US Patent Statistics for 2012

The USPTO issued 276,820 patents and published 331,583 applications in calendar year 2012, 7 percent more than in 2011 and an all-time high of 608,403 patent documents.Table 1 shows the number of documents by type.

No milestones were reached in 2012, but in 2013 it's virtually guaranteed that the USPTO will issue patent no. 8,500,000. And design patents are rapidly approaching the 700,000 mark.

Table 1. US Patents by Type Issued in 2012*

Type	Total
Utility patents	253,178
Reissue patents	822
Design patents	21,952
Plant patents	860
SIRs	8
Applications	331,583

*Based on preliminary data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

Table 2. US Patent Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2012

Type	First Number	Last Number
Utility patent	8,087,094	8,341,760
Reissue patent	RE43,053	RE43,883
Design patent	D651,376	D673,345
Plant patent	PP22,428	PP23,287
SIR	H2,266	H2,273
Utility application	2012/0000001	2012/321207
Plant application	2012/0005794	2012/331605

Jury Awards Carnegie Mellon University $1.16 Billion in Patent Lawsuit

A jury has awarded Carnegie Mellon University more than $1.16 billion in a patent infringement lawsuit against a tech firm based in Santa Clara, California. An appeal is expected, but if the verdict stands this could be the largest patent infringement award in U.S. history.