1,000 US patent club 2020

In our breakdown of all entities that own at least 1,000 US patents, Samsung keeps a tight grip on the top spot but a wide decline in the number of applications suggests that many of the world’s leading rights holders are re-evaluating their invention pipelines

This year marks the third annual IAM/ktMINE US Patent 1000 analysis, which lists all the entities that own at least 1,000 granted, in-force US patents. This data is collected and aggregated by ktMINE through its IP data and analytics platform. ktMINE gathers IP data from sources and regulatory bodies including the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the USPTO, the EPO, WIPO, the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval, and the Public Access to Court Electronic Records, along with hundreds of news sources. It then links these data sets to form the most comprehensive repository of IP data available.

ktMINE’s technology cleanses hundreds of corporate data sources using algorithmic normalisation and clustering methods to consolidate entities. The company mapping processes more than 11.4 million corporate history records to determine the ultimate parent of each patent by leveraging SEC data and M&A information on company subsidiaries.

Top entities in intellectual property

In 2019 there were 368 entities holding 1,000 or more US patents – a minor uptick from 2018’s 367.

Moreover, there was a lot of movement in the list this year, as 145 entities moved up in the rankings, while another 36 entered the line-up for the first time. We also saw 173 entities slipping in the rankings, with another 35 dropping out of the list entirely. As a matter of observation, only 14 entities remained in the same position, including the top four: Samsung, IBM, Canon and Microsoft.

There were departures from the list in 14 of the 17 industries that we track, with particular emphasis on those that have traditionally enjoyed high IP activity: semiconductors, electronics and telecoms (six, six and four departing entities, respectively). In contrast, the latest additions span only 10 industries, with financial institutions representing 10 of the new entrants, implying that patent holdings are becoming more concentrated in fewer segments.

The entities in the IAM/ktMINE US Patent 1000 list control 1.934 million patents, relatively flat (0.3%) year on year from the 1.928 million in 2018. More striking are the applications: this year, entities control 372,000 applications, down 22% from 2018. Most segments experienced double-digit drops in application filings, with computing and software standing out for a 31% decline. Only the financial segment experienced a year-on-year gain in application filings (up 70%).

Table 1. Top 1,000 2020

You can view the table as a PDF here.

Entity	Grants	Apps	2019 applications	Ratio of applications to grants	% of application portfolio published in 2019	Industry	Country	Region
Samsung	87,189	17,971	7,382	20.6%	41.1%	Electronics	KR	Asia
IBM	55,666	15,837	6,851	28.5%	43.3%	Computing and software	US	North America
Canon	38,626	6,914	3,153	17.9%	45.6%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Microsoft	36,357	6,770	2,216	18.6%	32.7%	Computing and software	US	North America
LG Electronics	34,947	7,458	3,492	21.3%	46.8%	Electronics	KR	Asia
Intel	31,981	8,286	4,326	25.9%	52.2%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Alphabet	28,765	4,040	1,631	14.0%	40.4%	Computing and software	US	North America
