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

Optics and photonics Patent Leaders in 2017 2017

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 Yeong-Ming Chang 72 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
2 Nai-Yuan Tang 52 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
3 Yao-Wei Liu 40 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co.
#4 Ki Chul Shin 28 Samsung
#5 Michio Cho 28 Fujifilm
#6 Hiroyuki Teraoka 27 Aac Technologies Pte.
#7 Hsin-Hsuan Huang 25 Largan Precision Co.
#8 Randall B. Pugh 25 Johnson & Johnson
#9 Wei-Yu Chen 24 Largan Precision Co.
#10 John N. Border 23 Osterhout Group
#11 Frederick A. Flitsch 21 Johnson & Johnson
#12 Shih-Han Chen 21 Genius Electronic Optical Co.
#13 James Phillip Luther 20 Corning Cable Systems
#14 Adam Toner 19 Johnson & Johnson
#15 Micah Colen Isenhour 18 Corning Optical Communications
#16 Wenbo Li 18 BOE
#17 James Daniel Riall 16 Johnson & Johnson
#18 Ming-Jun Li 16 Corning Incorporated
#19 Ralph F. Osterhout 16 Mentor Acquisition One
#20 Yanbing Wu 16 BOE
#21 Dennis Michael Knecht 15 Corning Cable Systems
#22 Gege Zhou 15 Tencent
#23 Jin Hirosawa 15 Japan Display
#24 Masaki Kato 15 Inphi
#25 Ashok V. Krishnamoorthy 14 Oracle
#26 Hitoshi Hirano 14 Kantatsu Co.
#27 Kenichi Kubota 14 Kantatsu Co.
#28 Shunpei Yamazaki 14 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#29 Yoji Kubota 14 Kantatsu Co.
#30 Chang Xie 13 Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co.
#31 Dana Craig Bookbinder 13 Corning Incorporated
#32 Daniel B. Otts 13 Johnson & Johnson
#33 John D. Haddick 13 Mentor Acquisition One
#34 Quan Li 13 Tencent
#35 Tymon Barwicz 13 IBM
#36 Tzu-Chien Tang 13 Genius Electronic Optical Co.
#37 Jun Qi 12 Apple
#38 Nelson V. Tabirian 12 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements
#39 Pushkar Tandon 12 Corning Incorporated
#40 Rajiv Laroia 12 Qualcomm
#41 Seung Jun Jeong 12 Samsung
#42 Sheng-Wei Hsu 12 Genius Electronic Optical Co.
#43 Tsung-Han Tsai 12 Largan Precision Co.
#44 Xuezhe Zheng 12 Oracle
#45 Dae-Young Lee 11 Samsung
#46 Guofu Tang 11 Tencent
#47 Hak-Sun Chang 11 Samsung
#48 Hee-Keun Lee 11 Samsung
#49 Hidehiro Sonoda 11 Japan Display
#50 Hyeok Jin Lee 11 Samsung
#51 Jaegeon You 11 BOE
#52 Masaya Hashimoto 11 Kantatsu Co.
#53 Mee-Hye Jung 11 Samsung
#54 Osamu Itou 11 Japan Display
#55 Toshimasa Ishigaki 11 Japan Display
#56 Tomohiro Yonezawa 11 Kantatsu Co.
#57 Trevor D. Smith 11 Adc Telecommunications
#58 Xue Dong 11 BOE
#59 Yoichi Momose 11 Seiko Epson
#60 Akira Komatsu 10 Seiko Epson
#61 Chul Huh 10 Samsung
#62 Cheol Shin 10 Samsung
#63 Chao-Hsiang Wang 10 Innolux
#64 Hajime Kimura 10 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
#65 Hyun-Ho Kang 10 Samsung
#66 Isamu Miyake 10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
#67 Jae-Byung Park 10 Samsung
#68 Jung Gun Nam 10 Samsung
#69 Kuei-Ling Liu 10 Innolux
#70 Masayuki Takagi 10 Seiko Epson
#71 Michael J. Hochberg 10 Elenion Technologies
#72 Michael F. Weber 10 3M
#73 Paul F. Fortier 10 IBM
#74 Shih Chang Chang 10 Apple
#75 Shou-Shan Fan 10 Foxconn
#76 Sun Hwa Lee 10 Samsung
#77 Takashi Takeda 10 Seiko Epson
#78 Takahiro Totani 10 Seiko Epson
#79 Toshiaki Miyao 10 Seiko Epson
#80 William Carl Hurley 10 Corning Cable Systems
#81 Yangjin Ma 10 Elenion Technologies
#82 Yanxue Zhang 10 Tencent
#83 Yong Fan 10 Tencent
#84 Cheng Chen 9 Apple
#85 Darrell R. Childers 9 Us Conec
#86 Feng Bai 9 BOE
#87 Hae-Il Park 9 Samsung
#88 Jeffrey Gniadek 9 Senko Advanced Components
#89 Jia-Sin Jhang 9 Genius Electronic Optical (Xiamen) Co.
#90 Jianbo Xian 9 BOE
#91 Jiuxia Yang 9 BOE
#92 Kwang-Chul Jung 9 Samsung
#93 Ming-Ta Chou 9 Largan Precision Co.
#94 Noboru Kunimatsu 9 Japan Display
#95 Oh Jeong Kwon 9 Samsung
#96 Ping Sun 9 Uop
#97 Radhakrishnan L. Nagarajan 9 Inphi
#98 Richard J. Paolini, Jr. 9 Nuclera
#99 Robert Michael Lohse 9 Mentor Acquisition One
#100 Sang-Uk Lim 9 Samsung

