Company profile · B. Braun Melsungen AG · 2014–2024
B. Braun's patent work is moving away from dialysis toward instrumented surgery.
1,450 patent families and 5,151 applications at 36 offices, filed by eight group entities including Aesculap AG. 93.4% of the families fall into medical technology.
- Data
- EPO PATSTAT Global, Spring 2026 (patstat_2026a)
- Unit
- DOCDB family, by earliest filing year
- Scope
- B. Braun group incl. Aesculap AG · patents of invention
- Queries
- 8, all published
WO 238 → 359 · EP 383 → 433 · JP 110 → 35 families, 2014–2018 → 2019–2022
- 41.8%
of the families (606) come from Aesculap AG, more than from the Melsungen headquarters (437).
Entities - 27.2%
more families a year in 2019–2022 (142.0) than in 2014–2018 (111.6).
Filing trend - 63.2%
of the families first filed 2019–2022 carry a PCT application, up from 42.7%.
Offices - 20
families on surgical robots (A61B 34/30) in 2019–2022, against 1 in 2014–2018.
Moving - 2.8%
of the families (41) have a co-applicant from outside the group.
Partners
01 · Entities
Aesculap, not the parent company, is the group's largest filer
The report covers the group: B. Braun Melsungen AG, the subsidiaries that file under a B. Braun name, and Aesculap AG, the wholly owned surgical-technology arm in Tuttlingen. Aesculap accounts for 606 of 1,450 families (41.8%), the Melsungen headquarters for 437 (30.1%), B. Braun Avitum AG, the dialysis division, for 247, and B. Braun New Ventures GmbH, the innovation unit, for 59. Aesculap records harmonise to AESCULAP AG, so a search anchored on the parent name reaches none of the 606 Aesculap families.
Patent families by B. Braun group entity, 2014–2024
Data table: families by group entity
| Filing entity (consolidated name variants) | Families | Applications | Share of 1,450 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aesculap AG (surgical technology, Tuttlingen) | 606 | 2,254 | 41.8% |
| B. Braun Melsungen AG (headquarters) | 437 | 1,552 | 30.1% |
| B. Braun Avitum AG (dialysis) | 247 | 834 | 17.0% |
| B. Braun New Ventures GmbH | 59 | 160 | 4.1% |
| B. Braun Medical (US / FR / other) | 54 | 188 | 3.7% |
| B. Braun China entities (Suzhou, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai) | 38 | 38 | 2.6% |
| B. Braun Surgical S.A. (Spain) | 21 | 111 | 1.4% |
| B. Braun Miethke GmbH | 4 | 24 | 0.3% |
| Distinct families (group total) | 1,450 | 5,151 | 100% |
Query 3 · 17.9 GBEntity rows sum to 1,466: 16 families are co-filed by two group entities and appear under both
02 · Filing trend
The group files more families a year than at the start of the decade
2014–2018
558 families, 111.6 a year. The trough is 2017 with 94.
2019–2022
568 families, 142.0 a year: 27.2% more per year than in 2014–2018. The highest complete year is 2021 with 165 families and 604 applications.
Read with care
2023 and 2024 are provisional: applications are published about 18 months after priority. The 2024 value is a lower bound. Both years are excluded from every trend statement.
Patent families by first filing year
Data table: filing trend 2014–2024
| First filing year | Patent families | Year on year | Own applications filed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 129 | — | 431 |
| 2015 | 111 | −14.0% | 474 |
| 2016 | 119 | +7.2% | 514 |
| 2017 | 94 | −21.0% | 389 |
| 2018 | 105 | +11.7% | 425 |
| 2019 | 125 | +19.0% | 480 |
| 2020 | 134 | +7.2% | 549 |
| 2021 | 165 | +23.1% | 604 |
| 2022 | 144 | −12.7% | 528 |
| 2023* | 193 | +34.0% | 483 |
| 2024* | 131 | −32.1% | 274 |
| Total | 1,450 | — | 5,151 |
Query 3 · 17.9 GB5,151 applications across 1,450 families: 3.55 own applications per family
03 · Offices
The PCT share rose from 42.7% to 63.2% of families
Germany is the most used office: 1,085 of 1,450 families (74.8%) have a DE filing, ahead of EP (996, 68.7%) and US (849, 58.6%). 737 families (50.8%) contain a WO member. Between the two complete periods the WO share rose from 42.7% to 63.2% and China from 30.8% to 39.8%. Direct national filings moved the other way: Japan from 19.7% to 6.2%, Spain from 22.2% to 12.7%, Singapore from 3.9% to 0.7%, Russia from 4.3% to none. This is consistent with the PCT route replacing direct national filings, but it is not proof of it.