Sony	26,571	5,755	2,632	21.7%	45.7%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Panasonic	24,735	4,252	1,975	17.2%	46.4%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Qualcomm	24,537	5,415	2,233	22.1%	41.2%	Semiconductors	US	North America
General Electric	22,131	5,183	1,757	23.4%	33.9%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Apple	20,704	3,916	1,705	18.9%	43.5%	Electronics	US	North America
Wilmington Trust	20,513	1,044	242	5.1%	23.2%	Financial institution	US	North America
Hitachi	19,687	3,741	1,514	19.0%	40.5%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Fujitsu	19,499	3,608	1,186	18.5%	32.9%	Computing and software	JP	Asia
Toyota	18,857	5,254	3,003	27.9%	57.2%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Mitsubishi	18,291	4,155	1,941	22.7%	46.7%	Conglomerate	JP	Asia
Fujifilm	18,120	3,765	1,684	20.8%	44.7%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
General Motors	17,455	1,918	950	11.0%	49.5%	Automotive	US	North America
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing	17,139	2,972	1,868	17.3%	62.9%	Semiconductors	TW	Asia
Seiko Epson	16,878	2,856	1,298	16.9%	45.4%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
Broadcom	19,953	818	272	4.1%	33.3%	Semiconductors	US	North America
JPMorgan Chase	15,960	2,548	810	16.0%	31.8%	Financial institution	US	North America
Toshiba	15,907	3,284	1,269	20.6%	38.6%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Siemens	15,902	3,397	1,275	21.4%	37.5%	Conglomerate	DE	Europe
Ford Motor	15,756	3,328	1,693	21.1%	50.9%	Automotive	US	North America
Medtronic	15,477	3,465	1,328	22.4%	38.3%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
United Technologies	15,207	5,465	2,244	35.9%	41.1%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Oracle	15,079	1,622	698	10.8%	43.0%	Computing and software	US	North America
Texas Instruments	15,015	1,534	762	10.2%	49.7%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Micron Technology	14,588	1,588	1,154	10.9%	72.7%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Bank of America	14,516	2,111	685	14.5%	32.4%	Financial institution	US	North America
Ricoh	14,294	1,630	670	11.4%	41.1%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Ericsson	13,743	2,786	1,279	20.3%	45.9%	Telecom	SE	Europe
Nokia	13,562	2,242	627	16.5%	28.0%	Telecom	FI	Europe
Huawei Technologies	13,550	6,617	3,201	48.8%	48.4%	Telecom	CN	Asia
Cisco	13,403	1,424	692	10.6%	48.6%	Telecom	US	North America
Hewlett-Packard Development Company	13,295	2,298	916	17.3%	39.9%	Computing and software	US	North America
Honda Motor	13,038	2,362	1,396	18.1%	59.1%	Automotive	JP	Asia
The Bank of New York Mellon (new entry)	13,019	1,630	846	12.5%	51.9%	Financial institution	US	North America
Robert Bosch	12,756	2,729	1,038	21.4%	38.0%	Automotive	DE	Europe
AT&T	12,704	1,730	826	13.6%	47.7%	Telecom	US	North America
Honeywell International	12,699	2,042	845	16.1%	41.4%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Dow DuPont	12,373	2,321	752	18.8%	32.4%	Chemicals	US	North America
Sharp	11,818	2,294	1,245	19.4%	54.3%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Boeing	11,699	2,152	966	18.4%	44.9%	Aerospace and defence	US	North America
Amazon	11,491	1,266	485	11.0%	38.3%	Electronics	US	North America
Denso Corp	11,487	2,421	1,343	21.1%	55.5%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Brother	11,233	848	581	7.5%	68.5%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
Western Digital	10,973	673	361	6.1%	53.6%	Electronics	US	North America
Johnson & Johnson	10,806	3,016	1,327	27.9%	44.0%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
NXP	10,583	624	271	5.9%	43.4%	Semiconductors	NL	Europe
Infineon Technologies	10,536	1,211	564	11.5%	46.6%	Semiconductors	DE	Europe
