© mikhail mishchenko dreamstime.com
General |
Top 10 of 2014 U.S. patent recipients
With 2014 behind us its time to look back at some numeral facts, and this time we're looking at utility patents – who received the most?
IFI CLAIMS Patent Services has compiled the following facts from its analysis of calendar year 2014 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data.
IFI’s ranking focuses on utility patents and does not include design or plant patents. Utility patents are the most common patent type and a primary means of protecting intellectual property and technological innovation.
IBM is at the top of the list with a record-setting 7'534 patents, a dramatic increase of more than 10% over 2013 — continuing a dominance that has lasted 22 straight years and breaking the 7'000 barrier for first time.
Google broke into the Top 10 in 2014 (at #8 up from #11) and Apple was #11 – up from #13 in 2013. Combined, Google and Apple were granted 943 more utility patents in 2014 than they collectively received in 2013 (26% increase).
Qualcomm increased its patent counts by 23% capturing the #7 position up from #9 in 2013. Microsoft held its #5 position.
China’s Huawei Technologies breaks into the Top 50 at #48 up from #53. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) rose from #35 to #23, a significant increase of 519 utility grants (+55%).
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. fell from #8 to #18. Japan’s Hitachi fell from #26 to #38, the two biggest position-drops in the Top 50.
The top 10
Exceptional Gainers Below the Top 50
Rank | Grants | Assingee Name |
1 | 7534 | International Business Machines Corp |
2 | 4952 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd |
3 | 4055 | Canon KK |
4 | 3224 | Sony Corp |
5 | 2829 | Microsoft Corp |
6 | 2608 | Toshiba Corp |
7 | 2590 | Qualcomm Inc |
8 | 2566 | Google Inc |
9 | 2122 | LG Electronics Inc |
10 | 2095 | Panasonic Corp |
- Japan Display Inc., +1525%
- Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics, +331%
- ZTE Corp., 160%
- Wistron Corp., +131%
- Facebook Inc., +120%
- Toshiba Tec KK, +83%
- Kyocera Document Solutions, +72%
- EMC Corp., +62%