Families with a filing at each office, 2014–2024
Data table: top filing offices
| Office | Families | Applications | Share of 1,450 families |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE — Germany | 1,085 | 1,085 | 74.8% |
| EP — European Patent Office | 996 | 1,070 | 68.7% |
| US — United States | 849 | 908 | 58.6% |
| WO — PCT (WIPO) | 731 | 746 | 50.4% |
| CN — China | 465 | 483 | 32.1% |
| ES — Spain | 197 | 213 | 13.6% |
| JP — Japan | 167 | 183 | 11.5% |
| AU — Australia | 71 | 91 | 4.9% |
| PL — Poland | 56 | 58 | 3.9% |
| BR — Brazil | 51 | 53 | 3.5% |
| KR — Korea | 36 | 38 | 2.5% |
| CA — Canada | 29 | 32 | 2.0% |
| SG — Singapore | 26 | 32 | 1.8% |
| RU — Russia | 24 | 25 | 1.7% |
| PT — Portugal | 20 | 22 | 1.4% |
| MX — Mexico | 19 | 20 | 1.3% |
| DK — Denmark | 18 | 20 | 1.2% |
| 19 further offices (HK, HU, IL, MY, ZA, FR, GB, TW, EA, TR, IT, CL, AT, DO, FI, NL, BE, SA, SE) | ≤ 12 each | — | — |
Query 4 · 18.2 GB36 offices in all. The WO row counts the 731 families in which a group entity is itself the PCT applicant.
Share of period families filed at each office (%)
Data table: office coverage by period
| Office | 2014–2018 families | Share of 558 | 2019–2022 families | Share of 568 | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | 431 | 77.2% | 435 | 76.6% | −0.6 |
| EP | 383 | 68.6% | 433 | 76.2% | +7.6 |
| US | 363 | 65.1% | 372 | 65.5% | +0.4 |
| WO | 238 | 42.7% | 359 | 63.2% | +20.5 |
| CN | 172 | 30.8% | 226 | 39.8% | +9.0 |
| ES | 124 | 22.2% | 72 | 12.7% | −9.5 |
| JP | 110 | 19.7% | 35 | 6.2% | −13.5 |
| AU | 27 | 4.8% | 38 | 6.7% | +1.9 |
| PL | 32 | 5.7% | 23 | 4.0% | −1.7 |
| BR | 21 | 3.8% | 30 | 5.3% | +1.5 |
| KR | 11 | 2.0% | 21 | 3.7% | +1.7 |
| SG | 22 | 3.9% | 4 | 0.7% | −3.2 |
| RU | 24 | 4.3% | 0 | 0.0% | −4.3 |
Query 4 · 18.2 GBPeriods of 558 and 568 families; both end before 2023
National-phase timing distorts the second period. A PCT application enters the national phase up to 30 months after priority, and the national application is published later still. For families first filed in 2021 or 2022 many national-phase filings are not yet in the Spring 2026 edition. The falling national shares in the 2019–2022 column are a lower bound; the rising WO share is not affected.
04 · Technology fields
93.4% of the families sit in medical technology
1,355 of 1,450 families carry the WIPO field Medical technology. The second field, Handling, reaches 135 (9.3%). All 35 fields appear somewhere in the portfolio, down to Basic communication processes with one family. Computer technology grows fastest in relative terms, from 5.4 families a year in 2014–2018 to 12.5 in 2019–2022; Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy moves from 2.0 to 7.3. Both are small bases: directional signals, not established trends.
