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The BCI Briefing

PatentsWhat is being protected?

What the field is trying to protect

A patent is filed years before a product exists, so filings show where companies and research groups are putting technical effort: into electrodes and the operation that places them, into the electronics, the seal and the radio of an implant, into decoding and stimulation. This page reads those filings by layer, by who files and by when.

7,312
patent families counted as BCI
23
profiled organisations with a portfolio
49%
include a granted member, of 744 read in full

How far each family was read

Placed by rule from title, abstract and classification
7,312
Full record read every member, office and grant
744
Claims read by an editor and written up as a claim note
none yet

Across the stack

An interface is a stack of problems, each with its own engineering. Most families concern decoding (3,623) and interface and electrodes (2,779); fewest concern power (136). Select a layer for what its filings are about and why that layer is worth protecting.

In the bodyFamilies · change 2018–2020 to 2021–2023

At the user7,312 families in all. A family can concern several layers, so the rows add to more than that.

Layer 0950% of families

Decoding

What filings concern
Inferring intent from neural activity: decoders for movement, speech, handwriting and selection, and how they are trained and recalibrated.
Why it is worth protecting
This is the step that turns brain activity into a command or a word. Its accuracy and speed are what a user experiences.
The problem behind it
Accuracy that holds over months without frequent recalibration, for more than one user and one task.

Themes in this layer

  • Neural decoding3,446
  • Motor decoding980
  • Speech decoding165

Most families identified

  • Tianjin University128
  • Hangzhou Dianzi University81
  • South China University of Technology77
  • Korea University Research and Business Foundation76
  • Zhejiang University50
  • Shanghai Shuli Intelligent Tech Co Ltd50

Representative families

Fig. 01 — Patent families by layer of the interfaceCounts are of families identified, not a measure of quality or of the breadth of any claim. Themes are read from titles, abstracts and classification codes.

Over time

Each family is placed in the year it was first filed anywhere, its earliest priority, and counted once however many offices later published it. Of the families first filed from 2013 to 2023, the most in one year were 855, in 2023.

Recent years are incomplete. Applications are published about eighteen months after they are first filed, so families first filed after 2023 are still appearing. A lower bar there is not a decline.

050010001500STILL FILLING IN2013: 73 families'132014: 132 families2015: 194 families'152016: 285 families2017: 380 families'172018: 462 families2019: 412 families'192020: 514 families2021: 642 families'212022: 766 families2023: 855 families'232024: 943 families, incomplete2025: 1009 families, incomplete'252026: 513 families, incomplete
Fig. 02 — New patent families by year of first filing4,715 families first filed 2013 to 2023. Hatched years are incomplete.

The same series, layer by layer

  • 2013: 3 families2014: 4 families2015: 5 families2016: 4 families2017: 13 families2018: 14 families2019: 23 families2020: 17 families2021: 25 families2022: 62 families2023: 66 families2024: 46 families, incomplete2025: 47 families, incomplete2026: 15 families, incomplete

    Surgical access354

  • 2013: 38 families2014: 59 families2015: 64 families2016: 117 families2017: 159 families2018: 136 families2019: 142 families2020: 172 families2021: 259 families2022: 342 families2023: 331 families2024: 358 families, incomplete2025: 343 families, incomplete2026: 157 families, incomplete

    Interface and electrodes2,779

  • 2013: 6 families2014: 7 families2015: 17 families2016: 31 families2017: 30 families2018: 39 families2019: 30 families2020: 42 families2021: 76 families2022: 77 families2023: 85 families2024: 102 families, incomplete2025: 78 families, incomplete2026: 35 families, incomplete

    Signal acquisition661

  • 2013: 2 families2014: 7 families2015: 15 families2016: 19 families2017: 19 families2018: 14 families2019: 22 families2020: 20 families2021: 35 families2022: 62 families2023: 76 families2024: 54 families, incomplete2025: 52 families, incomplete2026: 19 families, incomplete

    Implant electronics425

  • 2013: 7 families2014: 7 families2015: 11 families2016: 13 families2017: 16 families2018: 26 families2019: 23 families2020: 25 families2021: 35 families2022: 42 families2023: 49 families2024: 46 families, incomplete2025: 37 families, incomplete2026: 16 families, incomplete

    Packaging370

  • 2013: 2 families2014: 4 families2015: 4 families2016: 8 families2017: 7 families2018: 3 families2019: 7 families2020: 14 families2021: 16 families2022: 16 families2023: 21 families2024: 12 families, incomplete2025: 8 families, incomplete2026: 6 families, incomplete

    Power136

  • 2013: 6 families2014: 9 families2015: 15 families2016: 22 families2017: 33 families2018: 26 families2019: 34 families2020: 29 families2021: 43 families2022: 45 families2023: 39 families2024: 31 families, incomplete2025: 40 families, incomplete2026: 13 families, incomplete

    Telemetry408

  • 2013: 16 families2014: 21 families2015: 42 families2016: 63 families2017: 122 families2018: 125 families2019: 122 families2020: 171 families2021: 218 families2022: 227 families2023: 298 families2024: 332 families, incomplete2025: 362 families, incomplete2026: 184 families, incomplete

    Signal processing2,326

  • 2013: 20 families2014: 48 families2015: 65 families2016: 110 families2017: 143 families2018: 178 families2019: 174 families2020: 254 families2021: 333 families2022: 373 families2023: 449 families2024: 511 families, incomplete2025: 623 families, incomplete2026: 329 families, incomplete

    Decoding3,623

  • 2013: 23 families2014: 35 families2015: 44 families2016: 65 families2017: 75 families2018: 83 families2019: 102 families2020: 108 families2021: 144 families2022: 174 families2023: 172 families2024: 206 families, incomplete2025: 179 families, incomplete2026: 92 families, incomplete

    Stimulation1,577

  • 2013: 6 families2014: 15 families2015: 13 families2016: 44 families2017: 60 families2018: 47 families2019: 61 families2020: 85 families2021: 78 families2022: 98 families2023: 95 families2024: 96 families, incomplete2025: 121 families, incomplete2026: 76 families, incomplete

    Application903

Each small chart has its own scale, so shapes can be compared and heights cannot. Hatched bars are the incomplete years.