Top Companies

Rank ↑ Company ↕ Patents ↕
1 Samsung 673
2 BOE 346
3 Tencent 238
#4 Japan Display 213
#5 LG 194
#6 Fujifilm 163
#7 Canon 148
#8 Seiko Epson 123
#9 Olympus 111
#10 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha 111
#11 Sony 108
#12 Corning Optical Communications 95
#13 Commscope Technologies 94
#14 Panasonic 89
#15 Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co. 78
#16 3M 77
#17 Lg Innotek Co. 77
#18 IBM 74
#19 Innolux 68
#20 Beijing Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co. 67
#21 Largan Precision Co. 64
#22 Apple 62
#23 Foxconn 61
#24 Amazon 52
#25 Microsoft 52
#26 Au Optronics 51
#27 Corning Incorporated 51
#28 Sumitomo Electric Industries 51
#29 Beijing Boe Display Technology Co. 49
#30 Essilor International (Compagnie Generale D'Optique) 48
#31 Johnson & Johnson 48
#32 Mitsubishi Electric 43
#33 E Ink Holdings 42
#34 Nikon 42
#35 Tianma Microelectronics Co. 42
#36 Genius Electronic Optical Co. 41
#37 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory 41
#38 Huawei 41
#39 Fujikura 40
#40 Kantatsu Co. 40
#41 Google 37
#42 Ricoh Company 36
#43 Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co. 36
#44 Carl Zeiss Microscopy Gmbh 34
#45 KAIST 32
#46 Dai Nippon Printing Co. 31
#47 Nitto Denko 31
#48 Osterhout Group 31
#49 Intel 29
#50 Konica Minolta 28
#51 Sakai Display Products 28
#52 Aac Technologies Pte. 27
#53 Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh 27
#54 Hefei Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co. 26
#55 RTX (Raytheon) 26
#56 Finisar 25
#57 Unknown 25
#58 CEA 24
#59 Commscope Connectivity Belgium Bvba 24
#60 Hefei Xinsheng Optoelectronics Technology Co. 23
#61 Ofs Fitel 23
#62 Fujitsu Limited 22
#63 Shanghai Tianma Micro-Electronics Co. 22
#64 Inphi 21
#65 Lumentum Operations 19
#66 Novartis Ag 19
#67 Senko Advanced Components 19
#68 Sumitomo Chemical 19
#69 Merck 19
#70 Chengdu Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co. 18
#71 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba 18
#72 Xiamen Tianma Micro-Electronics Co. 18
#73 Denso 17
#74 Danaher 17
#75 Lockheed Martin 17
#76 Ciena 16
#77 Elenion Technologies 16
#78 Funai Electric Co. 16
#79 Hoya 16
#80 Omnivision Technologies 16
#81 Honeywell 16
#82 Genius Electronic Optical (Xiamen) Co. 15
#83 Oracle 15
#84 Hewlett Packard Enterprise 14
#85 Optical Logic 14
#86 Radiant Opto-Electronics 14
#87 Rockwell Collins 14
#88 Stanley Electric Co. 14
#89 Aac Acoustic Technologies (Shenzhen) Co. 13
#90 Afl Telecommunications 13
#91 Cree 13
#92 Futurewei Technologies 13
#93 Gentex 13
#94 Ricoh Imaging Company 13
#95 Stmicroelectronics Sa 13
#96 Tamron Co. 13
#97 Te Connectivity Co. 13
#98 Cisco 13
#99 GE 13
#100 NVIDIA 13