U.S. Patent Statistics and Numbers for 2013

The USPTO issued 305,081 patents in 2013, an increase of 10.2 percent over 2012. The agency also published 347,148 utility and plant patent applications, an increase of 4.7 percent over the previous year. The total number of U.S. patent documents published in 2013 increased to 752,229, another all-time high. Table 1 shows the number of documents by type.

Table 1. US Patents by Type Issued in 2013*

Type	Total
Utility patents	279,899
Reissue patents	844
Design patents	23,479
Plant patents	846
SIRs	13
Applications	347,148

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 Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications. 

On August 6, the USPTO reached another milestone, issuing patent no. 8,500,000. Design patents are rapidly approaching the 700,000 mark; it is likely that D700,000 will be issued in February 2014. 

The USPTO abolished the Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) Program in March. The number of SIRs published during the 28 years the program was in existence was approximately 2,260. The number of SIRs per year has steadily decreased since the USPTO began publishing applications in 2001. Only 13 SIRs were published this year, almost twice as many as in 2012. 

Table 2. US Patent Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2013

Type	First Number	Last Number
Utility patent	8,341,762	8,621,661
Reissue patent	RE43,844	RE44,688
Design patent	D673,356	D696,835
Plant patent	PP23,288	PP24,134
SIR	H2,274	H2,287
Utility application	2013/0000001	2013/347149
Plant application	2013/0007930	2013/347159

China Leads US in Patent Applications

In 2011 China surpassed the US in patent application filings, according to data compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization and reported in the Economist. The State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) received 526,412 applications in 2011, compared to slightly more than 500,000 at the USPTO and approximately 340,000 at the Japan Patent Office. In related news, the European Patent Office and SIPO recently announced that Chinese to English machine translation is now available in its Patent Translate service, which is integrated with Espacenet. An additional four million Chinese patent documents are now available in Espacenet.

2011 U.S. Patent Statistics

In 2011 the USPTO issued 225,777 patents and published 321,181 applications for a total of 568,577 patent documents, a 1.5 percent decrease from 2010. The USPTO has published approximately 2.9 million utility and plant patent applications since March 15, 2001. Published applications now account for about 30 percent of all U.S. patent documents.


On August 16, 2011, the USPTO issued patent 8,000,000 to Second Sight Medical Products for a visual prosthesis apparatus. Patent 7,000,000 was issued on Feb. 14, 2006. The time interval between "millionth" patents has decreased to 5.5 years.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*
2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,828 ..... 140,613
Q2 ..... 58,915 ..... 83,279 ..... 142,194
Q3 ..... 62,365 ..... 77,221 ..... 139,586
Q4 ..... 64,331 ..... 81,853 ..... 146,184

Table 2. Patent Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2011*

Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 8,087,093 (225,777)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE43,052 (1,033)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0321,207 (321,181)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D651,375 (21,380)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP22,427 (1,612)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,265 (15)

*Based on preliminary weekly data from the USPTO website. Number totals may change due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

Strong Growth in Patent Applications Worldwide

Applications for patents and other forms of IP rebounded strongly in 2010, so says a new report from WIPO.
Inventors and companies filed 1.98 million patent applications worldwide in 2010, a new record. China and the U.S. accounted for about 80 percent of the growth. Canada experienced a slight decline of 5.1 percent; however, residents of Canada filed more than 80 percent of their patent applications in other countries.

Statistical Country Profiles from WIPO

Statistical country profiles for more than one hundred countries are now available on the WIPO website. Each profile provides information on patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs from 1995 to the present. Patent applications by the top fields of technology are given.This is a very useful resource for librarians, researchers, and students looking for national IP statistics.

US Patent Counts, Q2 2011

The USPTO issued fewer patents but published more applications in the second quarter of 2011. The number of patents declined by 5.1 percent to 58,920. The number of published applications increased by 6.1 percent to 83,279. The USPTO has issued more than 120,000 patents in the first six months of 2011, a slight increase over the same period last year.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*
2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,481 ..... 140,613
Q1 ..... 58,920 ..... 83,279 ..... 142,199


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

Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through June 30, 2011

Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 7,971,266 (109,316)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE42,509 (488)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0078,838 (78,481)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D640,855 (10,843)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP22,000 (397)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,258 (8)

US Patent Counts, Q1 2011

In the first quarter of 2011 the USPTO issued 62,132 patents, an increase of 1.7 percent from the previous quarter and 11.9 percent from the same period last year. The number of published applications declined by 4 percent from the previous quarter and was essentially unchanged from a year ago.

The USPTO is fast approaching its 8 millionth utility patent, which is likely to be issued in the second half of the year, probably in August. Patent 7,000,000, for a new type of polysaccharide fiber, was issued five years ago on February 14, 2006 to Dupont.

