Larry Cady reports in Venture Beat:
The number of U.S. patents granted declined in 2018 after many years of growth and a record-breaking 2017. There was also a decline in published pre-grant applications waiting to be approved by USPTO in 2016 and 2017. China was the only country in the top 10 to show an increase in U.S. patent activity. Foreign countries received about 54% of U.S. patent grants in 2018, with U.S. companies receiving 46%. "I see it as a confirmation of the value and importance that foreign firms place on the U.S. market."
The number of U.S. utility patents granted declined in 2018 after many years of growth and a record-breaking 2017. The annual IFI CLAIMS analysis released today also notes that there was a decline in published pre-grant applications waiting to be approved by USPTO in 2016 and 2017. I think most of the 3.5 percent decline in 2018 patent grants can be attributed to this. Since published patent applications increased in 2018, we should expect the dip to be temporary, with the number of grants increasing again in the next year or two.
IBM continued to lead in new utility grants in 2018, as it has for the last 26 years. The company received 9,100 grants in 2018 — a one percent increase from 2017. Samsung is as number 2 with 5,850 U.S. grants. Canon holds the number 3 spot as it did last year; Intel is at number 4, and LG at number 5.
Meanwhile Chinese companies, led by Huawei and BOE Technology, gained ground. In fact, China was the only country in the top 10 to actually show an increase in U.S. patent activity; all other countries, including the U.S., saw declines.
Asia holds the largest share of 2018 U.S. patents after the U.S. at 31 percent, while Europe holds 15 percent. A breakdown by country shows Japan with 16 percent of U.S. grants, South Korea with 6.5 percent, and Germany with 5 percent. Mainland China holds 4 percent or 12,589 patents — up 12 percent over 2017.
A decade ago, in 2008, the U.S. dipped to 49 percent of granted U.S. patents, with other countries collectively taking the majority. Foreign countries received about 54 percent of the total U.S. patent grants in 2018, with U.S. companies receiving 46 percent. You can read into this statistic, but I see it less as a U.S. failing and more as a confirmation of the value and importance that foreign firms place on the U.S. market.
If we zoom out and look at global active patent families, not just those in the U.S. and not just those granted in 2018, Samsung holds the top slot. As of December 31, 2018, Samsung Electronics has 61,608 active patent families, followed by Canon with 34,905 and IBM with 34,376.
Overall, patenting activity, especially in the high-tech areas of computers and telecommunications, remains strong. The automotive sector is also very active as new autonomous vehicle technology continues to develop.
The list of 2018’s top U.S. patent recipients follows below.
2018 Rank Company 2018 Grants 2017 Grants 1 IBM 9,100 9,043 2 Samsung Electronics 5,850 5,837 3 Canon 3,056 3,285 4 Intel 2,735 3,023 5 LG Electronics 2,474 2,701 6 TSMC 2,465 2,425 7 Microsoft 2,353 2,441 8 Qualcomm 2,300 2,628 9 Apple 2,160 2,229 10 Ford 2,123 1,868 11 2,070 2,457 12 Amazon 2,035 1,963 13 Toyota 1,959 1,932 14 Samsung Display 1,948 2,273 15 Sony 1,688 2,135 16 Huawei 1,680 1,474 17 BOE 1,634 1,413 18 GE 1,597 1,577 19 Hyundai 1,369 1,304 20 Ericsson 1,353 1,552 21 Seiko Epson 1,285 1,406 22 Panasonic 1,254 1,338 23 Boeing 1,227 1,177 24 Robert Bosch 1,136 1,234 25 Mitsubishi 1,106 1,151 26 Toshiba 1,104 1,555 27 GM 1,046 1,066 28 Ricoh 1,043 1,145 29 Fujitsu 1,038 1,538 30 United Technologies 1,011 494 31 Denso 1,003 929 32 AT&T 985 946 33 Honda 926 910 34 Micron Technology 924 802 35 Semiconductor Energy 870 977 36 Siemens 870 939 37 Cisco 848 967 38 Koninklijke Philips 844 905 39 Halliburton Energy 807 738 40 EMC IP Holding Co 801 646 41 SK Hynix 801 942 42 Texas Instruments 785 923 43 Honeywell 749 856 44 Murata 743 566 45 NEC 715 820 46 Toshiba Memory 700 216 47 Oracle 685 753 48 LG Display 681 605 49 Dell 668 623 50 Fujifilm 658 695
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