Patent families per WIPO technology field (non-exclusive)
Data table: all 35 WIPO fields
| WIPO field | Sector | Families | 2014–2018 (per year) | 2019–2022 (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical technology | Instruments | 1,355 | 525 (105.0) | 536 (134.0) |
| Handling | Mechanical engineering | 135 | 58 (11.6) | 45 (11.3) |
| Measurement | Instruments | 112 | 42 (8.4) | 45 (11.3) |
| Computer technology | Electrical engineering | 104 | 27 (5.4) | 50 (12.5) |
| Mechanical elements | Mechanical engineering | 96 | 36 (7.2) | 41 (10.3) |
| Chemical engineering | Chemistry | 88 | 40 (8.0) | 26 (6.5) |
| Machine tools | Mechanical engineering | 53 | 21 (4.2) | 25 (6.3) |
| Engines, pumps, turbines | Mechanical engineering | 47 | 19 (3.8) | 16 (4.0) |
| Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy | Electrical engineering | 46 | 10 (2.0) | 29 (7.3) |
| Other special machines | Mechanical engineering | 46 | 19 (3.8) | 17 (4.3) |
| Pharmaceuticals | Chemistry | 33 | 12 (2.4) | 11 (2.8) |
| Control | Instruments | 32 | 10 (2.0) | 14 (3.5) |
| Audio-visual technology | Electrical engineering | 30 | 14 (2.8) | 13 (3.3) |
| Analysis of biological materials | Instruments | 28 | 13 (2.6) | 12 (3.0) |
| Environmental technology | Chemistry | 23 | 7 (1.4) | 5 (1.3) |
| Telecommunications | Electrical engineering | 22 | 9 (1.8) | 10 (2.5) |
| Digital communication | Electrical engineering | 22 | 3 (0.6) | 11 (2.8) |
| Surface technology, coating | Chemistry | 21 | 9 (1.8) | 6 (1.5) |
| Optics | Instruments | 21 | 8 (1.6) | 10 (2.5) |
| Materials, metallurgy | Chemistry | 21 | 7 (1.4) | 11 (2.8) |
| Basic materials chemistry | Chemistry | 15 | 6 (1.2) | 7 (1.8) |
| Biotechnology | Chemistry | 10 | 3 (0.6) | 4 (1.0) |
| IT methods for management | Electrical engineering | 10 | 1 (0.2) | 7 (1.8) |
| Organic fine chemistry | Chemistry | 10 | 1 (0.2) | 7 (1.8) |
| Civil engineering | Other fields | 10 | 5 (1.0) | 4 (1.0) |
| Furniture, games | Other fields | 9 | 4 (0.8) | 5 (1.3) |
| Semiconductors | Electrical engineering | 7 | 3 (0.6) | 4 (1.0) |
| Macromolecular chemistry, polymers | Chemistry | 6 | 2 (0.4) | 4 (1.0) |
| Transport | Mechanical engineering | 6 | 1 (0.2) | 3 (0.8) |
| Textile and paper machines | Mechanical engineering | 6 | 3 (0.6) | 2 (0.5) |
| Other consumer goods | Other fields | 5 | 2 (0.4) | 3 (0.8) |
| Thermal processes and apparatus | Mechanical engineering | 4 | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Food chemistry | Chemistry | 3 | 1 (0.2) | 2 (0.5) |
| Micro-structural and nano-technology | Chemistry | 2 | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.3) |
| Basic communication processes | Electrical engineering | 1 | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.3) |
Query 5 · 26.0 GBOne family can carry several fields, so the column sums above 1,450. The periods cover 5 and 4 complete years; compare the per-year values.
05 · IPC classes
A61B and A61M cover the surgical and the infusion halves of the group
A61B (Diagnosis; Surgery; Identification) appears on 692 families (47.7%) and A61M (devices for introducing media into or onto the body) on 609 (42.0%). Outside the classic medical subclasses, healthcare informatics (G16H) rises from 3.2 families a year in 2014–2018 to 12.0 in 2019–2022 and graphical data reading (G06K) from 1.2 to 5.5. Separation (B01D), the filters and membranes of dialysis, falls from 5.4 to 3.0.
