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Patent Leaderboard
USPTO Patent Rankings Data through Dec 31, 2025
Home › Technologies › Optics and photonics

Optics and photonics Patent Leaders All Time

Primary CPC class G02 · Section G

Rankings count each patent once by its primary Cooperative Patent Classification. All-time pages aggregate the full database; year pages use patent grant year.

Recent years: 2016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Patents per Year

Patents granted per year, 1996 to 2025Bar chart with a peak of 8,985 patents in 2019.peak 8,9851996: 2,278 patents19961997: 2,459 patents1998: 3,436 patents1999: 3,249 patents19992000: 3,507 patents2001: 3,890 patents2002: 4,204 patents20022003: 4,794 patents2004: 5,388 patents2005: 5,063 patents20052006: 5,602 patents2007: 5,161 patents2008: 5,164 patents20082009: 5,377 patents2010: 6,114 patents2011: 5,831 patents20112012: 5,827 patents2013: 6,265 patents2014: 6,659 patents20142015: 6,748 patents2016: 7,235 patents2017: 7,938 patents20172018: 7,427 patents2019: 8,985 patents2020: 8,699 patents20202021: 7,734 patents2022: 7,685 patents2023: 7,238 patents20232024: 7,518 patents2025: 7,097 patents2025

Top Inventors

Rank ↑ Inventor ↕ Patents ↕ Primary Company ↕
1 Shunpei Yamazaki 572 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
2 Hsin-Hsuan Huang 423 Largan Precision Co.
3 Lei Zhang 377 Aac Optics Solutions Pte.
#4 Tsung-Han Tsai 328 Largan Precision Co.
#5 Ming-Ta Chou 326 Largan Precision Co.
#6 Yeong-Ming Chang 317 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
#7 Wei-Yu Chen 286 Largan Precision Co.
#8 Dong-Gyu Kim 262 Samsung
#9 Yanmei Wang 253 Aac Technologies Pte.
#10 Yong Joo JO 236 Samsung
#11 Ming-Jun Li 231 Corning Incorporated
#12 Fujian Dai 230 Zhejiang Sunny Optics Co.
#13 Xiaochuan Chen 220 BOE
#14 Yao-Wei Liu 208 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
#15 James Phillip Luther 204 Corning Cable Systems
#16 Chao-Chang Hu 193 Tdk Taiwan
#17 Hajime Kimura 193 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#18 Chien-Hsun Lai 191 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
#19 Hitoshi Hirano 188 Kantatsu Co.
#20 Yusheng Bian 188 Globalfoundries U.S.
#21 Liefeng Zhao 185 Zhejiang Sunny Optics Co.
#22 Hiroshi Nomura 181 Pentax
#23 Kazuyoshi Takano 180 Senko Advanced Components
#24 Andrew John Ouderkirk 175 Meta
#25 Graham J. Woodgate 172 Reald Spark
#26 Trevor D. Smith 172 Adc Telecommunications
#27 Nai-Yuan Tang 168 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
#28 Darrell R. Childers 162 Us Conec
#29 Jang-Kun Song 161 Samsung
#30 Kikuo Ono 161 Hitachi
#31 Christopher Doerr 160 AT&T
#32 Yoshiharu Hirakata 160 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#33 David A. Fattal 159 Leia
#34 Michael G. Robinson 159 Reald Spark
#35 Yoji Kubota 159 Kantatsu Co.
#36 Yu Lu 159 Commscope Technologies
#37 Jacques Gollier 156 Meta
#38 Ronald D. Blum 156 E-Vision
#39 John N. Border 155 Osterhout Group
#40 Xue Dong 155 BOE
#41 Kenichi Kubota 152 Kantatsu Co.
#42 Sang Ok Park 152 Lg Innotek Co.
#43 Kazuhiko Yanagawa 145 Hitachi
#44 Brian T. Schowengerdt 144 Magic Leap
#45 Hsiang-Chi Tang 144 Largan Precision Co.
#46 Takashi Takeda 144 Seiko Epson
#47 Dana Craig Bookbinder 143 Corning Incorporated
#48 Yasushi Tomioka 141 Japan Display
#49 Ephraim Goldenberg 140 Corephotonics
#50 Takeshi Nishi 140 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#51 Hidefumi Yoshida 139 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#52 Kentaro Okuyama 136 Japan Display
#53 Pushkar Tandon 135 Corning Incorporated
#54 Hiroyuki Teraoka 134 Aac Technologies Pte.
#55 Steven C. Zimmel 134 Commscope Technologies
#56 Yukito Saitoh 134 Fujifilm
#57 Ki Chul Shin 132 Samsung
#58 Ying Geng 131 Meta
#59 Jonathan Harrold 130 Reald Spark
#60 Andrew J. Ouderkirk 127 3M
#61 Jin Hirosawa 126 Japan Display
#62 Jun Koyama 126 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#63 Katsumi Kondo 126 Hitachi
#64 Milan Momcilo Popovich 126 Digilens
#65 Michael F. Weber 126 3M
#66 Hiroshi Sato 125 Canon
#67 Michio Cho 124 Fujifilm
#68 Randall B. Pugh 123 Johnson & Johnson
#69 Toshiharu Matsushima 123 Japan Display
#70 Hidehiro Sonoda 122 Japan Display
#71 William Kokonaski 122 E-Vision Smart Optics
#72 Lu Lu 120 Meta
#73 Noboru Kunimatsu 120 Japan Display
#74 Wenqing Zhao 120 BOE
#75 Dennis Michael Knecht 117 Corning Cable Systems
#76 Wei Wang 117 BOE
#77 Yoshiaki Nakayoshi 117 Hitachi
#78 Jian Gao 116 Beijing Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co.
#79 Kiyoshi Minoura 115 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#80 Richard J. Paolini, Jr. 115 Nuclera
#81 Takayoshi Togino 115 Olympus Optical Co.
#82 Katsufumi Ohmuro 113 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#83 Jae-Jin Lyu 112 Samsung
#84 Jifeng Tan 112 BOE
#85 Arihiro Takeda 111 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#86 Jonathan David Waldern 111 Digilens
#87 Micah Colen Isenhour 111 Corning Optical Communications
#88 Takayuki Ito 111 Pentax
#89 Gal Shabtay 110 Corephotonics
#90 Matthew Holmberg 110 Commscope Technologies
#91 James J. Solheid 109 Commscope Technologies
#92 Stephen Clark Brown 109 View
#93 Takahiro Sasaki 108 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#94 Tsuyoshi Maeda 107 Seiko Epson
#95 Akira Sakai 106 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#96 Shinichi Mihara 106 Olympus
#97 Toshihide Tsubata 106 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#98 Chun-Che Hsueh 105 Largan Precision Co.
#99 Sang Jun Min 105 Lg Innotek Co.
#100 Scott Robertson Bickham 105 Corning Incorporated

