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In 2006, IEEE Spectrumranked patenting powerhouses in our first annual patent survey. The survey, carried out by the analysis agency 1790 Analyticsexamined the quantity and affect of U.S. patents generated by greater than 1,000 organizations. Semiconductor producer Micron Expertise got here out on prime on the time, with IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Broadcom rounding out the highest 5.
Almost 20 years later, each firm on the highest 10 checklist has been usurped. As soon as mighty firms have fallen within the ranks, others have come and gone, and the highest spots are largely stuffed by as we speak’s Massive Tech firms. Rather than semiconductors and pc methods, the highest classes on this yr’s scorecard are all about Web companies—the class labeled “Telecom and Web”—and client electronics.
Digging into the information reveals Amazon’s would possibly, the hidden energy of subsidiaries, and which international locations are producing U.S. patents—it’s not simply the US. You possibly can discover all of it for your self within the interactive graphic under. Merely click on on a class to see which firms produced probably the most highly effective patent portfolios in 2024.
The rankings are primarily based on Pipeline Energy, a metric calculated by 1790 Analytics that mixes a number of components of a company’s patent portfolio into one quantity. Along with the variety of patents granted in a given yr, this metric takes under consideration 4 variables representing the standard and impression of these patents. (Extra particulars on the calculations are under within the Methodology part.)
Amazon Tops the Listing
At a look, it’s clear that Amazon leads with the best patent energy. The tech big has produced a extra influential patent portfolio than total trade classes.
Nevertheless, Amazon didn’t produce the most important variety of patents in 2024. That achievement goes to Samsung; with greater than 9,000 patents, the electronics firm was granted greater than twice the quantity produced by the second most prolific firm, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).
In the meantime, Amazon ranked twentieth when it comes to the uncooked variety of patents. So how does it have the most important energy? In brief, as a result of its patents are typically cited extra incessantly, and by a wide range of different patents. Equally, Snapthe corporate that owns Snapchat and Bitmoji, ranks above extra frequent filers Qualcomm and Googleregardless of being granted simply 770 patents final yr.
Hidden Energy in Subsidiaries
A number of firms have a higher patent energy than is straight away seen, when you think about their subsidiaries. For instance, Alphabet is categorized as a conglomerate with a patent energy of about 4,056. But it surely has two subsidiaries: Google and Waymoeach within the Telecom and Web class. Including in its subsidiaries, Alphabet’s patent energy would roughly double, reaching a rating greater than these of all the opposite conglomerates mixed.
Protection contractor RTX (previously Raytheon) has probably the most subsidiaries included within the knowledge assortment. Seven firms listed within the Aerospace class are all owned by RTX, along with RTX itself. Including their mixed patent energy to RTX’s accounts for greater than two-thirds of the mixed patent energy of all Aerospace firms. RTX is the one firm with greater than two subsidiaries included within the survey. Sony, Johnson & Johnsonand GE Vernova all have two every, and several other different firms have one.
In Shopper Electronics, Apple leads the pack by a big margin, with about 40 p.c of the class’s patent energy. Samsung has patents filed each underneath its main firm, Samsung Electronics, and a subsidiary that focuses on show know-how. These two firms take the second and third place within the class. However even grouped collectively, their mixed patent energy is effectively behind Apple’s.
Western Digital’s Sandisk Corpwithin the Pc Peripherals class, is the subsidiary with the most important patent energy for 2024. Sandisk has a rating of about 5,087, greater than triple that of its mother or father firm. Actually, Sandisk’s successes in flash storage led to its launch as an unbiased public firm in February of 2025.
The AI Growth and Patents
Splunkowned by Cisco, tops the Pc Software program class, beating out Microsoft, Oracleand Intuit. This firm focuses on gathering and organizing massive quantities of machine-generated knowledge. Whereas Splunk is much less of a family title than Microsoft, its analysis into managing knowledge generated by AI has helped launch it to the highest of its class.
Total, the variety of AI patents filed has grown over the previous few years, in accordance with 1790 Analytics. Though many of those had been submitted by organizations within the Pc Software program class, some AI powerhouses fall underneath different classes, like Conglomerates.
Which Nations Are Producing U.S. Patents?
The businesses represented right here embrace solely these with not less than 25 patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace in 2024. Out of 247 organizations that meet this requirement, 148 had been from the US. So the place else are firms submitting U.S. patents from?
Japan is available in second place, with 24 firms. These firms span a variety of classes, together with Shopper Electronics, Pc Peripherals, and Semiconductors. The Japanese firm with the best patent energy is Semiconductor Vitality Laboratory, taking the highest spot in its class.
After Japan, Germany and South Korea are tied with 9 firms every, and Taiwan has eight listed. The South Korean firms are practically all within the Shopper Electronics or Automotive and Transportation classes, the Taiwanese firms are largely in Pc Peripherals, and the German firms span a wider vary of classes. Following these, France and China each have seven firms listed, and plenty of extra international locations have one or two firms listed.
Massive Names, Small Patent Energy
Patent energy is however one measure of an organization’s impression. Some well-known firms have surprisingly small patent energy, in comparison with their cultural or market affect. Microsoft, for instance, ranks thirty first in patent energy, regardless of being one of the vital useful firms primarily based on
market capitalization.
Meta additionally falls surprisingly low, contemplating the corporate’s hefty analysis and growth finances. In 2024, the social media mammoth spent US $43 billion, an quantity
surpassed solely by Alphabet in a single survey. (Notably, the survey omitted Amazon as a result of it doesn’t report R&D bills as a separate line merchandise. Amazon’s R&D spending seemingly exceeds that of Alphabet.)
Wanting on the energy of an organization’s patent portfolio doesn’t exchange these different metrics, nevertheless it does present one other view of a company’s impression. Amazon, Apple, Snap, Samsung, and Qualcomm, in that order, are 2024’s victors. What firms will rise to the highest in 2025?
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