Patent No. 6,000,000 was granted on December 7, 1999 to inventors Jeff Hawkins and Michael Albanese. Their invention was a system for synchronizing files on two computers, the core technology of the Palm Pilot PDA, the first commercially successful hand-held electronic organizer. Palm was purchased by H-P for about $1.2 billion in 2010.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first published patent application on March 15, 2001. Since that date the USPTO has published approximately 2,706,056 utility and plant patent applications. Published applications now account for about 30 percent of all U.S. patent documents.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*


2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,481 ..... 140,613


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


Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Mar. 31, 2011


Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 7,917,966 (56,331)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE42,264 (243)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0078,838 (78,481)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D635,325 (5,326)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP21,833 (18)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,252 (2)

World Cities Ranked by Patent Productivity

Today's Globe and Mail published an interesting list of 24 cities ranked by the number of U.S. patents per 100,000 population. The top ranked Canadian city was Vancouver (11th), followed by Toronto (12th), Calgary (13th), Montreal (15th) and Halifax (20th). Seven of the top ten cities were in the U.S. There were some surprising omissions. Houston, for example, didn't make the list despite its high patent output. And San Diego and the Research Triangle area in North Carolina, home to many research universities and biotech companies, were also missing.

It's easy to dismiss such rankings as U.S.-centric because they're based only on USPTO data. But the fact is that many Canadian inventors and companies file applications first in the U.S. According to the USPTO's Fiscal Year 2010 annual report, Canadians filed 11,250 applications in 2009. In comparison, the CIPO received 5,215 patent applications from Canadian residents in 2009-2010.

It would be interesting to re-calculate this list based on PCT data from PatentScope. Cities with high filings of PCT patent applications per 100K pop. might indicate concentrations of companies with global rather than national or regional patent strategies.

US Patent Counts, 2010

The USPTO issued 244,421 patents and published 333,210 applications in 2010, an all-time high of 577,631 patent documents. The number of patents issued in Q4 dropped to 61,037, a slight decrease from the previous quarter. The number of published applications also declined in Q4 to 81,787.

It has been ten years since the USPTO began publishing utility and plant patent applications. In that time, the USPTO has published about 2.6 million applications.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*
2010 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 55,488 ..... 77,520 ..... 133,008
Q2 ..... 64,037 ..... 84,919 ..... 143,069
Q3 ..... 63,859 ..... 88,984 ..... 152,843
Q4 ..... 61,037 ..... 81,787 ..... 142,824

Q1-Q4 ..... 244,421 ..... 333,210 ..... 577,631

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

Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2010

Utility patents ..... 7,640,598 - 7,861,316
Reissues ..... RE41,067 - RE42,019
PGPubs ..... 2010/0000001 - 2010/0333245
Designs ..... D607,176 - D629,995
Plants ...... PP20,622 - PP21,603
SIRs ..... H2,234 - H2,250

Patent # 8,000,000 in 2011?

The USPTO is fast approaching another milestone... Patent number 8,000,000 might be less than a year away. The highest numbered utility patent (as of Oct. 19, 2010) is 7,818,816. At the current rate of about 60,000 patents per quarter, the USPTO could reach the 8 million mark as early as next August or September.

Patent 7,000,000 was issued on February 14, 2006 to American chemical company Dupont for a new type of polysaccharide fiber. Patent 7,500,000 was issued on March 3, 2009 to IBM.

U.S. Patent Counts, Q3

The USPTO issued 63,859 patents from July 1 through Sept. 30, a fraction less than the previous quarter but a large increase over last year's Q3 total of 47,042. Published applications set another record with nearly 90,000 released, a 17 precent increase over the same period in 2009. At this rate, the USPTO is on track to publish between 550,000-600,000 patent documents in 2010.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*

2010 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 55,488 ..... 77,520 ..... 133,008
Q2 ..... 64,037 ..... 84,919 ..... 143,069
Q3 ..... 63,859 ..... 88,984 ..... 152,843
Q1-Q3 ..... 183,384 ..... 251,423 ..... 428,920

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

Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2010

Utility patents ..... 7,640,598 - 7,805,766
Reissues ..... RE41,067 - RE41,788
PGPubs ..... 2010/0000001 - 2010/0251450
Designs ..... D607,176 - D624,725
Plants ...... PP20,622 - PP21,353
SIRs ..... H2,234 - H2,249

U.S. Patent Counts, Q2 2010

There was a huge jump in the number of issued U.S. patents in Q2. The USPTO issued 64,037 patents from April through June, 15.4 percent more than in Q1 and 31.7 percent more than the same period in 2009. The number of published applications also increased 9.5 percent, reversing a downward trend first noted in Q4 2009. If this output continues through the rest of the year the USPTO will publish a record-breaking 550,000 documents.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Counts*

