Where does William Marsh Rice University rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), William Marsh Rice University ranks #1,530 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 William Marsh Rice University hold?

William Marsh Rice University holds 273 US utility patents granted 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 (top 3% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

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

William Marsh Rice University's recent grant velocity is -26% 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 William Marsh Rice University's patents?

William Marsh Rice University's patents average 18.6 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 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.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

William Marsh Rice University

Q: 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, ranking #41 of 1,689 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 134 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 273 granted patents across 134 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: C01B (Non-metallic ELEMENTS; Compounds THEREOF; ; Metalloids OR Compounds Thereof NOT Covered BY Subclass C01c).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, William ranks #1,530 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 273 patents across 134 technology areas.

#1,530
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 3%
by Innovation Score (60.6/100): 18.6
avg claims per patent: -26%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R1530 · US Corporation #1,530 · 273 grants

GRANTS-MID · TOP-DECILE · PHOTO-FINISH · CPC-WIDE · INNOV-STRONG · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-DOWN · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-MID 273 grants
TOP-DECILE #1,530/49,997
PHOTO-FINISH Otsuka Pharmaceutical
CPC-WIDE C01B · 134 areas
INNOV-STRONG 60.6/100
CLAIMS-RICH 18.6 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-DOWN -26% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (±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 William’s 60.6 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 19.4 pts (32%) Velocity 5.1 pts (8%) Breadth 25.0 pts (41%) Claim depth 11.1 pts (18%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
Graco Minnesota · near

61
William Marsh Rice… · this assignee

61
Yazaki · near

61
Global Tel*Link · near

61
Max · near

61
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows William's Innovation Score is 60.6/100 (top 3% 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 William?

Each dot is one of William’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). William’s own 18.6 claims/patent is ABOVE the 14.6 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

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

How William's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, William Marsh Rice University received 109 grants versus 148 in 2015–2019 (-26% equal-window velocity, below median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2016 at 38 grants and bottomed in 2023 at 14. Lead class C01B accounts for 17.6% of the portfolio across 134 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (#1,526) and Central Glass Company, Limited (#1,534).

William's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, William Marsh Rice University moved from 76 to 58 grants (0.76x the prior three-year total, a multiple, not a CAGR). Among 3,296 tracked assignees with ≥100 grants and ≥20 prior-period grants, that multiple ranks #1,950. See the growth leaderboard.

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.

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for William, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In C01B (Non-metallic Elements), William ranks #41 of 1,689 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (61 here).

Graco Minnesota Inc. 61 Yazaki Corporation 61 Max Co., Ltd. 61 Global Tel*Link Corporation 61

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (18.6 here).

Baxter Healthcare SA 18.6 avg Xyleco, Inc. 18.6 avg Bridgelux, Inc. 18.6 avg Ocient Holdings LLC 18.6 avg

William's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

61 Top 3% higher than 97% 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 · 2015–2025

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%
2025partial year	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

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

William Marsh Rice University's patent record in context - here's where to go next.

William Marsh Rice University's lead technology class is C01B (Non-metallic ELEMENTS; Compounds THEREOF; ; Metalloids OR Compounds Thereof NOT Covered BY Subclass C01c), 17.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore C01B
Ranked #1,530 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare William Marsh Rice University against Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 60.6/100 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.