2020 Trends and Insights

Table of contents

Totals
1. Total US Grants
2. Total US Grants & Applications
Top Countries
1. Change since 2019
Regions
Technologies
1. Change of Technologies in granted patents
2. How about changes in patent applications?

Totals

In this section we summarize the year’s patent activity. The year has been marked by a terrible pandemic which has dramatically affected all industries and sectors. We wondered whether this is also true in terms of patent activity. Let’s consider this hypothesis as a starting point and see what we find based on the evidence of data obtained from IFI CLAIMS' historic, normalized and comprehensive patent database.

A total of 352,013 patent grants were issued by the USPTO in 2020 representing a drop of 0.68% from the previous year (354,428).

Year	US Applications	US Grants
2020	413,176	352,013
2019	394,349	354,428
2018	375,934	307,761
2017	373,926	318,827
2016	381,029	303,049
2015	381,886	298,407
2014	379,824	300,677
2013	346,647	277,835
2012	331,245	253,155
2011	320,962	224,505

Total US Grants

The evolution over the last 10 years is of an upwards trend; after years of continuous growth and a slight downturn in 2018, 2019 brought strong record figures. 2020 ends with a total of 352,013 granted patents.

Total US Grants & Applications

Looking at granted patents and applications together we see that the number of US published applications in 2020 considerably increased from 2019, reaching a record number of 413,176.

COVID does not seem to have affected productivity at the USPTO (The United States Patent & trademark office). However, it would be premature to conclude that COVID hasn’t affected patent filings. This is because the effective period between filing an application with the national IP office and it getting published comprises at least 18 months. We must wait at least two more years and then compare volumes by filing dates (not publication dates) for 2020 and onwards.

Top Countries

The top countries by number of US granted patents in 2020 were: United States (164,379 granted patents this year), followed by Japan (52,421) and South Korea (22,400). China is the fourth country in terms of number of granted patents in the US. Germany is the top European country in terms of protected technology in the US.

Table Bar Chart Pie Chart

Country	Patents	Sharing
United States of America	164,379
Japan	52,421
Korea (South)	22,400
China	18,792
Germany	16,222
Taiwan	11,286
France	6,312
United Kingdom	5,333
Switzerland	4,514
Netherlands	4,317

Change since 2019

Analyzing the year-over-year changes we can clearly see that China has the highest positive change.

Table Slope Chart Bar Chart

China is the country with the highest increase (11.31%) from 2019 in patent productivity (number of granted patents in the US). China is followed by Taiwan (5.05%); South Korea and the United Kingdom slightly increase, while all other leading countries show recessing figures for the year.

Country	2019 Patents	2020 Patents	% Change
United States of America	165,760	164,379	-0.8
Japan	54,401	52,421	-3.6
Korea (South)	22,159	22,400	1.1
China	16,882	18,792	11.3
Germany	16,827	16,222	-3.6
Taiwan	10,743	11,286	5.1
France	6,481	6,312	-2.6
United Kingdom	5,314	5,333	0.4
Canada	4,627	4,514	-2.4
Switzerland	4,486	4,317	-3.8

Regions

Aggregating data by continent provides us a way of analyzing patent volumes by global region.
Asia had positive growth since 2019, however North America and Europe had negative growth.

Table Bar Chart

Continent Name	2019 Patents	2020 Patents
North America	172,578	171,161
Asia	112,295	113,268
Europe	52,540	51,212
Oceania	1,527	1,690
South America	296	292
Africa	130	139
Antarctica	1	1

Technologies

IFI CLAIMS looked at US patent grants by Cooperative Patent Classification class codes (4 characters); this allowed us to see what the top technologies were.

