IAM/Adeia leads active patent buyers as 1,600 assets change hands in Q2
Adeia leads active patent buyers as 1,600 assets change hands in Q2
Tim Lince
01 October 2026
More than 1,600 patent assets changed hands in the US secondary market during the second quarter of 2026, with Adeia emerging as the most active buyer and companies including Seiko Epson, NEC and Siemens involved in some of the period’s largest transactions.
The data comes from the latest Patent Deals Report from Allied Security Trust (AST), which reveals that the USPTO recorded 503 patent sale transactions involving 1,609 assets between April and June, with 502 sellers and 472 buyers participating in the market.
Figures suggest number of assets changing hands in Q2 2026 decreased significantly quarter-to-quarter, although that could rise with future revisions.
Assets transacted in recent quarters
The headline asset total was significantly lower than in the first quarter, when a revised 4,073 assets changed hands across 565 deals. However, AST cautions against reading too much into recent-quarter comparisons due to the USPTO’s ongoing recordation delays resulting in substantial retrospective changes (IAM continues to seek more information on the the reason for the delays).
In all, around 22% of Q1 transactions only surfaced during Q2, leading AST to add 122 deals covering 1,990 assets to its first-quarter figures. Therefore, comparable revisions could lift the current Q2 totals in later reports.
Nevertheless, the deal count has now fallen for three consecutive quarters, from 607 in Q3 2025 to 603 in Q4, 565 in Q1 2026 and 503 in Q2.
The number of deals has generally been trending upwards since 2020, though has fallen for three straight quarters.
Patent deals for recent quarters
AST argues that the underlying market remains robust, describing the US secondary patent market as entering 2026 “on firm footing, continuing a trend of structural maturity and deepening institutional participation”.
Across the first half of the year, some familiar operating companies remained active on both sides of the market. In Q1, Bosch acquired 25 assets across three deals, while Medtronic and Stryker each completed three transactions. NXP, Panasonic and Japan Display were among the most active sellers, with NXP disposing of 58 assets across two transactions and Panasonic selling 39.
NPE activity remains prominent despite lower volumes
The composition of activity in Q2 suggests that the quieter headline numbers did little to diminish the role of licensing businesses and other non-practising entities.
AST reports that NPEs accounted for 31% of all secondary-market patent acquisitions during the quarter across 67 transactions. It also identified 34 new NPE entrants, while the five largest NPE acquisitions alone represented 12% of all assets changing hands.
Adeia topped the list of buyers by deal count, acquiring 64 assets across nine transactions. The purchases spanned software, electronics, wireless and media technologies.
The buying activity comes during a busy period for Adeia’s broader licensing business. During 2026 it has announced licensing agreements with companies including AMD and Google, as well as a multi-year agreement with RPX covering new e-commerce customers.
Jeffrey M Gross was the second-most active buyer in Q2, completing seven deals covering 34 assets. Siemens carried out three acquisitions, while ASE Monetization bought 32 assets across two deals and MinebeaMitsumi acquired 23 across two.
The top buyers included heavy hitters like Bosch and Medtronic
Top buyers in Q1 2026
| Buyer | Deals | Assets |
| Jeffrey M Gross | 5 | 17 |
| RPX Corp | 4 | 26 |
| Bosch | 3 | 25 |
| Medtronic plc | 3 | 8 |
| Stryker Corp | 3 | 8 |