Top Companies

Rank ↑ Company ↕ Patents ↕
1 Samsung 9,830
2 Canon 5,448
3 LG 4,189
#4 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha 3,819
#5 BOE 3,762
#6 Seiko Epson 2,818
#7 Sony 2,568
#8 Japan Display 2,419
#9 Sumitomo Electric Industries 2,321
#10 Panasonic 2,008
#11 3M 2,000
#12 Nikon 1,987
#13 Fujifilm 1,907
#14 Fujitsu Limited 1,814
#15 Olympus 1,669
#16 AT&T 1,566
#17 Au Optronics 1,496
#18 Tencent 1,482
#19 Olympus Optical Co. 1,450
#20 Corning Incorporated 1,345
#21 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory 1,332
#22 Foxconn 1,301
#23 Largan Precision Co. 1,271
#24 Ricoh Company 1,253
#25 IBM 1,198
#26 Lg Philips Lcd Co. 1,164
#27 Nec 1,162
#28 Meta 1,119
#29 Hitachi 1,118
#30 Apple 985
#31 Pentax 961
#32 Mitsubishi Electric 946
#33 Lg Innotek Co. 901
#34 Commscope Technologies 886
#35 Nitto Denko 857
#36 Intel 852
#37 Danaher 816
#38 Eastman Kodak 792
#39 Unknown 772
#40 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba 769
#41 US Air Force 716
#42 NTT 714
#43 HP 698
#44 Fujikura 684
#45 Corning Cable Systems 677
#46 RTX (Raytheon) 670
#47 Adc Telecommunications 668
#48 Innolux 666
#49 Furukawa Electric Co. 663
#50 Beijing Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co. 658
#51 Magic Leap 651
#52 Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co. 615
#53 Hitachi Displays 603
#54 Dai Nippon Printing Co. 587
#55 Beijing Boe Display Technology Co. 568
#56 ITRI 568
#57 Microsoft 556
#58 E Ink Holdings 521
#59 Texas Instruments 514
#60 Google 512
#61 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 507
#62 Honeywell 499
#63 KAIST 495
#64 Fuji Photo Optical Co. 482
#65 Johnson & Johnson 480
#66 Minolta 462
#67 U.S. Philips 459
#68 Xerox 448
#69 Corning Optical Communications 438
#70 Finisar 438
#71 Minolta Co. 436
#72 Hughes Aircraft 431
#73 Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh 414
#74 Lockheed Martin 410
#75 Hoya 389
#76 GE 389
#77 Nec Lcd Technologies 386
#78 Philips 384
#79 MIT 382
#80 Fujinon 380
#81 Essilor International 378
#82 The Boeing 378
#83 Hkc Corporation Limited 377
#84 Jds Uniphase 377
#85 Qualcomm 375
#86 Tdk Taiwan 372
#87 Huawei 369
#88 Pentax 351
#89 TSMC 351
#90 Fujifilm Business Innovation 348
#91 Aac Optics Solutions Pte. 346
#92 Carl Zeiss Microscopy Gmbh 343
#93 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co. 335
#94 Essilor International (Compagnie Generale D'Optique) 326
#95 CEA 323
#96 Coretronic 322
#97 Agilent Technologies 315
#98 University of California 315
#99 Corning Research & Development 310
#100 Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. 307