By organisation

Is a portfolio broad, or built around one layer? The strip beside each organisation shows where its families sit in the stack, darker where there are more. It compares what was filed, not how strong a portfolio is.

OrganisationFamiliesFirst filedSince 2021GrantedAcross the stack
Neuracle8220166025 of 82
NeuroXess6520206138 of 65
StairMed4620224613 of 46
Medtronic4020051529 of 39
Neuralink3120182124 of 31
Precision Neuroscience282016258 of 28
Synchron2820112011 of 28
CorTec272006324 of 27
NeuCyber NeuroTech272024275 of 27
BCIFlex2420222422 of 24
BrainCo182017109 of 18
Blackrock Neurotech14200993 of 14
Cochlear13201676 of 13
Gbrain13201896 of 13
Kandu13201386 of 13
Paradromics132016410 of 13
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics122020115 of 12
Cognixion11201772 of 11
Science Corporation4202342 of 4
Axem Neurotechnology3201811 of 3
Axoft3202330 of 3
JiMED3201623 of 3
Motif Neurotech3202530 of 3
Fig. 03 — Portfolios of profiled organisationsFamilies counted as BCI, by organisation. “Granted” counts families with a granted member among those whose full record was read. Open an organisation for its families.

Who files most

The applicants with the most families identified, whether or not they have a profile here, each with the theme its families most often carry.

Most active by identified families. Not a ranking of innovation or of the strength of anyone’s rights. The small line under a name is the applicant as the patent offices’ database registers it; where there is none, the name shown is the registered one.

  1. Tianjin UniversityChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV TIANJIN176
  2. Hangzhou Dianzi UniversityChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV HANGZHOU DIANZI125
  3. South China University of TechnologyChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV SOUTH CHINA TECH100
  4. Korea University Research and Business FoundationSouth Korea · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV KOREA RES & BUS FOUND88
  5. NeuracleChina · mostly electrodes and arraysRegistered as NEURACLE TECH CHANGZHOU CO LTD82
  6. Zhejiang UniversityChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV ZHEJIANG81
  7. Tsinghua UniversityChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV TSINGHUA75
  8. Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.China · mostly signal processing70
  9. NeuroXessChina · mostly electrodes and arraysRegistered as SHANGHAI NAOHU TECH CO LTD65
  10. Xi’an Jiaotong UniversityChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV XI AN JIAOTONG64
  11. Shanghai Shuli Intelligent Tech Co Ltdmostly neural decoding59
  12. Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesChina · mostly neural decodingRegistered as SHENZHEN INST OF ADV TECH CAS55
  13. Beihang Universitymostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV BEIHANG55
  14. Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunicationsmostly neural decodingRegistered as UNIV CHONGQING POSTS & TELECOM53

Where inventions are first filed

The office of a family’s earliest priority: where the invention was filed first. That is usually the applicant’s home office, but it is not the applicant’s address, and it is not where protection was later sought.

Where protection was sought is known for the 744 families whose full record has been read: 164 of them were published in more than one country, and 368 include a granted member.

  • China5,14370%
  • United States1,19616%
  • South Korea4726%
  • European Patent Office981%
  • Japan881%
  • Germany451%
  • France401%
  • Australia340%
  • United Kingdom330%
  • 31 other offices1632%
Fig. 04 — Counted families by office of first filingFirst filing, not applicant address and not the countries a family was later extended to.

Families to read

171 families have a page here: the representative filings of each profiled organisation and of each layer. Each page says what the family concerns, where it was filed and what was granted, and links to the record in Espacenet.

How to read this

The BCI Briefing describes patents as technical and editorial information. Nothing here is legal advice, an opinion on what a patent covers or whether it is valid, or a freedom-to-operate analysis.

A filing is not a product
A patent family shows that someone sought protection for an idea. It does not show that the device was built, that the company uses it, that a patent was or will be granted, or that anything works in people.
What is counted
One family is one invention, counted once in the year it was first filed. 7,312 families are counted as BCI; 951 more concern neighbouring neural technology and are kept apart, and 901 are uncertain and uncounted.
How families are found
Through the EPO's Open Patent Services: by the applicants the site profiles, by the classification groups that are about the field, and by the field's wording and the wording of its hardware. Published rules then decide what is counted.
What themes mean
Layers and themes are read from a family's title, abstract and classification codes. They say what a filing is about. They are not a reading of its claims, which is what defines legal scope.
How far each was read
All 7,312 counted families were placed by rule, from the title, abstract and classification a search returns. For 744 of them the full family record was read as well: every member, office and grant. An editor reads claims one family at a time and writes a claim note; none is published yet. A count on this page is a count of the first kind.
Who filed
An applicant with a profile here is shown under that name, and the most frequent others under their usual English name, each with the name as registered beside it. Every other applicant is named as the patent offices' database records it, abbreviations and transliterations included. An applicant is not always the present owner: rights are assigned, companies are renamed, and universities license. Where offices recorded an owner, a family's page says so.
Granted
“Granted” means an office published a grant for a member of the family. It does not mean the patent is in force. Whether a family has a grant is certain only for the 744 whose full record has been read, and shares are taken over those. For 133 more a granted publication turned up in a search; they are marked as granted and left out of the shares.

Last read from the EPO on 7 Oct 2026. Field-wide searches cover documents published from 2015. Full method and limits