Patent families per IPC subclass (non-exclusive)
Data table: IPC subclasses
| IPC subclass | Title | Families | 2014–2018 | 2019–2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A61B | Diagnosis; Surgery; Identification | 692 | 257 | 308 |
| A61M | Devices for introducing media into, or onto, the body | 609 | 252 | 208 |
| A61L | Sterilising; Materials for prostheses; Disinfection | 183 | 92 | 66 |
| A61F | Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses | 176 | 70 | 75 |
| G16H | Healthcare informatics | 103 | 16 | 48 |
| A61J | Containers for medical or pharmaceutical purposes | 101 | 35 | 36 |
| B65D | Containers for storage or transport of articles | 96 | 48 | 32 |
| B01D | Separation | 59 | 27 | 12 |
| G01N | Investigating or analysing materials | 57 | 25 | 19 |
| G06F | Electric digital data processing | 51 | 20 | 17 |
| F04B | Positive-displacement machines for liquids; Pumps | 40 | 17 | 12 |
| B29C | Shaping or joining of plastics | 32 | 16 | 11 |
| F16L | Pipes; Joints or fittings for pipes | 32 | 10 | 17 |
| A61K | Preparations for medical, dental or toiletry purposes | 31 | 12 | 9 |
| G06K | Graphical data reading; Presentation of data | 31 | 6 | 22 |
| F16K | Valves; Taps; Cocks | 27 | 18 | 8 |
| F16B | Devices for fastening or securing constructional elements | 26 | 6 | 12 |
| A61C | Dentistry; Oral or dental hygiene | 25 | 5 | 16 |
| B25J | Manipulators; Chambers with manipulation devices | 24 | 2 | 9 |
| B65B | Machines or methods for packaging articles | 22 | 11 | 4 |
| A61P | Specific therapeutic activity of chemical compounds | 21 | 7 | 7 |
| G06T | Image data processing or generation | 20 | 3 | 9 |
| B01J | Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis | 17 | 7 | 9 |
| B33Y | Additive manufacturing | 17 | 4 | 8 |
| G01M | Testing static or dynamic balance of machines | 17 | 4 | 5 |
| H01R | Electrically-conductive connections | 16 | 2 | 9 |
| G02B | Optical elements, systems or apparatus | 16 | 7 | 7 |
| F04C | Rotary-piston positive-displacement machines | 16 | 5 | 4 |
| G01L | Measuring force, stress, torque, work | 16 | 3 | 11 |
| H04L | Transmission of digital information | 15 | 1 | 6 |
Query 5 · 26.0 GBEvery IPC symbol from every family member; counts sum well above 1,450
The 25 largest IPC main groups: surgical instruments on the A61B side, dialysis and infusion on the A61M side
| IPC main group | Title | Families |
|---|---|---|
| A61B 17/00 | Surgical instruments, devices or methods | 204 |
| A61M 1/16 | Blood treatment with membranes | 181 |
| A61M 1/14 | Dialysis systems; Artificial kidneys; Blood oxygenators | 132 |
| A61B 90/00 | Instruments or accessories for surgery or diagnosis | 130 |
| A61M 5/142 | Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps | 110 |
| A61M 1/36 | Treatment of blood in a by-pass of the natural circulation | 109 |
| A61M 5/14 | Infusion devices; Blood infusion | 102 |
| A61M 25/00 | Catheters; Hollow probes | 97 |
| A61L 2/26 | Sterilising accessories | 89 |
| A61B 50/30 | Containers for packaging or sterilising surgical instruments | 89 |
| A61F 2/46 | Special tools for implanting artificial joints | 86 |
| A61F 2/30 | Joint prostheses | 84 |
| A61B 17/16 | Instruments for osteoclasis; Drills | 81 |
| A61B 34/20 | Surgical navigation systems; Tracking devices | 81 |
| A61M 25/06 | Body-piercing guide needles | 79 |
| A61B 17/56 | Surgical instruments for treatment of bones | 78 |
| A61M 39/10 | Tube connectors or tube couplings | 77 |
| A61M 1/00 | Suction or pumping devices for medical purposes | 75 |
| A61M 5/168 | Means for controlling media flow to the body | 73 |
| A61F 2/38 | Prostheses for elbows or knees | 69 |
| A61B 17/70 | Spinal positioners or stabilisers | 67 |
| A61B 50/00 | Containers, covers or holders for medical instruments | 58 |
| A61B 17/28 | Surgical forceps | 52 |
| A61M 5/32 | Needles; Details of needles | 47 |
| A61B 34/30 | Surgical robots | 47 |
Query 5 · 26.0 GBRetired symbols are joined with an outer join; none reached the reporting threshold
06 · Grants
72.7% of EP applications are granted, 5.9% of German ones
At the offices that examine substantively, the group reaches 72.7% at the EPO (459 of 631 applications), 75.1% in the US (443 of 590) and 79.5% in Japan (105 of 132). China is lower at 46.1% (131 of 284). Only 38 of 640 DE applications (5.9%) are recorded as granted, although DE is the most frequent filing in the portfolio (1,085 families). This fits a German priority filing pursued through EP or PCT; the data show the outcome, not the intention. Across the whole period 747 of 1,450 families (51.5%) contain a granted member, and 1,988 of 5,151 applications (38.6%) are granted.
