GINC Patents
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Human Capital

Public Health Functions

The capacity to prevent, detect and assess threats to the population's health: surveillance, epidemiology, risk assessment and trusted public health advice. One of the capabilities of Health System Capability.

International families
14k2015 to 2024
Leading country
United States3.1× the next
All families
56khome filings included
Over five years
Rising2020 to 2024 against the five before

Year by year

Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.

Volume

International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Share by country

Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Country leaderboard

International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.

Ten largest

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Canada

Switzerland

Taiwan

5,511

1,782

1,627

909

600

565

476

254

249

197

2000 to 2025
1United States5,51138.6%1.2×
7,000
2China1,78212.5%2.9×
36,095
3Japan1,62711.4%1.0×
2,834
4South Korea9096.4%1.3×
3,970
5Germany6004.2%1.0×
704
6France5654.0%1.0×
615
7United Kingdom4763.3%1.1×
524
8Canada2541.8%1.2×
312
9Switzerland2491.7%1.1×
264
10Taiwan1971.4%1.6×
365
11Israel1951.4%1.3×
213
12Netherlands1881.3%1.0×
214
13Australia1831.3%1.0×
202
14Singapore1481.0%1.3×
156
15Spain1391.0%1.4×
152
16India1391.0%1.2×
206
17Italy1170.8%1.5×
162
18Belgium960.7%1.2×
103
19Denmark950.7%1.4×
95
20Sweden930.7%0.6×
93
21Türkiye850.6%3.7×
111
22Austria710.5%1.0×
75
23Poland550.4%1.9×
135
24Brazil470.3%0.7×
240
25Ireland450.3%1.6×
50
26Finland430.3%1.3×
44
27Portugal280.2%2.1×
33
28Norway270.2%0.4×
29
29South Africa270.2%0.7×
28
30New Zealand250.2%0.7×
28
31Mexico240.2%0.6×
91
32Hong Kong190.1%1.7×
26
33Hungary170.1%0.7×
22
34Saudi Arabia160.1%4.3×
41
35Russia150.1%0.7×
251
36Malaysia140.1%0.3×
37
37Czechia110.1%1.2×
23
38Luxembourg60.0%2.0×
9
39Cayman Islands40.0%3.0×
4
40Liechtenstein10.0%–
1

Applicants

The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Public Health Functions. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

14,276 international families

UNIV CALIFORNIA · United States

INST NAT SANTE RECH MED · France

CENTRE NAT RECH SCIENT · France

HOFFMANN LA ROCHE · Switzerland

UNIV LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR · United States

US HEALTH · United States

195

145

143

141

99

94

United States

5,511 international families

UNIV CALIFORNIA

UNIV LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR

UNIV TEXAS

MASSACHUSETTS INST TECHNOLOGY

US HEALTH

HARVARD COLLEGE

190

97

90

89

88

78

China

1,782 international families

FAPON BIOTECH INC

PING AN TECH SHENZHEN CO LTD

SHENZHEN INST OF ADV TECH CAS

DONGGUAN PENGZHI BIOTECHNOLOGY CO LTD

UNIV HONG KONG CHINESE

UNIV XIAMEN

31

27

27

25

23

23

Japan

1,627 international families

SHIMADZU CORP

UNIV OSAKA

FUJIFILM CORP

PANASONIC IP MAN CO LTD

SYSMEX CORP

DENKA COMPANY LTD

69

54

51

51

48

47

South Korea

909 international families

MD HEALTHCARE INC

SEOUL NAT UNIV R&DB FOUNDATION

UNIV YONSEI IACF

SEEGENE INC

KOREA RES INST BIOSCIENCE & BIOTECHNOLOGY

UNIV KOREA RES & BUS FOUND

79

41

31

29

26

25

Germany

600 international families

IMMATICS BIOTECHNOLOGIES GMBH

BOSCH GMBH ROBERT

EUROIMMUN MEDIZINISCHE LABORDIAGNOSTIKA AG

MILTENYI BIOTEC BV & CO KG

FRAUNHOFER GES FORSCHUNG

MAX PLANCK GESELLSCHAFT

21

16

16

16

15

15

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Public Health Functions, 2015 to 2024: the families counted in both as a share of those counted in either. Each card shows its five largest countries.

Strategic Infrastructure

Public Health & Laboratories

45.6% shared · 11,112 families in both

United States

Japan

China

Germany

South Korea

7,163

3,632

2,667

1,475

1,202

Critical Technology

Genomics & Biological Data

12.4% shared · 5,959 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

17,818

5,444

3,003

2,851

1,616

Critical Technology

Biomanufacturing

5.0% shared · 4,045 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

25,142

10,048

9,595

4,747

3,497

Critical Technology

Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering

4.8% shared · 4,073 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

31,378

14,103

6,820

3,970

2,703

Critical Technology

Advanced Therapeutics, Vaccines & Medical Countermeasures

4.3% shared · 3,706 families in both

United States

China

Japan

South Korea

Germany

35,382

11,223

4,471

4,072

2,767

Human Capital

Nutrition & Preventive Health

2.7% shared · 1,197 families in both

United States

South Korea

China

Japan

Switzerland

7,952

5,251

3,446

3,403

1,203

Human Capital

Knowledge Production

2.5% shared · 1,191 families in both

United States

Japan

Germany

China

South Korea

9,688

6,387

4,131

2,870

1,604

Human Capital

Physical Health & Longevity

2.1% shared · 4,422 families in both

United States

China

South Korea

Japan

Germany

77,497

32,383

14,190

14,101

7,671

Strategic Infrastructure

Hydrometeorology & Early Warning

1.6% shared · 341 families in both

China

United States

Japan

South Korea

Germany

2,007

1,837

1,145

638

314

Crosswalk

How Public Health Functions is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 37 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.