SK Group	10,252	1,626	946	15.9%	58.2%	Conglomerate	KR	Asia
Intellectual Ventures	10,108	670	129	6.6%	19.3%	Other	US	North America
Xerox	10,059	519	173	5.2%	33.3%	Imaging/printing	US	North America
NEC Corp	9,995	2,550	1,029	25.5%	40.4%	Computing and software	JP	Asia
Wells Fargo & Co	9,914	886	235	8.9%	26.5%	Financial institution	US	North America
Renesas	9,882	894	379	9.0%	42.4%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
Semiconductor Energy Laboratory	9,710	1,057	338	10.9%	32.0%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
BlackBerry	9,534	503	177	5.3%	35.2%	Telecom	CA	North America
Hon Hai	9,474	674	316	7.1%	46.9%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Philips	9,155	3,470	995	37.9%	28.7%	Electronics	NL	Europe
Hyundai Motor	9,098	2,424	1,160	26.6%	47.9%	Automotive	KR	Asia
LG Display Co Ltd	8,573	1,271	708	14.8%	55.7%	Electronics	KR	Asia
Stmicroelectronics	8,561	1,008	602	11.8%	59.7%	Semiconductors	CH	Europe
Kyocera	8,539	1,517	792	17.8%	52.2%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Boston Scientific Corp	8,323	1,952	607	23.5%	31.1%	Electronics	US	North America
Marvell Technology Group	8,290	262	140	3.2%	53.4%	Semiconductors	BM	North America
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development	8,280	1,064	481	12.9%	45.2%	Computing and software	US	North America
3M Co	8,274	2,312	800	27.9%	34.6%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Bayer	8,259	1,009	421	12.2%	41.7%	Medical/pharma	DE	Europe
Sumitomo Electric Industries	8,178	1,983	979	24.2%	49.4%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Abbott Laboratories	7,956	1,658	519	20.8%	31.3%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Procter & Gamble	7,855	2,341	638	29.8%	27.3%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Schlumberger	7,754	1,610	413	20.8%	25.7%	Energy	US	North America
Olympus	7,738	2,142	817	27.7%	38.1%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
SAP	7,367	1,335	465	18.1%	34.8%	Computing and software	DE	Europe
Konica Minolta	7,282	1,190	533	16.3%	44.8%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
BOE Technology Group	6,925	3,785	2,036	54.7%	53.8%	Electronics	CN	Asia
Nike	6,880	1,001	373	14.5%	37.3%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Verizon Communications	6,878	1,070	409	15.6%	38.2%	Telecom	US	North America
Airbus	6,598	1,504	565	22.8%	37.6%	Aerospace and defence	NL	Europe
Murata Manufacturing	6,588	1,687	852	25.6%	50.5%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
Halliburton	6,468	1,889	592	29.2%	31.3%	Energy	US	North America
Pangea KK	6,409	971	576	15.2%	59.3%	Other	JP	Asia
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute	5,852	1,311	560	22.4%	42.7%	University/research institution	KR	Asia
Applied Materials	5,808	1,722	674	29.6%	39.1%	Semiconductors	US	North America
BASF	5,742	1,591	546	27.7%	34.3%	Chemicals	DE	Europe
MediaTek	5,461	1,329	479	24.3%	36.0%	Semiconductors	TW	Asia
Deutsche Bank	5,388	634	284	11.8%	44.8%	Financial institution	DE	Europe
Caterpillar	5,269	636	255	12.1%	40.1%	Industrial	US	North America
ASM International	5,066	718	378	14.2%	52.6%	Semiconductors	NL	Europe
Facebook	4,963	2,098	699	42.3%	33.3%	Computing and software	US	North America
Seagate	4,947	328	166	6.6%	50.6%	Electronics	IE	Europe
Cortland Capital Market Services	4,938	303	103	6.1%	34.0%	Financial institution	US	North America
On Semiconductor	4,936	63	14	1.3%	22.2%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Industrial Technology Research Institute	4,855	662	279	13.6%	42.1%	University/research institution	TW	Asia
