2020 Global 250: The World's Largest Patent Holders
The IFI Global 250 ranking focuses on Ultimate Owners, providing a complete view of an entity's global patent holdings. Rather than looking at the grants received in a given year, such as the Top 50 ranking, the Global 250 presents the current cumulative patent holdings in a given portfolio.
| Rank | Ultimate Owner | Active Families | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
|
80,577 | |
| 2 |
International Business Machines Corp
|
38,541 | |
| 3 |
Canon Inc
|
36,161 | |
| 4 |
Microsoft Corp
|
30,042 | |
| 5 |
Robert Bosch GmbH
|
28,235 | |
| 6 |
Panasonic Corp
|
26,705 | |
| 7 |
LG Electronics Inc
|
24,313 | |
| 8 |
General Electric Co
|
23,630 | |
| 9 |
Intel Corp
|
23,523 | |
| 10 |
Siemens AG
|
22,373 | |
| 11 |
Toyota Motor Corp
|
22,157 | |
| 12 |
Sony Corp
|
21,931 | |
| 13 |
Alphabet Inc
|
21,762 | |
| 14 |
Hitachi Ltd
|
21,619 | |
| 15 |
Qualcomm Inc
|
21,522 | |
| 16 |
Raytheon Technologies Corp
|
20,800 | |
| 17 |
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
|
20,646 | |
| 18 |
Nokia Oyj
|
18,742 | |
| 19 |
Fujifilm Holdings Corp
|
18,456 | |
| 20 |
Apple Inc
|
18,161 | |
| 21 |
Ford Motor Co
|
17,905 | |
| 22 |
General Motors Co
|
17,384 | |
| 23 |
Volkswagen AG
|
17,269 | |
| 24 |
Huawei Investment and Holding Co Ltd
|
17,112 | |
| 25 |
Fujitsu Ltd
|
16,237 | |
| 26 |
Dell Technologies Inc
|
15,607 | |
| 27 |
Honda Motor Co Ltd
|
15,307 | |
| 28 |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
|
15,226 | |
| 29 |
Seiko Epson Corp
|
14,475 | |
| 30 |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
|
14,268 | |
| 31 |
Broadcom Inc
|
14,219 | |
| 32 |
Honeywell International Inc
|
14,163 | |
| 33 |
Denso Corp
|
14,144 | |
| 34 |
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
|
13,751 | |
| 35 |
HP Inc
|
13,565 | |
| 36 |
Texas Instruments Inc
|
13,282 | |
| 37 |
Oracle Corp
|
13,212 | |
| 38 |
Medtronic PLC
|
12,980 | |
| 39 |
Toshiba Corp
|
12,940 | |
| 40 |
Koninklijke Philips NV
|
12,733 | |
| 41 |
Ricoh Co Ltd
|
12,521 | |
| 42 |
Johnson and Johnson
|
12,442 | |
| 43 |
Boeing Co
|
11,966 | |
| 44 |
Cisco Systems Inc
|
11,874 | |
| 45 |
Infineon Technologies AG
|
11,151 | |
| 46 |
Amazon com Inc
|
11,060 | |
| 47 |
Continental AG
|
10,909 | |
| 48 |
Brother Industries Ltd
|
10,279 | |
| 49 |
NEC Corp
|
10,175 | |
| 50 |
BASF SE
|
10,095 | |
| 51 |
Airbus SE
|
10,027 | |
| 52 |
NXP Semiconductors BV
|
9,787 | |
| 53 |
Hyundai Motor Co
|
9,773 | |
| 54 |
Bayer AG
|
9,658 | |
| 55 |
BlackBerry Ltd
|
9,498 | |
| 56 |
Kyocera Corp
|
9,395 | |
| 57 |
BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
|
9,373 | |
| 58 |
Valeo SA
|
9,279 | |
| 59 |
Safran SA
|
9,252 | |
| 60 |
LG Display Co Ltd
