On January 12, patent database provider IFI Claims released its list of the top 50 U.S. patent beneficiaries for 2020, as well as its Global 250 list of the top active patent asset owners globally. The Top 50 list includes many of the usual suspects among major patent filing organizations, including IBM, which ranks first among all companies receiving U.S. patents for the 28th consecutive year. Perhaps the most surprising finding from the study is that patent filing activity increased slightly in 2020 despite the massive disruption to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IBM claims crown of most granted patents for 28th consecutive year

IFI claims trends and information page shows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office received a total of 413,176 patent applications in 2020, a 5% increase from 394,349 applications USPTO patent filings in 2019. Despite the increase in the number of US patents filed, USPTO patent grants declined by less than 1% to reach 352,013 issued patents in 2020. However, it This is only a slight reduction from the record number of patents granted in 2019 (354,428 patents granted) and the highest total for a single year except 2019.

Once again, International Business Machines (IBM) ranks first among all entities that obtained U.S. patents in 2020 with 9,130 ​​patents granted by the USPTO, nearly 3,000 more patents than those obtained by the second. places Samsung in 2020 (6,415 patents issued). A news release from IBM said the Armonk, NY-based R&D giant’s 2020 patents mainly covered cloud and hybrid cloud technology (3,000 patents issued), artificial intelligence technology (2 300 patents granted) and data security technology (1,400 patents granted). ).

Following IBM’s annual IFI Claims ranking of top U.S. patent holders, there is a familiar cast of supporting characters including Samsung Electronics (6,415 patents issued), Canon (3,225 patents issued), Microsoft (2,905 patents issued), issued) and Intel (2,867 issued patents). Interestingly, each of the top five patent grantees actually saw their patent grants decline year over year; Canon suffered the biggest drop, a 9% reduction from the company’s 3,548 issued patents in 2019. In contrast, each of the companies ranked 6th through 9th registered more patents granted in 2020: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TMSC), up 22%. 2,833 issued patents; LG Electronics, up 1% to 2,831 patents granted; Apple, up 12% to 2,791 patents granted; and Huawei, up 14% to 2,761 patents granted. The companies with the largest percentage increases in 2020 were Kia Motors, ranked 24th, up 44% to 1,323 patents granted, and Sharp Corporation, ranked 32nd, up 27% to 1,042 patents granted.

While these patent grant numbers are apparently robust given the state of the global economy and much research and development during the COVID-19 pandemic, IFI Claims CEO Mike Baycroft said that it would take some time before the true impact of COVID-19 on the world R&D activities could be measured in terms of impacts on patent filings. “US applications are published 18 months after their initial filing,” Baycroft said, “and most of the recent growth in patent applications predates the pandemic.” The true impacts of COVID-19 on patent applications could therefore become clearer by the end of 2021 or perhaps even beyond.

Could patent eligibility issues impact the fastest growing tech sector?

IFI Claims data also provides a survey of the ten fastest growing areas of technology, conducted by computer systems based on biological models, which recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 67.28%. between 2016 and 2020. This field, which covers an array of artificial intelligence (AI) and neural network technologies, was led by IBM, with 2,789 patent applications over the five-year period, followed by Google (1,451 patent applications), Samsung Electronics (1,253 patent applications), Intel (1,102 patent applications) and Microsoft (1,044 patent applications). Of course, the Alice/Mayo The patent eligibility framework in the United States has posed a threat to patent applications in the AI ​​and bioinformatics industries. While these technologies can unlock incredible advancements for our society, the application of the pre-emption test in the patent eligibility doctrine can eliminate patent eligibility for many of these inventions because they deliver results. for which there is no alternative.

https://www.ificlaims.com/rankings-trends-2020.htm

Patent eligibility issues are probably much less of a threat to the second fastest growing tech sector, electrical smoking devices (55.08% CAGR from 2016 to 2020). Philip Morris maintained a significant lead over the five-year study period, filing 1,688 patent applications in the industry, more than double the number filed by Altria (701 patent applications), number two. Next come RAI Strategic Holdings (658 patent applications), Nicoventures Holding (483 patent applications) and British American Tobacco (474 ​​patent applications). After electrical smoking devices, the third fastest growing tech sector in terms of patent application growth was angiosperms, or new flowering plants, an industry that Baycroft said was a fascinating area. “It always surprises me to see areas that can be covered by much smaller patent portfolios, but there is clearly a lot of activity going on,” Baycroft said. The leaders in the field of angiosperms are Monsanto (1,359 patent applications), Pioneer Hi Bred Industries (905 patent applications), Seminis Vegetable Seeds (485 patent applications), Syngenta (392 patent applications) and Duemmen Group (298 patent applications).

Although two of the fastest growing tech sectors are directly related to autonomous vehicles, Baycroft and Ron Kratz, IFI Claims Commercial Director, noted that patent filings in these sectors have been dominated primarily by automakers. and tech companies, and not Tesla, which most consumers probably associate most strongly with self-driving car technology. Tesla also doesn’t appear on the Global 250 list, although Kratz cautioned against reading too strict about Tesla’s lack of patent portfolio. “The younger companies on the global list have fewer assets than companies that have been around for a while,” Kratz noted. “Tesla is developing amazing technologies, but comparatively, it’s the young people. Of course, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long understood the importance of patent rights, engaging in deceptive business activities in light of his public stance on patents and clearly preferring trade secrets to the detriment of the firm. refusing to disclose innovation through patents.

IFI’s Global 250 List Shows Samsung Dominance in Global Patent Ownership

While IBM is by far the leader in the number of patent filings and granted patents, Samsung Electronics has a significant lead in terms of ownership of currently active patent assets globally, according to the Top list. 250 Global from IFI Claims, which is in its second year. Unlike the Top 50 list, which examines the name of the assignee at the time a patent is granted, the Global 250 list examines both which company actually owns the patent and also aggregates patents held by subsidiaries within the parent company. This is why Samsung is an eternal runner-up to IBM in the Top 50 lists and yet tops the Global 250 list with twice as many active patent families, 80,577 compared to IBM’s 38,541. Active ownership of IBM’s family of patents has been curtailed over the years by major deals such as the 2014 sale of the company’s chips business to GlobalFoundries.

IFI Claims data also examines the number of patents granted in the United States based on the assignee’s country of origin. Unsurprisingly, the data shows that the United States has a large lead in this area, as the assignee’s home country for 164,379 US patents issued in 2020. However, this was less than half of the total number. of US patents granted that year (47%) and represents a drop of nearly 1% compared to the total number of patents granted in 2019. In contrast, Chinese entities received only 18,792 US patents in 2020, but this total represents an increase of 11.3% compared to the patents granted in 2019. Taiwanese entities also recorded an increase of 5.1% to reach 11,286 patents granted in total in 2020. However, a significant gap remains between the United States and China, fourth, between Japan (52,421 patents granted) and South Korea (22,400 patents granted).

Steve Brachmann is a freelance journalist based in Buffalo, New York. He has worked professionally as a freelance for over a decade. He writes about technology and innovation. His work has been published by Buffalo News, Hamburg sun, USAToday.com, Chron.com, Motley Fool, and OpenLettersMonthly.com. Steve also provides website copies and documents to various business clients and is available for research projects and freelance work.