TDK	4,800	1,065	558	22.2%	52.4%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Lenovo	4,792	992	294	20.7%	29.6%	Electronics	HK	Asia
Baker Hughes	4,771	764	286	16.0%	37.4%	Energy	US	North America
Corning	4,767	1,359	522	28.5%	38.4%	Chemicals	US	North America
The University of California System	4,764	1,905	704	40.0%	37.0%	University/research institution	US	North America
Continental	4,608	998	403	21.7%	40.4%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Merck & Co	4,596	1,075	362	23.4%	33.7%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Raytheon	4,538	411	221	9.1%	53.8%	Aerospace and defence	US	North America
Sprint	4,464	35	21	0.8%	60.0%	Telecom	US	North America
Stanley Black & Decker	4,434	519	242	11.7%	46.6%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Advanced Micro Devices	4,411	618	362	14.0%	58.6%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Danaher	4,400	699	237	15.9%	33.9%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Tokyo Electron	4,377	1,166	488	26.6%	41.9%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
Dell	4,342	1,441	642	33.2%	44.6%	Computing and Software	US	North America
F Hoffman-Laroche	4,330	1,514	535	35.0%	35.3%	Medical/pharma	CH	Europe
Nissan Motor Co	4,308	419	197	9.7%	47.0%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Abb Asea Brown Boveri	4,273	719	320	16.8%	44.5%	Electronics	CH	Europe
Eaton	4,187	708	344	16.9%	48.6%	Energy	IE	Europe
Interdigital	4,185	1,032	297	24.7%	28.8%	Telecom	US	North America
Shenzhen Shenchao Technology Investment	4,049	835	244	20.6%	29.2%	Other	CN	Asia
Becton Dickinson	4,022	1,146	441	28.5%	38.5%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Yamaha	4,005	440	214	11.0%	48.6%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Japan Display	3,981	834	439	20.9%	52.6%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Aisin Seiki	3,931	735	371	18.7%	50.5%	Automotive	JP	Asia
AU Optronics	3,903	211	124	5.4%	58.8%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Safran	3,850	1,013	348	26.3%	34.4%	Aerospace and defence	FR	Europe
Adobe Systems	3,788	820	331	21.6%	40.4%	Imaging/printing	US	North America
IPValue	3,642	29	9	0.8%	31.0%	Other	US	North America
Carl Zeiss	3,600	747	296	20.8%	39.6%	Imaging/printing	DE	Europe
Emerson Electric	3,597	660	256	18.3%	38.8%	Energy	US	North America
Thermo Fisher	3,590	824	291	23.0%	35.3%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Exxon Mobil	3,539	705	297	19.9%	42.1%	Energy	US	North America
Illinois Tool Works	3,536	1,020	345	28.8%	33.8%	Industrial	US	North America
Bridgestone	3,522	823	248	23.4%	30.1%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Nikon	3,451	570	223	16.5%	39.1%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
Lockheed Martin	3,451	562	134	16.3%	23.8%	Aerospace and defence	US	North America
Deere & Co	3,389	601	341	17.7%	56.7%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Citigroup	3,385	846	165	25.0%	19.5%	Financial institution	US	North America
Eastman Kodak Co	3,364	116	42	3.4%	36.2%	Imaging/printing	US	North America
Xilinx	3,321	93	45	2.8%	48.4%	Semiconductors	US	North America
United Microelectronics	3,311	204	115	6.2%	56.4%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Analog Devices	3,300	245	74	7.4%	30.2%	Electronics	US	North America
Nvidia	3,277	258	139	7.9%	53.9%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Commissariat a Lenergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives	3,274	824	339	25.2%	41.1%	Energy	FR	Europe
Rolls-Royce	3,267	1,153	466	35.3%	40.4%	Automotive	GB	Europe
Yazaki	3,245	544	261	16.8%	48.0%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Osram	3,241	638	252	19.7%	39.5%	Semiconductors	DE	Europe