Grant rate by office, applications filed 2014–2020 (%)
Data table: grant rate by office
| Office | Applications | Granted | Grant rate | Examination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE — Germany | 640 | 38 | 5.9% | substantive on request |
| EP — European Patent Office | 631 | 459 | 72.7% | substantive |
| US — United States | 590 | 443 | 75.1% | substantive |
| CN — China | 284 | 131 | 46.1% | substantive |
| ES — Spain | 180 | 180 | 100.0% | registration / partial |
| JP — Japan | 132 | 105 | 79.5% | substantive |
| AU — Australia | 67 | 47 | 70.1% | substantive |
| PL — Poland | 46 | 46 | 100.0% | registration / partial |
| BR — Brazil | 43 | 22 | 51.2% | substantive |
| SG — Singapore | 32 | 0 | n/a | grant data not covered |
| RU — Russia | 25 | 25 | 100.0% | registration / partial |
| KR — Korea | 23 | 13 | 56.5% | substantive |
| DK — Denmark | 20 | 20 | 100.0% | registration / partial |
| PT — Portugal | 20 | 20 | 100.0% | registration / partial |
| CA — Canada | 20 | 9 | 45.0% | substantive |
Query 4 · 18.2 GBGrey: offices that register rather than examine. Offices with fewer than 20 applications omitted. The Examination column is a reading aid, not a PATSTAT value.
Pendency and coverage. Later filings are still in examination, so the cohort ends in 2020. Registration offices (grey) are not comparable with examining offices. Singapore's 0 of 32 reflects missing grant data, not refusals.
07 · Partners
Only 41 families, 2.8%, have a co-applicant outside the group
62 of 1,450 families (4.3%) carry more than one applicant on the record. 41 families have at least one applicant outside the group, spread over 57 distinct names after normalisation, and 16 families are co-filed by two group entities. The 16 internal co-filings are not counted as collaboration. The strongest external link is Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on 14 families, more than three times any other partner. With ICFO (4) and ICREA (3), the Barcelona research cluster holds most named academic co-filings; the group's Spanish entity B. Braun Surgical S.A. has 21 families. Industrial partners are few: Philips and Nanjing Nuoyuan Medical Devices with 3 each.
External co-applicants with 2 or more shared families
| Co-applicant | Country | Type | Shared families |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya | ES | University | 14 |
| Fundació Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO) | ES | Research | 4 |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | NL | Company | 3 |
| Nanjing Nuoyuan Medical Devices Co., Ltd. | CN | Company | 3 |
| Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) | ES | Research | 3 |
| Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen | DE | University | 2 |
| IHI Ionbond AG | CH | Company | 2 |
| Brunetti, Bruce | US | Individual | 2 |
| Co-applicant records in non-Latin script (not resolved) | — | — | 5 |
Query 6 · 20.9 GBNames merged by normalising case, accents and punctuation (the Barcelona university appears under five spellings). 48 further organisations appear on one family each.
Self-inclusion check. Every group person record, and any name containing Braun, Aesculap, 贝朗, 蛇牌 or ブラウン, is removed from the partner side. No group entity appears in the table.