EntryTitle in the schemeWhy it is chosenCPC codesIPC codesDocuments
G16H50/80ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics, e.g. fluSoftware for detecting and modelling epidemics1110,867
C12Q1/70Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions involving virus or bacteriophageNucleic acid tests involving viruses8164,083
C12Q1/689Nucleic acid products used in the analysis of nucleic acids, e.g. primers or probes for detection or identification of organisms for bacteriaNucleic acid tests identifying bacteria1145,472
C12Q1/04Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator thereforTests determining the presence or kind of microorganism8785,897
G01N33/569Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, virusesImmunoassays for microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria192143,812

CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.

The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Public Health Functions: 37 codes on 314,849 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
C12Q1/689Nucleic acid products used in the analysis of nucleic acids, e.g. primers or probes for detection or identification of organisms for bacteriaC12Q1/689In the scheme45,472
G01N33/56983VirusesG01N33/569In the scheme36,398
C12Q1/04Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator thereforC12Q1/04In the scheme32,909
C12Q1/701Specific hybridization probesC12Q1/70In the scheme24,181
G01N33/56911BacteriaG01N33/569In the scheme18,944
G01N33/56972White blood cellsG01N33/569In the scheme16,351
G01N33/56966Animal cellsG01N33/569In the scheme16,037
G01N33/569Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, virusesG01N33/569In the scheme13,441
C12Q1/70Measuring or testing processes involving enzymes, nucleic acids or microorganisms; Compositions therefor; Processes of preparing such compositions involving virus or bacteriophageC12Q1/70In the scheme13,231
G16H50/80ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics, e.g. fluG16H50/80In the scheme10,867
C12Q1/06Quantitative determinationC12Q1/04In the scheme8,513
G01N33/56988Hiv or htlvG01N33/569In the scheme7,915
C12Q1/703Viruses associated with AIDSC12Q1/70In the scheme6,446
G01N33/56977HLA or MHC typingG01N33/569In the scheme5,354
C12Q1/045Culture media thereforC12Q1/04In the scheme4,675
C12Q1/708Specific hybridization probes for papillomaC12Q1/70In the scheme4,662
G01N33/56916Enterobacteria, e.g. shigella, salmonella, klebsiella, serratiaG01N33/569In the scheme4,276
G01N33/5695MycobacteriaG01N33/569In the scheme4,206
C12Q1/10EnterobacteriaC12Q1/04In the scheme4,068
C12Q1/706Specific hybridization probes for hepatitisC12Q1/70In the scheme3,683
C12Q1/707Specific hybridization probes for hepatitis non-A, non-B Hepatitis, excluding hepatitis DC12Q1/70In the scheme3,505
G01N33/56961Plant cells or fungiG01N33/569In the scheme3,489
G01N33/56905ProtozoaG01N33/569In the scheme3,454
C12Q1/705Specific hybridization probes for herpetoviridae, e.g. herpes simplex, varicella zosterC12Q1/70In the scheme3,237
G01N33/56938StaphylococcusG01N33/569In the scheme2,818
C12Q1/14Streptococcus; StaphylococcusC12Q1/04In the scheme2,664
G01N33/56944StreptococcusG01N33/569In the scheme2,648
G01N33/56994Herpetoviridae, e.g. cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virusG01N33/569In the scheme2,385
C12Q1/702Specific hybridization probes for retrovirusesC12Q1/70In the scheme1,866
G01N33/571Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, viruses for venereal disease, e.g. syphilis, gonorrhoeaG01N33/569In the scheme1,680
G01N33/56922CampylobacterG01N33/569In the scheme1,417
G01N33/56927ChlamydiaG01N33/569In the scheme1,211
G01N33/56933MycoplasmaG01N33/569In the scheme1,093
G01N33/56955Bacteria involved in periodontal diseasesG01N33/569In the scheme695
C12Q1/12Nitrate to nitrite reducing bacteriaC12Q1/04In the scheme371
C12Q1/08Quantitative determination using multifield mediaC12Q1/04In the scheme357
C12Q1/16Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator therefor using radioactive materialC12Q1/04In the scheme330
Match: Through its tools
The classification names the equipment or technology the capability draws on, not the capability. The count says how much is being invented for it, not how well it is done. Captures pathogen detection and epidemic surveillance technology; the tests are also used in routine clinical diagnosis, and vaccines are counted under preventive health. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Health System Capability