|
9,112 | |
| 61 |
Procter and Gamble Co
|
8,997 | |
| 62 |
Western Digital Corp
|
8,824 | |
| 63 |
STMicroelectronics NV
|
8,544 | |
| 64 |
SK Hynix Inc
|
8,543 | |
| 65 |
Xerox Holdings Corp
|
8,529 | |
| 66 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co
|
8,421 | |
| 67 |
AT&T Inc
|
8,376 | |
| 68 |
3M Co
|
8,250 | |
| 69 |
Olympus Corp
|
8,045 | |
| 70 |
Micron Technology Inc
|
8,034 | |
| 71 |
GlobalFoundries Inc
|
7,600 | |
| 72 |
Konica Minolta Inc
|
7,427 | |
| 73 |
National Research Council of Science and Technology
|
7,349 | |
| 74 |
Schlumberger Ltd
|
7,311 | |
| 75 |
Renesas Electronics Corp
|
7,146 | |
| 76 |
Nike Inc
|
7,141 | |
| 77 |
Halliburton Co
|
7,089 | |
| 78 |
Baker Hughes Holdings LLC
|
6,853 | |
| 79 |
Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd
|
6,812 | |
| 80 |
Corteva Inc
|
6,767 | |
| 81 |
Dow Inc
|
6,761 | |
| 82 |
Lenovo Group Ltd
|
6,648 | |
| 83 |
Boston Scientific Corp
|
6,468 | |
| 84 |
Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd
|
6,440 | |
| 85 |
Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives
|
6,431 | |
| 86 |
Verizon Communications Inc
|
6,197 | |
| 87 |
Nissan Motor Co Ltd
|
6,160 | |
| 88 |
Abbott Laboratories
|
5,939 | |
| 89 |
Caterpillar Inc
|
5,936 | |
| 90 |
TDK Corp
|
5,849 | |
| 91 |
TCL Corp
|
5,823 | |
| 92 |
Kioxia Corp
|
5,709 | |
| 93 |
LG Chem Ltd
|
5,698 | |
| 94 |
Roche Holding AG
|
5,609 | |
| 95 |
Thales SA
|
5,536 | |
| 96 |
Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co Ltd
|
5,396 | |
| 97 |
Schaeffler AG
|
5,301 | |
| 98 |
Applied Materials Inc
|
5,272 | |
| 99 |
Renault SAS
|
5,109 | |
| 100 |
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
|
5,102 | |
| 101 |
LOreal SA
|
5,080 | |
| 102 |
University of California
|
5,053 | |
| 103 |
MediaTek Inc
|
5,033 | |
| 104 |
ZF Friedrichshafen AG
|
4,987 | |
| 105 |
On Semiconductor Corp
|
4,974 | |
| 106 |
Facebook Inc
|
4,931 | |
| 107 |
ZTE Corp
|
4,878 | |
| 108 |
T Mobile US Inc
|
4,846 | |
| 109 |
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS
|
4,834 | |
| 110 |
Marvell Technology Group Ltd
|
4,766 | |
| 111 |
Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI
|
4,764 | |
| 112 |
Rolls Royce Holdings PLC
|
4,760 | |
| 113 |
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung eV
|
4,750 | |
| 114 |
Aisin Seiki Co Ltd
|
4,745 | |
| 115 |
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd
|
4,686 | |
| 116 |
Deere and Co
|
4,643 | |
| 117 |
Illinois Tool Works Inc
|
4,559 | |
| 118 |
Ams AG
|
4,559 | |
| 119 |
Bridgestone Corp
|
4,525 | |
| 120 |
Tokyo Electron Ltd
|
4,497 | |
| 121 |
Kia Motors Corp
|
4,470 | |
| 122 |
Corning Inc
|
4,464 | |
| 123 |
Exxon Mobil Corp
|
4,434 | |
| 124 |
Samsung SDI Co Ltd