The top two patented technologies in 2020 were:

G06F (Electrical digital data processing) and
H04L (Transmission of digital information)

Tree Map Table

Position	CPC	Total Patents	Description
1	G06F	61,606	Electrical Digital Data Processing
2	H04L	40,780	Transmission Of Digital Information, E.g. Telegraphic Communication
3	H01L	28,997	Semiconductor Devices; Electric Solid State Devices Not Otherwise Provided For
4	H04W	24,741	Wireless Communications Networks
5	H04N	20,441	Pictorial Communication, E.g. Television
6	A61B	17,562	Diagnosis; Surgery; Identification
7	G06Q	17,190	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
8	G06T	14,766	Image Data Processing
9	A61K	14,740	Preparations For Medical, Dental, Or Toilet Purposes
10	G06K	14,139	Recognition Of Data; Presentation Of Data; Record Carriers; Handling Record Carriers
11	G02B	12,743	Optical Elements, Systems, Or Apparatus
12	G01N	12,043	Investigating Or Analysing Materials By Determining Their Chemical Or Physical Properties
13	Y02E	11,818	Reduction Of Greenhouse Gas [Ghg] Emissions, Related To Energy Generation, Transmission Or Distribution
14	A61P	11,153	Specific Therapeutic Activity Of Chemical Compounds Or Medicinal Preparations
15	H04B	11,065	Transmission
16	G06N	8,079	Computer Systems Based On Specific Computational Models
17	Y02T	7,979	Climate Change Mitigation Technologies Related To Transportation
18	H05K	6,909	Printed Circuits; Casings Or Constructional Details Of Electric Apparatus; Manufacture Of Assemblages Of Electrical Components
19	A61M	6,451	Devices For Introducing Media Into, Or Onto, The Body
20	G09G	6,350	Arrangements Or Circuits For Control Of Indicating Devices Using Static Means To Present Variable Information

Change of Technologies in granted patents

Table Slope Chart

CPC	2019 Patents	2020 Patents	% Change
G06F	60,404	61,606	2
H04L	39,611	40,780	3
H01L	28,659	28,997	1
H04W	24,549	24,741	1
H04N	20,271	20,441	1
A61B	17,587	17,562	0
G06Q	16,146	17,190	6
G06T	12,934	14,766	14
A61K	14,382	14,740	2
G06K	12,060	14,139	17
G02B	12,798	12,743	0
G01N	11,932	12,043	1
Y02E	12,074	11,818	-2
A61P	11,048	11,153	1
H04B	11,686	11,065	-5
G06N		8,079
Y02T	8,865	7,979	-10
H05K	7,125	6,909	-3
A61M	6,549	6,451	-1
G09G	6,405	6,350	-1

Major increases are:

Recognition of data; presentation of data; record carriers; handling record carriers (G06K) and
Image data processing or generation, in general (G06T)

Another area showing modest gains is G06Q (data processing systems and methods), which includes many areas of application such as administrative processes, commerce, financial and payment architectures, business processing using cryptography, etc.

How about changes in patent applications?

So far we have looked at granted patents. Now we look at applications. The analysis of applications filings for new inventions can be understood as a more direct proxy of the current strategic interests of those developing new technologies.

Tree Map Table Slope Chart

CPC	2019 Patents	2020 Patents	% Change
G06F	61,938	63,363	2
H04L	39,613	41,845	6
H01L	32,071	34,196	7
H04W	26,113	28,331	8
A61K	23,375	24,176	3
A61B	22,085	21,968	-1
G06Q	19,986	21,315	7
H04N	19,978	20,415	2
G06K	16,239	18,626	15
A61P	18,465	17,426	-6
G06T	15,316	16,614	8
G06N	11,247	16,576	47
G01N	15,227	15,210	0
G02B	14,024	14,074	0
Y02E	14,044	13,980	0
H04B	11,206	11,521	3
C12N	10,145	9,929	-2
C07K	8,404	8,608	2
A61M	8,269	8,418	2
H01M		8,031

Computer systems based on specific computational models (G06N) stands out as the area which more significantly increases in number of applications from 2019 to 2020. This group includes subareas such as Machine Learning, Quantum computers and computer systems based on biological models, among other relevant classes.

Check out our section on fast growing technologies to find out more about how these technologies have evolved in the last 5 years and which are the top fastest growing ones.

2017 2018 2019 2020