• IBM marks 25^th anniversary as list leader

• U.S. grants hit record high and double from a decade ago

• Trending Technologies: e-cigarettes, 3D printing, machine learning & autonomous vehicles

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 9, 2018 — IFI CLAIMS^® Patent Services, a leading global patent database provider and development platform, today released its annual analysis of the U.S. patent landscape for 2017.  Highlights are posted on the company’s website in a series of interactive charts and graphics including a roundup of 2017 patent trends and insights. 

The company also posted the official  2017 IFI CLAIMS U.S. Top 50, the world’s most trusted ranking of U.S. utility patent assignees.

2017 was busy year for the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (USPTO), which issued 320,003 utility grants, according to IFI, up 5.2 percent from the previous year and more than double the 157,284 granted in 2007.

According to the report, IBM continued its remarkable 25-year run as the U.S. patent leader with 9,043 grants in 2017—up 12 percent from 2016. No other patent assignee has led the list for this many consecutive years nor broken the 9,000 patent mark.
 
Samsung Electronics is #2—up 6 percent over 2016. With Samsung Display coming in at #10, Samsung has two assignee names in the top 10 and three in the top 100. Together, the top 5 Samsung-owned assignees come within 150 grants of IBM.

Canon holds the #3 spot as it did last year. Intel Corp. at #4 and LG Electronics at #5 displace Qualcomm and Google LLC which held those positions last year and move down to #6 and #7 respectively.

The report’s breakdown by region shows the U.S. with a 46 percent share of 2017 grants and the rest of the world with 54 percent. Asia holds the next largest share 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 3.5 percent or 11,240 patents—up 28 percent over 2016.

“2017 was an impressive year for U.S. patents,” said Mike Baycroft, CEO, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. “We’re seeing twice as many patents generated today as there were a decade ago. We’re seeing IBM nearly tripling its annual patent counts by going from 3,000 plus in 2007 to breaking the 9,000 mark this past year.“

The biggest gainer in 2017 was China’s BOE Technology Group, up 63 percent and moving from #40 to #21. Other big gainers include Facebook which made its debut in the top 50 at #50 and up 50 percent over 2016; Japanese automobile parts manufacturer #35 Denso Corp. up 23 percent; #39 Honeywell International up 27 percent; #44 Haliburton Energy Services which increased 35 percent; and #45 China’s Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics up 44 percent.

Technologies With Most Significant Growth

The research uncovered  8 Technologies with Most Patent Growth in 2017. The new high-growth areas include e-cigarettes, 3D-printing, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, moulding materials, hybrid vehicles, aerial drones, and food. These are not the largest patent classifications but the ones that have shown the fastest growth over the last five years, according to Larry Cady, senior analyst, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, who led the research.

For a deeper look into the U.S. patent rankings, visit the  IFI CLAIMS Top 1,000, a free, multi-year analysis of the global assignees that receive the most U.S. utility grants.

One of the oldest and most trusted patent information firms, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services is known throughout the world as the gold standard tabulator of U.S. and global patents. For more than 60 years, clients have turned to IFI for the support of essential business functions. The company standardizes, aggregates, and enriches patent data from more than 90 countries worldwide.

CLAIMS® is a registered trademark of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services/Fairview Research

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services enables clients to integrate patent information into applications and analytics platforms. IFI curates a global patent repository that is trusted by a wide range of partners including IP search firms, industry R&D leaders, financial institutions, and software solutions providers. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is a division of Fairview Research. For more information, visit  www.ificlaims.com.