2017 Patent Trends and Insights

A record number of patents were granted by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2017. Asia continues to be a strong player.

• The USPTO issued 320,003 Utility Grant patents in 2017. This is a record number and a 5.2% increase over 2016's record year.
• US companies received 46% of these patents. Asian companies received 31% and European companies received 15%.
• Chinese companies represent only 3.5% of 2017 US Grants, but their total of 11,240 US patents is an increase of 28% over 2016.

Roll over the charts below to interactively browse the data.

Many leading companies from 2016 continued to dominate in 2017. Facebook and BOE Technology Group made large gains.

• IBM received the most utility grants in 2017. Their total of 9,045 is a 12% increase over their 8,088 total in 2016.
• Among companies that received the most patents, Intel Corp and LG Electronics both moved up two places in the rankings – putting them at #4 and #5 in IFI's rankings.
• BOE Technology Group made a big jump from #40 in 2016 to #21 in 2017. Based in Beijing, BOE produces display and sensing devices.
• Facebook Inc jumped into the Top 50. Their 660 utility grants give them a ranking of #50 – an impressive increase over their #86 ranking in 2016.
• See our 2017 Top 50 list for more details.

The automotive sector is rapidly developing new technologies, including patents in areas such as unmanned vehicle navigation and advanced manufacturing technology.

• Companies showing impressive gains are Japanese automobile parts manufacturer Denso Corp (#35 with an increase of 23% grants from 2016), Honeywell International (#39 with an increase of 27%), Halliburton Energy Services (#44 with an increase of 35%) and Chinese Shenzhen China Star Optoelctronics (#45 with an increase of 44%).
• Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai also showed sizable growth.

The computing, telecommunications, and medical patent classifications continue to be strong.

• Computers (G06F) and telecommunications (H04L) remained in the top two spots.
• 2017 saw a big jump in specific types of data processing systems (patent class G06Q). This business methods patent class has been volatile over the last few years due to recent court decisions regarding patentability.
• Pharmaceuticals (A61K) and Diagnostics/Surgical (A61B) showed healthy gains.

2017 Rank	CPC	2017	2016	Change	Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) Code Definition
1	G06F	48935	47919	2.12%	ELECTRICAL DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING Top Assignee: International Business Machines Corp Example: US-9811287-B2
2	H04L	33575	31414	6.88%	TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION Top Assignee: International Business Machines Corp Example: US-9811241-B2
3	H01L	26989	26741	0.93%	SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR Top Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Ltd Example: US-9812577-B2
4	H04W	21258	19390	9.63%	WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS Top Assignee: LG Electronics Inc Example: US-9813957-B2
5	H04N	17996	17169	4.82%	PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION Top Assignee: Canon KK Example: US-9812474-B2
6	A61B	13853	12640	9.60%	DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION Top Assignee: Covidien LP Example: US-9788755-B2
7	A61K	13624	12670	7.53%	PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES Top Assignee: University of California Example: US-9782399-B2
8	G06Q	11020	9374	17.56%	DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTING PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTING PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR Top Assignee: International Business Machines Corp Example: US-9785755-B2
9	G01N	10070	9277	8.55%	INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES Top Assignee: University of California Example: US-9810675-B2
10	G02B	10060	9069	10.93%	OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS Top Assignee: Canon KK Example: US-9804370-B2

Notes:

• Classification Y10T “TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION” is frequently used by the USPTO and would rank #5 in 2017, but has been excluded from the Top 10 Classifications list because it does not relate to any one specific technology.
• Y02T did not make the rankings this year, but we have included it in the past.