USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

William Marsh Rice University

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 273 granted patents across 134 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: C01B (NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; ; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

273

Total patents granted

134

CPC technology areas

18.6

Avg claims per patent

-16%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

William holds 273 US patents across 134 technology areas, rank #1,530 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#1,530
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 3%
by Innovation Score (60.6/100): 18.6
avg claims per patent: -16%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

William Marsh Rice University has been granted 273 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing William Marsh Rice University at rank #1,530 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 134 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 18.6 claims per patent with primary concentration in C01B (NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; ; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C). As a US Corporation, William Marsh Rice University is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, William sits between Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (273 patents, rank #1,526) and Central Glass Company, Limited (271 patents, rank #1,534) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 60.6/100 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 125 grants, compared with 148 in the 2015–2019 window, a -16% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The US 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. William Marsh Rice University's 18.6 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark William Marsh Rice University against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Otsuka Pharmaceut…

273
Pearson Education

273
Roche Sequencing…

273
Valeo Schalter UN…

273
William Marsh Ric… ◀

273
Acclarent

272
China University…

272
Woodward

272
Central Glass

271

What this shows William holds 273 patents at rank #1,530, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near William

By rank, the assignees closest to #1,530 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in C01B (Non-metallic Elements)

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

William's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

61 Top 3% higher than 97% 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

William Marsh Rice University patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	25	9.2%
2016	38	13.9%
2017	34	12.5%
2018	26	9.5%
2019	25	9.2%
2020	26	9.5%
2021	25	9.2%
2022	17	6.2%
2023	14	5.1%
2024	27	9.9%
2025	16	5.9%

Which technologies does William Marsh Rice University patent most?

C01B - NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; ; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C 48

Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION 44

C12N - MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA 41

B82Y - SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES 40

A61K - PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES 33

Y02P - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS 27

B01D - SEPARATION 25

H01M - PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY 24

C12P - FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE 23

G01N - INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 22

C07D - HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS 21

A61P - SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS 20

C12Y - ENZYMES 19

C09K - MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE 19

B01J - CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS 19

Top 15 of 134 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Moderate

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#1,530

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

60.6 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 William Marsh Rice University hold?

William Marsh Rice University holds 273 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 134 technology areas.

What is William Marsh Rice University's Innovation Score?

William Marsh Rice University has an Innovation Score of 60.6 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does William Marsh Rice University focus on?

William Marsh Rice University's top technology area is C01B (NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; ; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C) with 48 patents. The company has filed patents in 134 CPC subclasses total.

Is William Marsh Rice University's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

William Marsh Rice University's recent filing velocity is -16% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for William Marsh Rice University's patents?

William Marsh Rice University's patents average 18.6 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the William Marsh Rice University 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

William's 273 grants land it in the top 3% 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 - William ranks #1,530 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in C01B - see who else leads that technology area. C01B 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.