology Co., Ltd. and University OF Hawaii.

SK ie technology

79
Savant Systems

79
Shifamed Holdings

79
TE Connectivity N…

79
Thales Avionics

79
The University Co…

79
Thorlabs

79
University OF Haw…

79
Tesla Motors ◀

79

What this shows Tesla holds 79 patents at rank #4,491, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Tesla

By rank, the assignees closest to #4,491 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transpo…)

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

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Tesla, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transpo…), Tesla ranks #240 of 2,877 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (49 here).

Flir Detection, Inc. 49 INRIA—INSTITUT National DE Recherche EN Informatique ET EN Automatique 49 Zhejiang Prulde Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. 49 Carbo Ceramics, Inc. 49

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (16.4 here).

Sage Therapeutics, Inc. 16.4 avg Bruker Biospin GmbH 16.4 avg Kids II, Inc. 16.4 avg Croda International PLC 16.4 avg

Tesla's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

49 Top 15% higher than 85% 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 · 2015–2019

Grants by year

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

View data table

Tesla Motors, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	36	45.6%
2016	33	41.8%
2017	8	10.1%
2019	2	2.5%

Which technologies does Tesla Motors, Inc. patent most?

Y02T - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation 30

Y02E - Reduction OF Greenhouse GAS [GHG] Emissions, Related TO Energy Generation, Transmission OR Distribution 26

B60L - Propulsion OF Electrically-propelled Vehicles ; Supplying Electric Power FOR Auxiliary Equipment OF Electrically-propelled Vehicles ; Electrodynamic Brake Systems FOR Vehicles IN General ; Magnetic Suspension OR Levitation FOR VEHICLES; Monitoring Operating Variables OF Electrically-propelled Vehicl 24

H01M - Processes OR Means, e.g. Batteries, FOR THE Direct Conversion OF Chemical Energy Into Electrical Energy 23

H02J - Circuit Arrangements OR Systems FOR Supplying OR Distributing Electric POWER; Systems FOR Storing Electric Energy 19

G01R - Measuring Electric VARIABLES; Measuring Magnetic Variables 13

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 11

B62D - Motor VEHICLES; Trailers 10

B60R - Vehicles, Vehicle Fittings, OR Vehicle Parts, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 8

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 5

G06F - Electric Digital Data Processing 5

B60K - Arrangement OR Mounting OF Propulsion Units OR OF Transmissions IN VEHICLES; Arrangement OR Mounting OF Plural Diverse Prime-movers IN VEHICLES; Auxiliary Drives FOR VEHICLES; Instrumentation OR Dashboards FOR VEHICLES; Arrangements IN Connection With Cooling, AIR Intake, GAS Exhaust OR Fuel Supply 5

Y02D - Climate Change Mitigation Technologies IN Information AND Communication Technologies [ICT], I.E. Information AND Communication Technologies Aiming AT THE Reduction OF Their OWN Energy USE 4

H04L - Transmission OF Digital Information, e.g. Telegraphic Communication 4

E05B - LOCKS; Accessories THEREFOR; Handcuffs 4

Top 15 of 48 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

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

Tesla Motors, Inc.'s lead technology class is Y02T (Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related TO Transportation), 38% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore Y02T
Ranked #4,491 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Tesla Motors, Inc. against SK ie technology Co., Ltd., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 49.5/100 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.