Motorola Solutions	3,184	200	97	6.3%	48.5%	Telecom	US	North America
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone	3,147	939	431	29.8%	45.9%	Telecom	JP	Asia
Masco Corp	3,137	113	50	3.6%	44.2%	Industrial	US	North America
eBay	3,127	1,677	574	53.6%	34.2%	Computing and software	US	North America
ZTE	3,061	957	269	31.3%	28.1%	Telecom	CN	Asia
Stryker	3,061	861	391	28.1%	45.4%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Whirlpool	3,059	533	254	17.4%	47.7%	Consumer goods	US	North America
TE Connectivity	2,999	388	186	12.9%	47.9%	Electronics	CH	Europe
Lam Research	2,923	443	158	15.2%	35.7%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Zimmer Biomet	2,836	526	144	18.5%	27.4%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
CNH Industrial Group	2,806	467	256	16.6%	54.8%	Industrial	NL	Europe
Shin-Etsu Chemical	2,802	626	266	22.3%	42.5%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Juniper Networks	2,765	191	98	6.9%	51.3%	Computing and software	US	North America
Macronix International	2,704	80	46	3.0%	57.5%	Semiconductors	TW	Asia
International Game Technology	2,655	182	73	6.9%	40.1%	Entertainment	IT	Europe
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology	2,627	1,043	430	39.7%	41.2%	University/research institution	US	North America
Rohm	2,627	394	193	15.0%	49.0%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
BMW	2,618	879	323	33.6%	36.7%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Credit Suisse (new entry)	2,611	406	133	15.5%	32.8%	Financial institution	CH	Europe
Syngenta	2,582	229	88	8.9%	38.4%	Chemicals	CH	Europe
Signify Holding (new entry)	2,580	465	201	18.0%	43.2%	Electronics	NL	Europe
MAN SE	2,542	690	335	27.1%	48.6%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Bristol-Myers Squibb	2,516	478	219	19.0%	45.8%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Sanofi-Aventis	2,486	669	178	26.9%	26.6%	Medical/pharma	FR	Europe
Novartis	2,459	723	293	29.4%	40.5%	Medical/pharma	CH	Europe
Delta Electronics	2,455	404	213	16.5%	52.7%	Electronics	TW	Asia
L3Harris Technologies	2,439	103	51	4.2%	49.5%	Aerospace and defence	US	North America
SVB Financial Group	2,414	563	144	23.3%	25.6%	Financial institution	US	North America
Schaeffler Technologies	2,345	437	192	18.6%	43.9%	Automotive	DE	Europe
US Navy	2,331	359	158	15.4%	44.0%	Other	US	North America
Kimberly-Clark	2,309	280	87	12.1%	31.1%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Johnson Controls	2,291	869	423	37.9%	48.7%	Industrial	US	North America
Wistron	2,288	177	95	7.7%	53.7%	Electronics	TW	Asia
WSOU Investments Llc (new entry)	2,285	11	2	0.5%	18.2%	Other	US	North America
Northrop Grumman	2,281	142	48	6.2%	33.8%	Aerospace and defence	US	North America
FANUC	2,255	1,144	610	50.7%	53.3%	Computing and software	JP	Asia
Fuji Electric	2,220	471	253	21.2%	53.7%	Energy	JP	Asia
Omron	2,214	912	495	41.2%	54.3%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Komatsu	2,163	397	170	18.4%	42.8%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Goodyear Tire & Rubber	2,158	164	60	7.6%	36.6%	Automotive	US	North America
Casio	2,145	540	223	25.2%	41.3%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Xperi	2,133	163	87	7.6%	53.4%	Electronics	US	North America
Dominion Harbor (new entry)	2,131	126	2	5.9%	1.6%	Other	US	North America
Absa Bank	2,123	256	72	12.1%	28.1%	Financial institution	ZA	Africa
Synopsys	2,115	143	42	6.8%	29.4%	Electronics	US	North America
Innolux	2,098	340	185	16.2%	54.4%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Quarterhill (new entry)	2,077	17	4	0.8%	23.5%	Other	CA	North America
