Strategic Infrastructure

Research & Scientific Facilities

Research and scientific facilities covers major civil research infrastructure operated for science rather than for industry or defence, including synchrotrons and light sources, particle and heavy-ion accelerators, fusion devices, research reactors, national supercomputing centres, astronomical observatories and polar and oceanographic research stations. One of the capabilities of Social Infrastructure.

International families: 3,3682015 to 2024
Leading country: United States1.6× the next
All families: 8,402home 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

Japan

Germany

China

United Kingdom

Netherlands

France

South Korea

Austria

Taiwan

964

589

405

369

209

150

120


1	United States	964	28.6%	1.2×	1,463
2	Japan	589	17.5%	0.9×	1,050
3	Germany	405	12.0%	1.2×	555
4	China	369	11.0%	1.2×	3,634
5	United Kingdom	209	6.2%	1.6×	252
6	Netherlands	150	4.5%	0.5×	156
7	France	120	3.6%	1.5×	134
8	South Korea	94	2.8%	0.7×	365
9	Austria	60	1.8%	14×	65
10	Taiwan	45	1.3%	0.7×	63
11	Italy	41	1.2%	1.3×	55
12	Canada	40	1.2%	1.4×	65
13	Switzerland	39	1.2%	0.8×	43
14	Belgium	33	1.0%	0.6×	35
15	Israel	27	0.8%	2.0×	37
16	Sweden	25	0.7%	1.8×	30
17	Australia	24	0.7%	0.6×	26
18	Finland	17	0.5%	0.5×	20
19	Russia	12	0.4%	0.3×	155
20	Spain	11	0.3%	1.2×	17
21	India	9	0.3%	0.8×	10
22	Norway	9	0.3%	0.3×	10
23	Hungary	9	0.3%	2.0×	17
24	Singapore	6	0.2%	2.0×	7
25	Brazil	6	0.2%	0.5×	10
26	Czechia	5	0.1%	4.0×	16
27	Türkiye	4	0.1%	3.0×	6
28	Poland	4	0.1%	3.0×	14
29	New Zealand	4	0.1%	1.0×	4
30	Denmark	3	0.1%	–	3
31	Liechtenstein	2	0.1%	–	2
32	Ireland	1	0.0%	0.0×	1
33	South Africa	1	0.0%	–	1
34	Saudi Arabia	1	0.0%	0.0×	3
35	Cayman Islands	1	0.0%	0.0×	17
36	Mexico	0	0.0%	–	4
37	Portugal	0	0.0%	–	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 Research & Scientific Facilities. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

3,368 international families

ZEISS CARL SMT GMBH · Germany

KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV · Netherlands

APPLIED MATERIALS INC · United States

HITACHI LTD · Japan

TOKAMAK ENERGY LTD · United Kingdom

ASML NETHERLANDS BV · Netherlands

United States

964 international families

APPLIED MATERIALS INC

QUANTINUUM LLC

TAE TECH INC

MASSACHUSETTS INST TECHNOLOGY

VARIAN MED SYS INC

GEN ELECTRIC

Japan

589 international families

HITACHI LTD

HITACHI HIGH TECH CORP

SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES

GIGAPHOTON INC

TOSHIBA ENERGY SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS CORP

TOKYO ELECTRON LTD

Germany

405 international families

ZEISS CARL SMT GMBH

SIEMENS HEALTHCARE GMBH

Siemens Healthineers Ag

ZEISS CARL SMT AG

PROXIMA FUSION GMBH

eleQtron GmbH

China

369 international families

NUCTECH CO LTD

SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO LTD

UNIV TSINGHUA

HEFEI INST PHYSICAL SCI CAS

ADVANCED MICRO FABRICATION EQUIPMENT INC CHINA

OUR UNITED CORP

United Kingdom

Japan

Germany

France

China

309

295

149

Trade & Investment

Customs & Border Management

1.4% shared · 60 families in both

China

United States

Japan

Germany

South Korea

418

233

115

Critical Technology

Superconducting, Magnetic & Photonic Materials

1.1% shared · 180 families in both

Japan

United States

China

South Korea

Germany

4,778

2,134

1,575

1,414

897

Critical Technology

Precision Timing & Atomic Clocks

1.0% shared · 63 families in both

China

United States

Japan

Germany

South Korea

821

600

514

206

113

Crosswalk

How Research & Scientific Facilities is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 113 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.