08 · Family size
288 families never leave a single office; 589 reach five or more
The 1,450 families contain 5,851 applications, including members filed by other applicants, against the 5,151 filed by the group: 4.04 members per family, median 4. The distribution has two peaks. 288 families (19.9%) stay at one office, the largest single bucket; a second concentration sits at five and six members, and 589 families (40.6%) reach five or more. Seven families reach 15 or more members. Family size is a rough proxy for what a company spends on an invention. A fifth of the portfolio staying at one filing fits the low German grant rate: a share of the DE priority filings is never taken further.
Patent families by number of applications in the family
Data table: family size
| Applications in the family | Families | Share | Cumulative share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 288 | 19.9% | 19.9% |
| 2 | 228 | 15.7% | 35.6% |
| 3 | 161 | 11.1% | 46.7% |
| 4 | 184 | 12.7% | 59.4% |
| 5 | 200 | 13.8% | 73.2% |
| 6 | 190 | 13.1% | 86.3% |
| 7 | 102 | 7.0% | 93.3% |
| 8 | 45 | 3.1% | 96.4% |
| 9 | 17 | 1.2% | 97.6% |
| 10 | 9 | 0.6% | 98.2% |
| 11 | 7 | 0.5% | 98.7% |
| 12 | 4 | 0.3% | 99.0% |
| 13 | 3 | 0.2% | 99.2% |
| 14 | 5 | 0.3% | 99.5% |
| 15+ | 7 | 0.5% | 100.0% |
| All families | 1,450 | 100% | — |
Query 4 · 18.2 GBEvery application in the DOCDB family, including other applicants and filings outside 2014–2024
09 · Where it is moving
Surgical robots rose from 1 family to 20 while dialysis membranes declined
Growing fastest, in families a year: surgical robots (A61B 34/30), from 1 family in all of 2014–2018 to 20 in 2019–2022; bone drills (A61B 17/16), 3.2 to 13.3; knee and elbow prostheses (A61F 2/38), 2.0 to 10.0; pressure infusion pumps (A61M 5/142), 4.0 to 12.3. Shrinking: dialysis membranes (A61M 1/16), 17.6 to 12.0 (−32%); dialysis systems (A61M 1/14), 12.2 to 8.8 (−28%); blood treatment in a by-pass (A61M 1/36), 11.8 to 8.0 (−32%); guide needles (A61M 25/06), 9.6 to 6.0 (−38%). With G16H at 3.2 to 12.0 and manipulators (B25J) at 0.4 to 2.3, R&D weight shifts from fluid handling toward instrumented, navigated and software-supported surgery.
Families per year per IPC main group, 2014–2018 against 2019–2022
Data table: main groups by period
| IPC main group | Direction | Title | 2014–2018 | per year | 2019–2022 | per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A61B 34/30 | Rising | Surgical robots | 1 | 0.2 | 20 | 5.0 |
| A61B 17/16 | Rising | Instruments for osteoclasis; Drills | 16 | 3.2 | 53 | 13.3 |
| A61F 2/38 | Rising | Prostheses for elbows or knees | 10 | 2.0 | 40 | 10.0 |
| A61M 5/142 | Rising | Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps | 20 | 4.0 | 49 | 12.3 |
| A61B 90/98 | Rising | Identification using electromagnetic means | 7 | 1.4 | 30 | 7.5 |
| A61F 2/46 | Rising | Special tools for implanting artificial joints | 24 | 4.8 | 41 | 10.3 |
| A61M 5/145 | Rising | Infusion using pressurised reservoirs | 8 | 1.6 | 26 | 6.5 |
| A61B 17/3201 | Rising | Surgical scissors | 11 | 2.2 | 25 | 6.3 |
| A61B 17/15 | Rising | Guides for surgical drills | 10 | 2.0 | 23 | 5.8 |
| A61B 90/90 | Rising | Identification means for patients or instruments | 11 | 2.2 | 21 | 5.3 |
| A61B 34/10 | Rising | Computer-aided planning, simulation, modelling | 5 | 1.0 | 17 | 4.3 |
| A61B 17/94 | Rising | Endoscopic surgical instruments | 3 | 0.6 | 14 | 3.5 |
| G16H 40/40 | Rising | Management of medical equipment or devices | 1 | 0.2 | 13 | 3.3 |