Oki Electric Industry	2,076	121	56	5.8%	46.3%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Walt Disney	2,064	371	134	18.0%	36.1%	Entertainment	US	North America
FCA US Llc	2,060	120	66	5.8%	55.0%	Automotive	US	North America
Fila Korea	2,056	160	79	7.8%	49.4%	Consumer goods	KR	Asia
Rockwell Automation	2,055	241	96	11.7%	39.8%	Industrial	US	North America
Netapp	2,047	290	69	14.2%	23.8%	Computing and software	US	North America
Sabic Global Technologies	2,037	781	362	38.3%	46.4%	Energy	SA	Middle East
Kohler	2,032	159	88	7.8%	55.3%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal	2,026	579	204	28.6%	35.2%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Daimler	2,024	139	42	6.9%	30.2%	Automotive	DE	Europe
PNC Bank (new entry)	2,009	183	50	9.1%	27.3%	Financial institution	US	North America
The University of Texas System	1,951	906	303	46.4%	33.4%	University/research institution	US	North America
ACG	1,948	503	216	25.8%	42.9%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Jefferies Financial	1,944	118	41	6.1%	34.7%	Financial institution	US	North America
Battelle Memorial Institute	1,941	441	151	22.7%	34.2%	University/research institution	US	North America
Kla-Tencor	1,940	295	136	15.2%	46.1%	Automotive	US	North America
Ecolab	1,933	439	159	22.7%	36.2%	Other	US	North America
Excalibur IP	1,922	321	8	16.7%	2.5%	Other	US	North America
Dolby Laboratories	1,920	348	213	18.1%	61.2%	Consumer goods	US	North America
HTC	1,908	328	124	17.2%	37.8%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Nitto Denko	1,902	553	175	29.1%	31.6%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Valeo	1,889	598	168	31.7%	28.1%	Automotive	FR	Europe
Nuance Communications	1,889	194	65	10.3%	33.5%	Telecom	US	North America
Henkel Ag & Co	1,888	781	256	41.4%	32.8%	Consumer goods	DE	Europe
Goldman Sachs	1,879	240	38	12.8%	15.8%	Financial institution	US	North America
Sumitomo Chemical	1,876	546	210	29.1%	38.5%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Thales	1,870	332	134	17.8%	40.4%	Industrial	FR	Europe
Arm Ltd	1,862	522	256	28.0%	49.0%	Semiconductors	GB	Europe
Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique	1,860	783	300	42.1%	38.3%	University/research institution	FR	Europe
Parker Hannifin	1,860	322	103	17.3%	32.0%	Industrial	US	North America
Asahi Kasei	1,853	659	253	35.6%	38.4%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Newell Rubbermaid	1,847	81	24	4.4%	29.6%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Compagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin	1,846	582	153	31.5%	26.3%	Automotive	FR	Europe
Allergan	1,837	351	34	19.1%	9.7%	Medical/pharma	IE	Europe
Veritas Technologies	1,836	33	12	1.8%	36.4%	Computing and software	US	North America
Stanford University	1,822	686	260	37.7%	37.9%	University/research institution	US	North America
Audi	1,820	515	222	28.3%	43.1%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Schneider Electric	1,819	284	115	15.6%	40.5%	Energy	FR	Europe
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation	1,781	401	133	22.5%	33.2%	University/research institution	US	North America
Stats Chippac	1,775	47	7	2.6%	14.9%	Semiconductors	SG	Asia
Crestline Direct Finance (new entry)	1,761	252	5	14.3%	2.0%	Financial institution	US	North America
Berkshire Hathaway	1,754	373	136	21.3%	36.5%	Conglomerate	US	North America
Chevron	1,749	229	107	13.1%	46.7%	Energy	US	North America
Cadence Design Systems	1,740	-	-	N/A	N/A	Electronics	US	North America
Porsche	1,738	282	133	16.2%	47.2%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Colgate Palmolive	1,735	474	165	27.3%	34.8%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Sanyo Electric	1,727	196	69	11.3%	35.2%	Electronics	JP	Asia
