G01N 21/956
Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects
Official title: Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects {(contactless testing of electronic circuits G01R31/308; testing currency G07D; manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)}
G01N21/956 (Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects) appears on 3,839 US grants and 3,751 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in G01N- Granted patents
- 3,839
- Published applications
- 3,751
- Assignees
- 997
- Inventors
- 6,708
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 5 | 0 |
| 1977 | 10 | 0 |
| 1978 | 2 | 0 |
| 1979 | 5 | 0 |
| 1980 | 7 | 0 |
| 1981 | 7 | 0 |
| 1982 | 6 | 0 |
| 1983 | 3 | 0 |
| 1984 | 5 | 0 |
| 1985 | 11 | 0 |
| 1986 | 17 | 0 |
| 1987 | 31 | 0 |
| 1988 | 22 | 0 |
| 1989 | 25 | 0 |
| 1990 | 27 | 0 |
| 1991 | 31 | 0 |
| 1992 | 35 | 0 |
| 1993 | 21 | 0 |
| 1994 | 20 | 0 |
| 1995 | 26 | 0 |
| 1996 | 25 | 0 |
| 1997 | 26 | 0 |
| 1998 | 49 | 0 |
| 1999 | 27 | 0 |
| 2000 | 40 | 0 |
| 2001 | 54 | 33 |
| 2002 | 61 | 123 |
| 2003 | 111 | 127 |
| 2004 | 118 | 155 |
| 2005 | 117 | 147 |
| 2006 | 132 | 162 |
| 2007 | 121 | 155 |
| 2008 | 143 | 165 |
| 2009 | 123 | 145 |
| 2010 | 154 | 137 |
| 2011 | 110 | 135 |
| 2012 | 123 | 140 |
| 2013 | 102 | 151 |
| 2014 | 136 | 140 |
| 2015 | 131 | 160 |
| 2016 | 133 | 164 |
| 2017 | 163 | 132 |
| 2018 | 142 | 164 |
| 2019 | 198 | 219 |
| 2020 | 213 | 194 |
| 2021 | 179 | 157 |
| 2022 | 124 | 162 |
| 2023 | 138 | 138 |
| 2024 | 126 | 128 |
| 2025 | 124 | 116 |
| 2026 | 80 | 102 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
- G01N 21/95607Using a comparative method1,120
- G01N 2021/95676Masks, reticles, shadow masksIndexing code498
- G01N 21/95684Patterns showing highly reflecting parts463
- G01N 2021/95638For pcb'sIndexing code321
- G01N 21/95623Using a spatial filtering method251
- G01N 21/95692Patterns showing hole parts160
- G01N 2021/9563And suppressing pattern imagesIndexing code14
Recent patents
- Optical inspection of waterjet drilled holes6 Oct 2026US 12,754,139 B1Rtx Corporation
- Deterioration estimation system, deterioration estimation method, and recording medium6 Oct 2026US 12,754,141 B2NEC Corporation
- Optical measurement apparatus and optical measurement method29 Sep 2026US 12,748,039 B2Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Nano and microscale patterned surfaces for centering a droplet29 Sep 2026US 12,748,057 B2Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC
- Defect inspection method and defect inspection system15 Sep 2026US 12,736,480 B2Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.Ltd
- Optical inspection of waterjet drilled holes8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309636 A1Rtx Corporation
- Dark field defect inspection system and inspection method thereof8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309637 A1Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Camera-based sheet monitoring system8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309640 A1Honeywell International Inc.
- Workpiece visual inspection apparatus and method8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309646 A1Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.
- System and method for rapid inspection of printed circuit board using multiple modalities8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309776 A1Battelle Memorial Institute
Most cited
By later US patents
- Systems and methods for providing illumination in machine vision systems300US 6,624,597 B2Color Kinetics Incorporated · 2003
- Real time optical correlation system299US 5,327,286 ATexas Instruments Incorporated · 1994
- Automated photomask inspection apparatus and method277US 5,563,702 AKLA Instruments Corporation · 1996
- Inspection technique of photomask263US 6,091,845 AMicron Technology, Inc. · 2000
- Methods and systems for determining a critical dimension and a thin film characteristic of a specimen248US 6,633,831 B2KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation · 2003