| A61M 1/16 | Falling | Blood treatment with membranes | 88 | 17.6 | 48 | 12.0 |
| A61M 1/14 | Falling | Dialysis systems; Artificial kidneys | 61 | 12.2 | 35 | 8.8 |
| A61M 1/36 | Falling | Blood treatment in a by-pass of the circulation | 59 | 11.8 | 32 | 8.0 |
| A61M 25/06 | Falling | Body-piercing guide needles | 48 | 9.6 | 24 | 6.0 |
| A61B 17/70 | Falling | Spinal positioners or stabilisers | 37 | 7.4 | 17 | 4.3 |
| A61M 39/24 | Falling | Check- or non-return valves | 23 | 4.6 | 12 | 3.0 |
| A61B 17/88 | Falling | Means for implanting or extracting internal fixations | 22 | 4.4 | 7 | 1.8 |
| A61M 1/34 | Falling | Filtering material out of the blood | 22 | 4.4 | 14 | 3.5 |
| A61M 39/28 | Falling | Clamping means for flexible tubes | 14 | 2.8 | 6 | 1.5 |
| A61B 50/30 | Falling | Containers for packaging or sterilising instruments | 47 | 9.4 | 34 | 8.5 |
Query 5 · 26.0 GB5 and 4 complete years; only per-year values compare. Groups with a base below 10 families get absolute counts, not growth rates. Rows are not additive.
10 · Inventors
Baden-Württemberg, Aesculap's home, ahead of Hessen
1,181 of 1,449 families with inventor data (81.5%) name at least one German inventor. Malaysia is second with 70 families, ahead of the United States (67), Switzerland (61) and France (46). Inside Germany the geocoded EP applications put Baden-Württemberg ahead of Hessen, 426 families against 325. Tuttlingen, Aesculap's site, is in Baden-Württemberg; the Melsungen headquarters is in Hessen. The regional split mirrors the entity split: the surgical business generates more families than the parent company.
Families with at least one inventor in the country
Data table: inventor countries
| Country | Families with an inventor there | Share of 1,449 |
|---|---|---|
| DE — Germany | 1,181 | 81.5% |
| MY — Malaysia | 70 | 4.8% |
| US — United States | 67 | 4.6% |
| CH — Switzerland | 61 | 4.2% |
| FR — France | 46 | 3.2% |
| ES — Spain | 26 | 1.8% |
| HU — Hungary | 20 | 1.4% |
| IT — Italy | 10 | 0.7% |
| PL — Poland | 9 | 0.6% |
| GB — United Kingdom | 8 | 0.6% |
| AT — Austria | 5 | 0.3% |
| IE — Ireland | 4 | 0.3% |
| SG, NL, CA, AU | 3 each | 0.2% each |
| (no country code on the inventor record) | 708 | 48.9% |
Query 6 · 20.9 GBCountry counts are lower bounds
Families by German federal state of the inventor, EP applications
Data table: German regions
| NUTS-1 | Federal state | Families |
|---|---|---|
| DE1 | Baden-Württemberg | 426 |
| DE7 | Hessen | 325 |
| DE9 | Niedersachsen | 78 |
| DE2 | Bayern | 34 |
| DED | Sachsen | 29 |
| DEA | Nordrhein-Westfalen | 28 |
| DE3 | Berlin | 17 |
| DEG | Thüringen | 12 |
| DE4 | Brandenburg | 6 |
| DEB | Rheinland-Pfalz | 4 |
| DEF | Schleswig-Holstein | 4 |
| DE6 | Hamburg | 3 |
Query 6 · 20.9 GBStates with fewer than 3 families omitted. 5,652 distinct inventor records in the portfolio.
Coverage of the location data. 708 families contain at least one inventor record with no country code, so country counts are lower bounds. NUTS geocoding exists only for EP applications: 979 of the 1,070 EP applications (91.5%) carry a NUTS code at level 3 or 4; German national applications have none. A family with inventors in several countries or regions counts in each.
11 · How we counted
How the numbers were counted
- One family, one countA DOCDB family is dated by the earliest filing year over all its members, including members before 2014 and members of other applicants, and only then filtered to 2014–2024. A family first filed in 2012 and extended in 2015 is outside the report. The yearly figures add up to 1,450.