2010 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 55,488 ..... 77,520 ..... 133,008
Q2 ..... 64,037 ..... 84,919 ..... 143,069

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

Table 2. Number Ranges for 2010, Jan. 1 - June 30

Utility patents ..... 7,640,598 - 7,748,052
Reissues ..... RE41,067 - RE41,411
PGPubs ..... 2010/0000001 - 2010/0162457
Designs ..... D607,176 - D618,875
Plants ...... PP20,622 - PP21,134
SIRs ..... H2,234 - H2,242

US Patent Counts, Q1 2010

The USPTO issued 55,488 patents in Q1, 11.3 percent more than the previous quarter and a 12 percent increase over the same period last year. In fact, this was the largest quarterly total in five years. The number of published applications was 77,520, a decline of 12.3 percent from the previous quarter. The global recession has had a negative impact on patent filings worldwide, with most patent offices reporting a decline in new applications over the past year. Since patent applications are published 18 months after filing, the number of published applications may continue to drop throughout 2010.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Counts*

2010 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 55,488 ..... 77,520 ..... 133,008
Q2
Q3
Q4

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

Table 2. Number Ranges for 2010, Jan. 1 - Mar. 30

Utility patents ..... 7,640,598 - 7,690,047
Reissues ..... RE41,067 - RE41,187
PGPubs ..... 2010/0000001 - 2010/0077525
Designs ..... D607,176 - D613,025
Plants ...... PP20,622 - PP20,912
SIRs ..... H2,234

Fostering Canadian Innovation

Today's Globe and Mail has another op-ed piece arguing that Canada needs to do better at promoting innovation and investing in R&D. ("Innovation is Our Hidden Deficit") It's probably true that Canada could do more at home to support innovation and the commercialization of new products. But the picture improves when you look at Canada's performance on the world stage.

For example, Canadian inventors and companies file more patent applications in the U.S. than they do in Canada. In 2007-2008, Canadian inventors filed 11,436 new patent applications with the USPTO but only 5,086 with the CIPO. This is not surprising given that most Canadian companies are eager to protect their IP in the US market. A strong portfolio of US patents will foster new partnerships, investments and business opportunities.

US Patent Counts, Q3 2009

The USPTO issued 47,042 patents in Q3, a decline of 3.2 percent from the previous quarter and the lowest total this year. The number of published applications was also down slightly, dropping to 76,040 from 81,288 in Q2. Despite this slowdown the USPTO is still on track to exceed last year's total of 312,854 published applications. More than 2.2 million applications have been published since 2001.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent and PGPub Counts*

2009 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 49,227 ..... 83,855 ..... 133,112
Q2 ..... 48,596 ..... 81,288 ..... 129,884
Q3 ..... 47,042 ..... 76,040 ..... 123,082

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

Table 2. Weekly Averages and Medians (Q3)

Patents ..... 3,619 ..... 3,729
PGPubs ..... 5,697 ..... 5,768

Table 3. Number Ranges for 2009, Jan. 1 - Sept. 30

Utility patents ..... 7,472,428 - 7,596,812
Reissues ..... RE40,613 - RE40,925
PGPubs ..... 2009/0000001 - 2009/0241233
Designs ..... D584,026 - D601,325
Plants ...... PP19,613 - PP20,374
SIRs ..... H2,228 - H2,232

Patent Statistics and Economic Development: Pros and Cons

Patent attorney Stephen Nipper and fellow blogger Chris Blanchard make some interesting comments on the use and misuse of patent statistics as measures of economic development and technological innovation. Both point to the case of Idaho, which in recent years has been ranked #1 in patents per capita thanks to the presence of Micron and HP, two patent powerhouses, in Boise.

I agree that patent statistics, like most statistical measures, can be misleading. In Canada, for example, tiny Yukon, pop. 31,000, ranks #1 in patents per capita, compared to the more populous and industralized provinces of Alberta (3.2 million), Ontario (12.5 million) and Quebec (7.5 million). Blanchard argues that patent statistical outliers like Yukon should be omitted or at least accounted for in economic development studies.

Nipper and Blanchard's criticism is a valid one, but I think it's wrong to completely dismiss patents as a useful (but indirect) measure of economic development. A large number of patents issued to a particular region or city might suggest a large population of highly educated engineers or successful independent inventors. For example, inventor Solly Angel, author of The Tale of the Scale, used patent statistics to decide what city might offer the best support network for a first-time inventor. He settled on New York because of its high concentration of patent attorneys, inventors, consulting engineers and suppliers.

