USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView Foreign Corporation

ZTE Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 4,193 granted patents across 115 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: H04W (WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS).

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

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

4,193

Total patents granted

115

CPC technology areas

14.8

Avg claims per patent

+12%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

ZTE holds 4,193 US patents across 115 technology areas, rank #81 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#81
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 0.1%
by Innovation Score (73.8/100): 14.8
avg claims per patent: +12%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

ZTE Corporation has been granted 4,193 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing ZTE Corporation at rank #81 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 115 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 14.8 claims per patent with primary concentration in H04W (WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS). As a Foreign Corporation, ZTE Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, ZTE sits between Globalfoundries Inc. (4,547 patents, rank #77) and Kyocera Corporation (4,151 patents, rank #85) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 73.8/100 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 2,211 grants, compared with 1,982 in the 2015–2019 window, a +12% shift in five-year velocity. Steady filing volume suggests sustained innovation without dramatic pivots. 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. ZTE Corporation's 14.8 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 ZTE Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Globalfoundries

4,547
Sumitomo Electric…

4,378
Guangdong OPPO Mo…

4,374
Commissariat A L'…

4,218
ZTE ◀

4,193
BASF SE

4,191
Caterpillar

4,178
Konica Minolta

4,158
Kyocera

4,151

What this shows ZTE holds 4,193 patents at rank #81, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near ZTE

By rank, the assignees closest to #81 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in H04W (Wireless Communication Networks)

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

ZTE's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

74 Top 1% higher than 99% 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

ZTE Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	421	10.0%
2016	481	11.5%
2017	416	9.9%
2018	395	9.4%
2019	269	6.4%
2020	230	5.5%
2021	222	5.3%
2022	318	7.6%
2023	325	7.8%
2024	558	13.3%
2025	558	13.3%

Which technologies does ZTE Corporation patent most?

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 2,546

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 2,342

H04B - TRANSMISSION 776

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 405

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 385

H04J - MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION 249

H04M - TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION 213

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 197

H04Q - SELECTING 133

H03M - CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL 63

H01Q - ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS 58

G01S - RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES 55

H02J - CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY 53

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 37

H05K - PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 36

Top 15 of 115 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Growing

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#81

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

73.8 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 ZTE Corporation hold?

ZTE Corporation holds 4,193 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 115 technology areas.

What is ZTE Corporation's Innovation Score?

ZTE Corporation has an Innovation Score of 73.8 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does ZTE Corporation focus on?

ZTE Corporation's top technology area is H04W (WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS) with 2,546 patents. The company has filed patents in 115 CPC subclasses total.

Is ZTE Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

ZTE Corporation's recent filing velocity is +12% compared to the prior five-year period. The company is maintaining or growing its patent output.

What does claim depth mean for ZTE Corporation's patents?

ZTE Corporation's patents average 14.8 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the ZTE Corporation 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

ZTE's 4,193 grants land it in the top 0.1% 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 - ZTE ranks #81 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in H04W - see who else leads that technology area. H04W 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.