- The group, by filing nameThe scope is built on person_name in the applicant role: B. Braun names, Aesculap AG, and office-side renderings such as 贝朗, 蛇牌, ベー・ブラウン・メルズンゲン and ビー．ブラウン アビタム. Discovery searched Braun or Aesculap anywhere in the name and returned 145 name records with a family in the period, each reviewed.
- Patents of inventionAll queries set ipr_type = 'PI'. Grant rates are per office on the 2014–2020 filing cohort; the PCT rate counts families with any WO member (737 of 1,450, 50.8%).
- Every breakdown overlapsClasses and fields come from all symbols on all members; offices, entities (1,466 against 1,450) and inventor regions also sum above the total. No pie charts for that reason.
Checks and limits
- Group boundary by filing nameCompanies acquired by B. Braun that kept filing under their previous name are not included: Christoph Miethke GmbH & Co. KG (10 families) and Transcoject GmbH (4), 14 families or 0.97% of the portfolio, none of them already in scope. PATSTAT records no ownership link and no acquisition date. Filings as B. Braun Miethke GmbH are included (4 families).
- Name-stem companies excludedBraun GmbH / Braun AG and De'Longhi Braun Household (Kronberg), Hartmann & Braun, The Braun Corporation, Braun Elevator, TricorBraun, Asea Braun Boveri, Brauns-Heitmann, the Braunkohle and Braunschweig name families, individual inventors named Braun, and Aesculapius Farmaceutici / Aesculapius Limited.
- han_name cross-check, both directionsA han_name scope returns 1,447 families against 1,450: it adds 0 (no foreign organisation) and misses 3, the non-Latin renderings that carry themselves as their own han_name. The hazard here is grouping: Aesculap harmonises to AESCULAP AG.
- Utility models and designs excluded136 utility-model-only and 55 design-only families, 191 in all, fall outside the report. A further 110 families in scope carry B. Braun utility-model applications alongside patent applications; those families are in, their utility-model members are not counted separately.
- 2023 and 2024 are incompleteApplications are normally published 18 months after priority. Both years are shown and excluded from every trend statement.
- National-phase timingPCT applications enter the national phase up to 30 months after priority, so national office counts for families first filed in 2021–2022 are lower bounds.
- Small bases read as directionField and group changes on small bases are directional signals. Groups with fewer than 10 families in the first period are reported as counts, not growth rates.
- Grant data coverageGrant rates use the 2014–2020 filing cohort because applications filed from 2021 are still in examination. Offices that register rather than examine (ES until the 2017 reform, PL, PT, DK, RU in this cohort) show rates at or near 100% and are not comparable with examining offices. Singapore shows 0 granted of 32 applications: missing grant information in the source, not refusals. Status comes from the granted flag; WO is excluded because the PCT does not grant.
- Co-applicant countsThe 62, 41 and 16 families come from the nb_applicants flag, the applicant records and the entity grouping respectively, and are not additive. Co-applicant records in non-Latin script cannot be merged by the name normalisation; they are in the totals of 41 families and 57 organisations but not resolved to a name.
- Inventor location is partial708 families contain an inventor record without a country code; NUTS data exist only for EP applications (979 of 1,070, 91.5%) and not for German national filings.
- No classification-scope checks neededThe set comes from applicant names, not a code list, so subtree expansion, predecessor union and retired symbols do not apply. Classes only describe the set.
- No external benchmarkAll comparisons are internal to the portfolio. No claim is made about B. Braun's position against other medical-technology companies.
- EditionsRecomputed on 15 August 2026 against PATSTAT Spring 2026 (patstat-mtc.patstat_2026a); labels from IPC 20260101 and CPC 202608.
The core scope: KPIs, han_name cross-check, annual trend and entity split
Query 3 · 17.9 GBqueries.sql · 8 queries · 15.9–26.0 GB each
Release protocol
- Agentsearch + draftBuilds the name scope and queries PATSTAT read-only. Every number comes from SQL.
- Checks13 rulesEvery claim must trace back to a query; chart and table must agree.
- Reviewsubject expertChecks scope, counts and wording before publication.
- Approvalsecond personA second person not involved in the report approves publication.
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