Entry	Title in the scheme	Why it is chosen	CPC codes	IPC codes	Documents
H05H7/00	Details of devices of the types covered by groups H05H9/00, H05H11/00, H05H13/00	Details of particle accelerators	39	12	25,018
H05H9/00	Linear accelerators	Linear accelerators	10	3	5,841
H05H13/00	Magnetic resonance accelerators; Cyclotrons	Cyclotrons and synchrotrons	8	6	9,596
H05H15/00	Methods or devices for acceleration of charged particles not otherwise provided for, e.g. wakefield accelerators	Other particle acceleration methods, such as wakefield	1	1	1,096
H05H5/00	Direct voltage accelerators; Accelerators using single pulses	Direct-voltage and pulsed accelerators	10	6	4,043
H05H11/00	Magnetic induction accelerators, e.g. betatrons	Betatrons and induction accelerators	3	3	1,103
G21B	Fusion reactors	Fusion reactors and devices	21	15	30,268
G21K1/00	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating	Beam handling and focusing of particles and radiation	21	14	48,250

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 Research & Scientific Facilities: 113 codes on 110,804 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

Code	Title	Under entry	How placed	Documents
G21K1/06	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diffraction, refraction or reflection, e.g. monochromators	G21K1/00	In the scheme	6,176
G21K1/025	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diaphragms, collimators using multiple collimators, e.g. Bucky screens; other devices for eliminating undesired or dispersed radiation	G21K1/00	In the scheme	5,477
G21K1/10	Scattering devices; Absorbing devices; Ionising radiation filters	G21K1/00	In the scheme	5,273
G21K1/02	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diaphragms, collimators	G21K1/00	In the scheme	4,775
G21K1/062	Devices having a multilayer structure	G21K1/00	In the scheme	4,482
G21K1/04	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diaphragms, collimators using variable diaphragms, shutters, choppers	G21K1/00	In the scheme	4,376
H05H7/04	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof	H05H7/00	In the scheme	3,756
G21K1/00	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating	G21K1/00	In the scheme	3,313
G21K1/093	Deviation, concentration or focusing of the beam by electric or magnetic means by magnetic means	G21K1/00	In the scheme	2,578
G21B3/00	Low temperature nuclear fusion reactors, e.g. alleged cold fusion reactors	G21B	In the scheme	2,362
H05H7/00	Details of devices of the types covered by groups H05H9/00, H05H11/00, H05H13/00	H05H7/00	In the scheme	2,267
G21K1/046	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diaphragms, collimators using variable diaphragms, shutters, choppers varying the contour of the field, e.g. multileaf collimators	G21K1/00	In the scheme	2,212
H05H7/02	Circuits or systems for supplying or feeding radio-frequency energy	H05H7/00	In the scheme	2,211
G21B1/05	Thermonuclear fusion reactors with magnetic or electric plasma confinement	G21B	In the scheme	2,131
H05H9/00	Linear accelerators	H05H9/00	In the scheme	2,082
G21B1/11	Details	G21B	In the scheme	2,024
G21K1/067	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diffraction, refraction or reflection, e.g. monochromators using surface reflection, e.g. grazing incidence mirrors, gratings	G21K1/00	In the scheme	1,936
H05H7/22	Details of linear accelerators, e.g. drift tubes	H05H7/00	In the scheme	1,917
G21B1/13	First wall; Blanket; Divertor	G21B	In the scheme	1,780
H05H13/04	Synchrotrons	H05H13/00	In the scheme	1,753
H05H13/005	Cyclotrons	H05H13/00	In the scheme	1,698
G21B1/057	Tokamaks	G21B	In the scheme	1,639
G21K1/30	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating for confining neutral particles or handling confined neutral particles, e.g. atom traps	G21K1/00	In the scheme	1,625
H05H7/18	Cavities; Resonators	H05H7/00	In the scheme	1,526
G21B1/00	Thermonuclear fusion reactors	G21B	In the scheme	1,520
G21K1/043	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diaphragms, collimators using variable diaphragms, shutters, choppers changing time structure of beams by mechanical means, e.g. choppers, spinning filter wheels	G21K1/00	In the scheme	1,518
G21B1/23	Optical systems, e.g. for irradiating targets, for heating plasma or for plasma diagnostics	G21B	In the scheme	1,500
G21B1/19	Targets for producing thermonuclear fusion reactions, e.g. pellets for irradiation by laser or charged particle beams	G21B	In the scheme	1,451