US Department of Health and Human Services	1,722	797	199	46.3%	25.0%	University/research institution	US	North America
Nintendo	1,722	240	64	13.9%	26.7%	Entertainment	JP	Asia
NGK Insulators	1,720	429	172	24.9%	40.1%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Saint-Gobain Glass	1,719	591	205	34.4%	34.7%	Chemicals	FR	Europe
Magna International	1,715	562	249	32.8%	44.3%	Automotive	CA	North America
Daikin Industries	1,713	366	160	21.4%	43.7%	Industrial	JP	Asia
JTEKT	1,709	342	159	20.0%	46.5%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Hoya	1,708	205	96	12.0%	46.8%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Accenture	1,706	518	241	30.4%	46.5%	Other	IE	Europe
California Institute of Technology	1,702	430	169	25.3%	39.3%	University/research institution	US	North America
Rambus	1,697	223	121	13.1%	54.3%	Other	US	North America
Tencent Technology	1,694	1,162	420	68.6%	36.1%	Computing and software	CN	Asia
Volvo	1,681	366	173	21.8%	47.3%	Automotive	DE	Europe
VIA Technologies	1,678	24	8	1.4%	33.3%	Semiconductors	TW	Asia
BAE Systems	1,664	212	89	12.7%	42.0%	Aerospace and defence	GB	Europe
MUFG Union Bank (new entry)	1,660	119	62	7.2%	52.1%	Financial institution	US	North America
Nidec	1,657	704	430	42.5%	61.1%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Koch Industries	1,647	218	110	13.2%	50.5%	Energy	US	North America
Salesforce	1,642	882	391	53.7%	44.3%	Computing and software	US	North America
Boehringer Ingelheim International	1,639	274	92	16.7%	33.6%	Medical/pharma	DE	Europe
Cook Group	1,636	355	109	21.7%	30.7%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Shimano	1,628	314	167	19.3%	53.2%	Consumer goods	JP	Asia
Socionext	1,621	85	62	5.2%	72.9%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Haier	1,617	372	198	23.0%	53.2%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Cummins Inc	1,611	388	182	24.1%	46.9%	Energy	US	North America
Comcast	1,609	808	343	50.2%	42.5%	Telecom	US	North America
Borgwarner	1,599	401	134	25.1%	33.4%	Automotive	US	North America
Kobe Steel	1,597	476	160	29.8%	33.6%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Xiaomi	1,578	631	176	40.0%	27.9%	Electronics	CN	Asia
Morgan Stanley (new entry)	1,558	289	109	18.5%	37.7%	Financial institution	US	North America
Weatherford Technology	1,553	219	88	14.1%	40.2%	Energy	US	North America
L’Oréal	1,547	892	208	57.7%	23.3%	Consumer goods	FR	Europe
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaf	1,545	618	323	40.0%	52.3%	University/research institution	DE	Europe
Skyworks Solutions	1,528	423	222	27.7%	52.5%	Semiconductors	US	North America
Kawasaki	1,503	381	189	25.3%	49.6%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Technicolor	1,501	456	60	30.4%	13.2%	Other	FR	Europe
Saudi Arabian Oil	1,492	805	489	54.0%	60.7%	Energy	SA	Middle East
Realtek Semiconductor	1,487	150	99	10.1%	66.0%	Semiconductors	TW	Asia
Shell Oil	1,451	348	96	24.0%	27.6%	Energy	US	North America
Nestlé	1,444	736	191	51.0%	26.0%	Consumer goods	CH	Europe
Nichia	1,439	369	226	25.6%	61.2%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Kao Corp	1,437	298	138	20.7%	46.3%	Consumer goods	JP	Asia
RAG	1,431	251	72	17.5%	28.7%	Energy	DE	Europe
Mahle International	1,428	353	120	24.7%	34.0%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Royal Bank of Canada (new entry)	1,422	155	61	10.9%	39.4%	Financial institution	CA	North America
Textron	1,417	544	298	38.4%	54.8%	Industrial	US	North America
China Citic Bank Corporation (new entry)	1,410	4	-	0.3%	0.0%	Financial institution	CN	Asia