|
4,322 | |
| 125 |
Seagate Technology PLC
|
4,290 | |
| 126 |
Saudi Arabian Oil Co
|
4,286 | |
| 127 |
Eaton Corp PLC
|
4,267 | |
| 128 |
Commscope Holding Company Inc
|
4,190 | |
| 129 |
Emerson Electric Co
|
4,178 | |
| 130 |
TE Connectivity Ltd
|
4,133 | |
| 131 |
Schneider Electric SE
|
4,133 | |
| 132 |
Berkshire Hathaway Inc
|
4,121 | |
| 133 |
Merck KGaA
|
4,078 | |
| 134 |
Stanley Black and Decker Inc
|
3,958 | |
| 135 |
Yazaki Corp
|
3,920 | |
| 136 |
AU Optronics Corp
|
3,810 | |
| 137 |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp
|
3,800 | |
| 138 |
Nvidia Corp
|
3,787 | |
| 139 |
Becton Dickinson and Co
|
3,764 | |
| 140 |
Carl Zeiss AG
|
3,763 | |
| 141 |
CNH Industrial NV
|
3,687 | |
| 142 |
Signify NV
|
3,682 | |
| 143 |
Adobe Inc
|
3,654 | |
| 144 |
Shin Etsu Chemical Co Ltd
|
3,569 | |
| 145 |
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
|
3,552 | |
| 146 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc
|
3,512 | |
| 147 |
InterDigital Inc
|
3,473 | |
| 148 |
Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SCA
|
3,460 | |
| 149 |
Unilever PLC
|
3,406 | |
| 150 |
Japan Display Inc
|
3,392 | |
| 151 |
Compagnie de Saint Gobain SA
|
3,388 | |
| 152 |
Henkel AG and Co KGaA
|
3,378 | |
| 153 |
Analog Devices Inc
|
3,331 | |
| 154 |
Faurecia SA
|
3,290 | |
| 155 |
Lockheed Martin Corp
|
3,272 | |
| 156 |
Sanofi SA
|
3,270 | |
| 157 |
Rohm Co Ltd
|
3,263 | |
| 158 |
Motorola Solutions Inc
|
3,256 | |
| 159 |
Microchip Technology Inc
|
3,236 | |
| 160 |
Xilinx Inc
|
3,218 | |
| 161 |
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
|
3,212 | |
| 162 |
BorgWarner Inc
|
3,146 | |
| 163 |
Nippon Steel Corp
|
3,145 | |
| 164 |
Yamaha Motor Co Ltd
|
3,132 | |
| 165 |
FANUC Corp
|
3,111 | |
| 166 |
Evonik Industries AG
|
3,087 | |
| 167 |
Nikon Corp
|
2,992 | |
| 168 |
Stryker Corp
|
2,986 | |
| 169 |
Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd
|
2,951 | |
| 170 |
Aptiv PLC
|
2,931 | |
| 171 |
United Microelectronics Corp
|
2,908 | |
| 172 |
Whirlpool Corp
|
2,908 | |
| 173 |
LG Innotek Co Ltd
|
2,889 | |
| 174 |
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV
|
2,883 | |
| 175 |
ASML Holding NV
|
2,867 | |
| 176 |
Mahle GmbH
|
2,864 | |
| 177 |
State University System of Florida
|
2,863 | |
| 178 |
SAP SE
|
2,835 | |
| 179 |
Syngenta AG
|
2,832 | |
| 180 |
Novartis AG
|
2,824 | |
| 181 |
Merck and Co Inc
|
2,818 | |
| 182 |
Daimler AG
|
2,741 | |
| 183 |
Softbank Group Corp
|
2,739 | |
| 184 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
2,734 | |
| 185 |
Omron Corp
|
2,716 | |
| 186 |
Masco Corp
|
2,700 | |
| 187 |
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp
|
2,683 | |
| 188 |
Nestle SA
|
2,682 | |
| 189 |
AbbVie Inc