H05H7/001	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation	H05H7/00	In the scheme	1,353
H05H13/00	Magnetic resonance accelerators; Cyclotrons	H05H13/00	In the scheme	1,300
H05H7/08	Arrangements for injecting particles into orbits	H05H7/00	In the scheme	1,300
H05H7/10	Arrangements for ejecting particles from orbits	H05H7/00	In the scheme	1,137
G21B1/052	Thermonuclear fusion reactors with magnetic or electric plasma confinement reversed field configuration	G21B	In the scheme	1,122
G21B1/15	Particle injectors for producing thermonuclear fusion reactions, e.g. pellet injectors	G21B	In the scheme	1,099
H05H15/00	Methods or devices for acceleration of charged particles not otherwise provided for, e.g. wakefield accelerators	H05H15/00	In the scheme	1,053
G21B3/006	Fusion by impact, e.g. cluster/beam interaction, ion beam collisions, impact on a target	G21B	In the scheme	1,003
G21B1/03	Thermonuclear fusion reactors with inertial plasma confinement	G21B	In the scheme	984
G21K1/08	Deviation, concentration or focusing of the beam by electric or magnetic means	G21K1/00	In the scheme	982
H05H2007/025	Radiofrequency systems	H05H7/00	In the scheme	894
G21B1/17	Vacuum chambers; Vacuum systems	G21B	In the scheme	838
H05H13/02	Synchrocyclotrons, i.e. frequency modulated cyclotrons	H05H13/00	In the scheme	824
G21K1/087	Deviation, concentration or focusing of the beam by electric or magnetic means by electrical means	G21K1/00	In the scheme	808
G21K1/20	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating for confining charged particles or handling confined charged particles, e.g. ion traps	G21K1/00	In the scheme	798
G21B3/002	Fusion by absorption in a matrix	G21B	In the scheme	759
H05H9/04	Standing-wave linear accelerators	H05H9/00	In the scheme	745
G21K1/14	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using charge exchange devices, e.g. for neutralising or changing the sign of the electrical charges of beams	G21K1/00	In the scheme	659
H05H9/02	Travelling-wave linear accelerators	H05H9/00	In the scheme	640
H05H7/20	Cavities; Resonators with superconductive walls	H05H7/00	In the scheme	626
H05H2007/046	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof for beam deflection	H05H7/00	In the scheme	616
G21B3/008	Fusion by pressure waves	G21B	In the scheme	595
H05H11/00	Magnetic induction accelerators, e.g. betatrons	H05H11/00	In the scheme	582
G21B1/21	Electric power supply systems, e.g. for magnet systems, switching devices, storage devices, circuit arrangements	G21B	In the scheme	571
H05H7/12	Arrangements for varying final energy of beam	H05H7/00	In the scheme	565
H05H9/048	Lepton linacs	H05H9/00	In the scheme	562
H05H2007/082	Ion sources, e.g. ECR, duoplasmatron, PIG, laser sources	H05H7/00	In the scheme	533
H05H7/06	Two-beam arrangements; Multi-beam arrangements storage rings; Electron rings	H05H7/00	In the scheme	529
H05H5/02	Details	H05H5/00	In the scheme	527
H05H2007/002	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation for modifying beam trajectory, e.g. gantries	H05H7/00	In the scheme	519
G21B1/25	Maintenance, e.g. repair or remote inspection	G21B	In the scheme	507
H05H7/14	Vacuum chambers	H05H7/00	In the scheme	445
G21B1/115	Tritium recovery	G21B	In the scheme	435
H05H5/00	Direct voltage accelerators; Accelerators using single pulses	H05H5/00	In the scheme	393
H05H5/04	Direct voltage accelerators; Accelerators using single pulses energised by electrostatic generators	H05H5/00	In the scheme	384
H05H2007/004	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation for modifying beam energy, e.g. spread out Bragg peak devices	H05H7/00	In the scheme	375
H05H2007/043	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof for beam focusing	H05H7/00	In the scheme	367
G21K1/16	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using polarising devices, e.g. for obtaining a polarised beam	G21K1/00	In the scheme	362
G21K1/065	Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diffraction, refraction or reflection, e.g. monochromators using refraction, e.g. Tomie lenses	G21K1/00	In the scheme	355
H05H2007/022	Pulsed systems	H05H7/00	In the scheme	344
H05H2007/048	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof for modifying beam trajectory, e.g. gantry systems	H05H7/00	In the scheme	344
H05H2007/041	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof for beam bunching, e.g. undulators	H05H7/00	In the scheme	337