Most patent offices publish annual patent statistics. The USPTO also publishes numerous reports on patent activity by organization, technology and geographic area. The WIPO collects and publishes patent statistics from around the world.

US Patent Counts, Q2 2009

The USPTO issued 48,596 patents in Q2, down slightly from 2008, and published 81,288 applications, 4.6 percent more than the same period last year. Approximately 2.1 million plant and utility patent applications have been published since 2001. The USPTO is on track to publish more than 330,000 applications in 2009, which would be the largest total on record.

Plant patent no. PP20,000 was issued on May 19, 2009 for a new and distinct type of Cuphea plant, a type of flowering shrub. The inventor is Christiaan Unger of Worms, Germany, who is credited with three other plant patents. Design patent no. 600,000 is expected in October. Only two statutory invention registrations have been registered this year, which suggests that their popularity is waning. SIRs are, for all intents and purposes, simply published applications. They may be cited as prior art but carry no patent rights.



Table 1. Quarterly Patent and PGPub Counts*

2009 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 49,227 ..... 83,855 ..... 133,112
Q2 ..... 48,596 ..... 81,288 ..... 129,884

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

Table 2. Weekly Averages and Medians (Q2)

Patents ..... 3,738 ..... 3,764
PGPubs ..... 6,253 ..... 6,228

Table 3. Number Ranges for 2009, Jan. 1 - June 30

Utility patents ..... 7,472,428 - 7,555,787
Reissues ..... RE40,613 - RE40,817
PGPubs ..... 2009/0000001 - 2009/0183289
Designs ..... D584,026 - D595,475
Plants ...... PP19,613 - PP20,148
SIRs ..... H2,228 - H2,229

US Patent Counts, Q1 2009

The number of US patents (B docs) issued in Q1 was 49,227, a 13 percent increase over 2008. However, this may be only a temporary blip. The USPTO's campaign to improve patent quality has increased the number of rejections to a level not seen in several decades. The USPTO's allowance rate at the end of 2008 was about 44.2 percent, a steep decline from 2000 when the allowance rate was 72 percent. And there is a growing belief that the current worldwide recession will cause a 5-10 percent decline in the number of new applications in 2009, which may ultimately lead to fewer issued patents.

The USPTO issued patent no. 7,500,000 on March 3.

The number of published applications (A docs) dipped slightly to 83,855, an 8 percent increase over 2008. Approximately 2,042,000 million plant and utility patent applications have been published since 2001. The two millionth application was published in February.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent and PGPub Counts*

2009 ..... Patents (B) .....PGPubs (A)..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 49,227 ..... 83,855 ..... 133,112

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

Table 2. Weekly Averages and Medians (Q1)

Patents ..... 3,516 ..... 3,756
PGPubs ..... 6,453 ..... 6,353

Table 3. Number Ranges for 2009

Utility patents ..... 7,472,428 -
Reissues ..... RE40,613 -
PGPubs ..... 2009/0000001 -
Designs ..... D584,026 -
Plants ...... PP19,613 -
SIRs ..... H2,228 -

Canadian Patents Reach 18,554 in 2007-2008

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office released its annual report for 2007-2008 earlier this year. The number of patents granted in 2007-2008 was 18,554, up from 16,100 in 2006-2007. The United States ranked first with 8,534 patents, or 46 percent of the total. Japan was second with 1,814 followed by Canada with 1,813. Almost 90 percent of Canadian patents were granted to foreign inventors.

Canadian Patents: Top Ten Countries

United States.....	8534.....	46%
Japan.....	1814.....	9.78%
Canada.....	1813.....	9.77%
Germany.....	1384.....	7.46%
France.....	957.....	5.16%
UK.....	749.....	4.04%
Switzerland.....	583.....	3.14%
Sweden.....	408.....	2.20%
Netherlands.....	312.....	1.68%
Finland.....	290.....	1.56%

Top Inventor Receives 577 US Patents in 2008

The other rather surprising statistic in the Boliven Patents Top 25 Report for 2008 was number of patents secured by the top-ranked inventor, Kia Silverbrook, founder of Silverbrook Research, a private R&D firm based in Sydney, Australia that specializes in inkjet printer technology. According to the report, and confirmed by checking the USPTO website, Silverbook received 577 US patents in 2008 (581 according to the USPTO). That's almost two patents a day. This is amazing. Thomas Edison received only 1,093 patents in his 60-year career. As of Feb. 12, Silverbrook is credited as an inventor on 2,430 US patents and 3,435 published applications. According to Silverbrook Research's website, the firm has more than 1,800 patents and 2,000 pending applications and employs over 400 research scientists, engineers and support staff.