|
2,616 | |
| 190 |
Nidec Corp
|
2,560 | |
| 191 |
Daikin Industries Ltd
|
2,542 | |
| 192 |
Electrolux AB
|
2,511 | |
| 193 |
Samsung Electro Mechanics Co Ltd
|
2,501 | |
| 194 |
Eastman Kodak Co
|
2,500 | |
| 195 |
JTEKT Corp
|
2,478 | |
| 196 |
Northrop Grumman Corp
|
2,451 | |
| 197 |
Air Liquide SA
|
2,451 | |
| 198 |
Bank of America Corp
|
2,440 | |
| 199 |
Wistron Corp
|
2,433 | |
| 200 |
Bristol Myers Squibb Co
|
2,422 | |
| 201 |
L3Harris Technologies Inc
|
2,416 | |
| 202 |
Total SA
|
2,409 | |
| 203 |
Macronix International Co Ltd
|
2,400 | |
| 204 |
Provenance Asset Group LLC
|
2,398 | |
| 205 |
Casio Computer Co Ltd
|
2,397 | |
| 206 |
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc
|
2,394 | |
| 207 |
Siemens Energy AG
|
2,377 | |
| 208 |
Delta Electronics Inc
|
2,374 | |
| 209 |
Fuji Electric Co Ltd
|
2,353 | |
| 210 |
Magna International Inc
|
2,349 | |
| 211 |
Kimberly Clark Corp
|
2,348 | |
| 212 |
MinebeaMitsumi Inc
|
2,329 | |
| 213 |
Lam Research Corp
|
2,327 | |
| 214 |
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
|
2,320 | |
| 215 |
Tsinghua University
|
2,318 | |
| 216 |
Walt Disney Co
|
2,314 | |
| 217 |
Colgate Palmolive Co
|
2,312 | |
| 218 |
Tencent Holdings Ltd
|
2,311 | |
| 219 |
CH Boehringer Sohn AG and Co KG
|
2,274 | |
| 220 |
Avaya Inc
|
2,252 | |
| 221 |
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology KAIST
|
2,224 | |
| 222 |
Quarterhill Inc
|
2,207 | |
| 223 |
Komatsu Ltd
|
2,193 | |
| 224 |
NGK Insulators Ltd
|
2,138 | |
| 225 |
Koch Industries Inc
|
2,134 | |
| 226 |
EssilorLuxottica SA
|
2,133 | |
| 227 |
Kobe Steel Ltd
|
2,123 | |
| 228 |
Pfizer Inc
|
2,096 | |
| 229 |
Juniper Networks Inc
|
2,083 | |
| 230 |
BAE Systems PLC
|
2,078 | |
| 231 |
Arkema SA
|
2,071 | |
| 232 |
International Game Technology PLC
|
2,070 | |
| 233 |
Autoliv Inc
|
2,056 | |
| 234 |
Kao Corp
|
2,031 | |
| 235 |
Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
|
2,028 | |
| 236 |
HTC Corp
|
2,017 | |
| 237 |
Chevron Corp
|
2,016 | |
| 238 |
Shimano Inc
|
2,015 | |
| 239 |
Cook Group Inc
|
2,012 | |
| 240 |
IFP Energies Nouvelles IFPEN
|
2,010 | |
| 241 |
Johnson Controls International PLC
|
2,009 | |
| 242 |
Yamaha Corp
|
1,972 | |
| 243 |
Nitto Denko Corp
|
1,965 | |
| 244 |
IPvalue Management Inc
|
1,956 | |
| 245 |
SKF AB
|
1,953 | |
| 246 |
Wsou Investments LLC
|
1,940 | |
| 247 |
KLA Corp
|
1,932 | |
| 248 |
Innolux Corp
|
1,920 | |
| 249 |
Orange SA
|
1,909 | |
| 250 |
NetApp Inc
|
1,901 |
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Learn more about the terms and methods utilized in this report.
This analysis calculates the world's largest active patent holders, including subsidiaries, as a snapshot in time as of January 4, 2021.
