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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 Analytics, examined the quantity and affect of U.S. patents generated by greater than 1,000 organizations. Semiconductor producer Micron Know-how got here out on prime on the time, with IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Broadcom rounding out the highest 5.
Practically 20 years later, each firm on the highest 10 record 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 at the moment’s Big Tech firms. Rather than semiconductors and computer systems, the highest classes on this yr’s scorecard are all about Internet services—the class labeled “Telecom and Web”—and consumer electronics.
Digging into the information reveals Amazon’s may, the hidden energy of subsidiaries, and which nations are producing U.S. patents—it’s not simply the United States. You’ll be able to 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 parts of a corporation’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 influence of these patents. (Extra particulars on the calculations are under within the Methodology part.)
Amazon Tops the Record
At a look, it’s clear that Amazon leads with the very best patent energy. The tech large has produced a extra influential patent portfolio than complete trade classes.
Nevertheless, Amazon didn’t produce the most important quantity 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 by way of 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 regularly, and by quite a lot of different patents. Equally, Snap, the corporate that owns Snapchat and Bitmoji, ranks above extra frequent filers Qualcomm and Google, regardless of being granted simply 770 patents final yr.
Hidden Energy in Subsidiaries
A number of firms have a higher patent energy than is instantly 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 Waymo, each within the Telecom and Internet class. Including in its subsidiaries, Alphabet’s patent energy would roughly double, attaining a rating increased than these of all the opposite conglomerates mixed.
Protection contractor RTX (previously Raytheon) has probably the most subsidiaries included within the information 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 & Johnson, and GE Vernova all have two every, and several other different firms have one.
In Consumer 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 below its major firm, Samsung Electronics, and a subsidiary that focuses on display technology. These two firms take the second and third place within the class. However even grouped collectively, their mixed patent energy is properly behind Apple’s.
Western Digital’s Sandisk Corp, within 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 mum or dad firm. In truth, Sandisk’s successes in flash storage led to its launch as an independent public company in February of 2025.
The AI Increase and Patents
Splunk, owned by Cisco, tops the Computer Software class, beating out Microsoft, Oracle, and Intuit. This firm makes a speciality of gathering and organizing giant quantities of machine-generated information. Whereas Splunk is much less of a family title than Microsoft, its analysis into managing information generated by AI has helped launch it to the highest of its class.
General, the variety of AI patents filed has grown over the previous few years, in accordance with 1790 Analytics. Though many of those have been submitted by organizations within the Pc Software program class, some AI powerhouses fall below different classes, like Conglomerates.
Which Nations Are Producing U.S. Patents?
The businesses represented right here embrace solely these with at the very least 25 patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace in 2024. Out of 247 organizations that meet this requirement, 148 have 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 spread of classes, together with Shopper Electronics, Pc Peripherals, and Semiconductors. The Japanese firm with the very best patent energy is Semiconductor Power 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 almost 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 lots of extra nations have one or two firms listed.
Huge Names, Small Patent Energy
Patent energy is however one measure of an organization’s influence. 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 crucial priceless firms primarily based on
market capitalization.
Meta additionally falls surprisingly low, contemplating the corporate’s hefty analysis and improvement funds. In 2024, the social media mammoth spent US $43 billion, an quantity
surpassed only 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 likely exceeds that of Alphabet.)
Trying on the power of an organization’s patent portfolio doesn’t exchange these different metrics, but it surely does present one other view of a corporation’s influence. 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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