NEW HAVEN — U.S. patent filings hit an all-time high in 2019 with 333,530 patents granted, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services announced today.
That’s a 15 percent increase from 2018 provider – something which is “unprecedented,” said the leading global patent data platform.
“We expected U.S. grants to increase this year after a rise in applications last year, but a surge of this magnitude is unusual,” said Mike Baycroft, CEO, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, in a statement.
However, there are two measurements – “IFI 250,” which is based on global patent assets; and the other, “IFI Top 50,” a tally of U.S. patent recipients in the calendar year.
Samsung Electronics came in the top slot for the first — with 76,638 active patent families, followed by IBM at #2 with 37,304, Canon at #3 with 35,724, GE at #4, and Microsoft at #5.
In the second case, IBM led the pack as it has for 27 years with 9,262 — a 2 percent increase from 2018. Samsung Electronics is #2 with 6,469 U.S. grants — up 11 percent. Canon holds the #3 spot as it did last year, with Microsoft at #4 and Intel Corp. at #5.’
“The two rankings tell different stories about patent activity,” said Baycroft.
“The IFI 250 looks at current patent ownership and gives us some perspective on the relative size and strength of corporate patent portfolios. The U.S. Top 50 (and Top 1000) provides insight into innovation and who is developing new intellectual property.”
In other highlight, the fastest movers included:
Kia Motors – jumps 58 places to #41
Hewlett Packard Enterprise – jumps 28 places to #48
Facebook – up 22 places to #36
Micron Technology – up 9 places to #25
Huawei – up 6 places to #10
BOE Technology – up 4 places to #13
Microsoft – up 3 places to #4
IBM tops US patent list for 27th straight year with over 9,200