H05H2007/008	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation for measuring beam parameters	H05H7/00	In the scheme	325
H05H2007/045	Magnet systems, e.g. undulators, wigglers; Energisation thereof for beam bending	H05H7/00	In the scheme	308
H05H2007/027	Microwave systems	H05H7/00	In the scheme	303
H05H13/10	Accelerators comprising one or more linear accelerating sections and bending magnets or the like to return the charged particles in a trajectory parallel to the first accelerating section, e.g. microtrons or rhodotrons	H05H13/00	In the scheme	282
H05H5/06	Multistage accelerators	H05H5/00	In the scheme	270
G21K1/006	Retired code	G21K1/00	Retired, by main group	256
H05H2007/227	Details of linear accelerators, e.g. drift tubes power coupling, e.g. coupling loops	H05H7/00	In the scheme	255
H05H2007/007	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation for focusing the beam to irradiation target	H05H7/00	In the scheme	252
G21B3/004	Catalyzed fusion, e.g. muon-catalyzed fusion	G21B	In the scheme	237
G21B1/055	Stellarators	G21B	In the scheme	233
H05H2007/222	Details of linear accelerators, e.g. drift tubes drift tubes	H05H7/00	In the scheme	225
H05H2007/084	Electron sources	H05H7/00	In the scheme	207
H05H2007/005	Arrangements for beam delivery or irradiation for modifying beam emittance, e.g. stochastic cooling devices, stripper foils	H05H7/00	In the scheme	201
G21B1/01	Hybrid fission-fusion nuclear reactors	G21B	In the scheme	183
H05H9/041	Hadron linacs	H05H9/00	In the scheme	175
H05H2007/122	Arrangements for varying final energy of beam by electromagnetic means, e.g. RF cavities	H05H7/00	In the scheme	174
H05H2007/225	Details of linear accelerators, e.g. drift tubes coupled cavities arrangements	H05H7/00	In the scheme	172
H05H9/042	Drift tube LINACS	H05H9/00	In the scheme	164
G21K1/12	Resonant absorbers or driving arrangements therefor, e.g. for Moessbauer-effect devices	G21K1/00	In the scheme	160
H05H2007/087	Arrangements for injecting particles into orbits by magnetic means	H05H7/00	In the scheme	148
H05H2007/081	Sources	H05H7/00	In the scheme	139
H05H5/03	Accelerating tubes	H05H5/00	In the scheme	134
H05H11/04	Biased betatrons	H05H11/00	In the scheme	130
H05H9/045	Radio frequency quadrupoles	H05H9/00	In the scheme	130
G21K1/003	Retired code	G21K1/00	Retired, by main group	129
H05H2007/125	Arrangements for varying final energy of beam by mechanical means, e.g. stripping foils	H05H7/00	In the scheme	125
H05H5/045	High voltage cascades, e.g. Greinacher cascade	H05H5/00	In the scheme	118
H05H5/063	Tandems	H05H5/00	In the scheme	106
H05H9/005	Dielectric wall accelerators	H05H9/00	In the scheme	90
H05H7/16	Vacuum chambers of the waveguide type	H05H7/00	In the scheme	87
H05H9/044	Coupling cavity LINACS, e.g. side coupled	H05H9/00	In the scheme	84
H05H11/02	Air-cored betatrons	H05H11/00	In the scheme	61
H05H9/047	Hybrid systems	H05H9/00	In the scheme	59
H05H2007/088	Arrangements for injecting particles into orbits by mechanical means, e.g. stripping foils	H05H7/00	In the scheme	57
H05H13/08	Alternating-gradient magnetic resonance accelerators	H05H13/00	In the scheme	56
H05H5/047	Pulsed generators	H05H5/00	In the scheme	56
H05H5/08	Particle accelerators using step-up transformers, e.g. resonance transformers	H05H5/00	In the scheme	38
H05H2007/085	Arrangements for injecting particles into orbits by electrostatic means	H05H7/00	In the scheme	35
H05H2007/065	Multi-beam merging, e.g. funneling	H05H7/00	In the scheme	32
H05H5/066	Onion-like structures	H05H5/00	In the scheme	31
H05H13/06	Air-cored magnetic resonance accelerators	H05H13/00	In the scheme	21
H05H13/085	Fixed-field alternating gradient accelerators [FFAG]	H05H13/00	In the scheme	15
H05H2007/127	Arrangements for varying final energy of beam by emittance variation, e.g. stochastic cooling	H05H7/00	In the scheme	12

Match: Direct

The capability is itself a technology or a kind of physical system, and the classification names it. Covers accelerators and fusion devices only; observatories and polar stations have no entry, research reactors sit in G21C and supercomputing with data centres. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Research & Scientific Facilities

Year by year

Volume

Share by country

Country leaderboard

Ten largest

Applicants

Global

United States

Japan

Germany

China

United Kingdom

Similar capabilities

Crosswalk

Other capabilities in Social Infrastructure