Abbvie	1,394	288	102	20.7%	35.4%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Ingersoll Rand	1,384	401	120	29.0%	29.9%	Industrial	IE	Europe
Furukawa Electric	1,374	323	139	23.5%	43.0%	Energy	JP	Asia
Citrix Systems	1,368	283	158	20.7%	55.8%	Computing and software	US	North America
Altria Group (new entry)	1,360	814	261	59.9%	32.1%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Centurylink	1,351	322	141	23.8%	43.8%	Telecom	US	North America
Semiconductor Manufacturing International	1,336	273	127	20.4%	46.5%	Electronics	CN	Asia
Hubbell	1,330	267	144	20.1%	53.9%	Industrial	US	North America
Terumo	1,315	613	201	46.6%	32.8%	Medical/pharma	JP	Asia
E Ink	1,315	168	72	12.8%	42.9%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Lapis Semiconductor	1,308	104	60	8.0%	57.7%	Semiconductors	JP	Asia
Funai Electric	1,306	69	26	5.3%	37.7%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Karsten Manufacturing	1,296	165	103	12.7%	62.4%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Tenneco (new entry)	1,294	239	81	18.5%	33.9%	Automotive	US	North America
NTN Corp	1,290	327	154	25.3%	47.1%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Shimadzu	1,287	491	252	38.2%	51.3%	Industrial	JP	Asia
GlaxoSmithKline	1,283	344	114	26.8%	33.1%	Medical/pharma	GB	Europe
Hamamatsu Photonics	1,281	223	115	17.4%	51.6%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
JVC Kenwood	1,277	162	89	12.7%	54.9%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Cree	1,274	119	56	9.3%	47.1%	Electronics	US	North America
Pfizer	1,267	292	94	23.0%	32.2%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Toray Industries	1,258	578	219	45.9%	37.9%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Dai Nippon Printing	1,252	286	133	22.8%	46.5%	Imaging/printing	JP	Asia
Delphi Technologies	1,250	176	96	14.1%	54.5%	Automotive	GB	Europe
Toyoda Gosei	1,241	187	97	15.1%	51.9%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Smith & Nephew	1,236	394	155	31.9%	39.3%	Medical/pharma	GB	Europe
Qorvo (new entry)	1,228	164	93	13.4%	56.7%	Semiconductors	US	North America
NGK Spark Plug	1,226	197	93	16.1%	47.2%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Johns Hopkins University	1,224	564	160	46.1%	28.4%	University/research institution	US	North America
MidCap Financial Trust (new entry)	1,223	222	60	18.2%	27.0%	Financial institution	CA	North America
Target	1,214	95	41	7.8%	43.2%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Tata Motors (new entry)	1,209	304	142	25.1%	46.7%	Automotive	IN	Asia
Capital One (new entry)	1,208	552	292	45.7%	52.9%	Financial institution	CA	North America
SC Johnson & Son	1,208	71	21	5.9%	29.6%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Volkswagen	1,207	536	274	44.4%	51.1%	Automotive	DE	Europe
Mitsui Chemicals	1,203	298	114	24.8%	38.3%	Chemicals	JP	Asia
Pure Storage (new entry)	1,199	405	171	33.8%	42.2%	Electronics	US	North America
The University of Michigan	1,198	377	155	31.5%	41.1%	University/research institution	US	North America
DSM IP Assets	1,196	438	128	36.6%	29.2%	Chemicals	NL	Europe
Unilever	1,189	307	106	25.8%	34.5%	Consumer goods	NL	Europe
Conversant Intellectual Property Management	1,185	63	24	5.3%	38.1%	Other	CA	North America
Epistar	1,179	163	78	13.8%	47.9%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Mazda Motor	1,178	370	225	31.4%	60.8%	Automotive	JP	Asia
Joled	1,176	143	66	12.2%	46.2%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Baxter	1,174	243	95	20.7%	39.1%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Aptiv Technologies (new entry)	1,169	159	82	13.6%	51.6%	Automotive	IE	Europe
Maxim Integrated Products	1,168	76	31	6.5%	40.8%	Electronics	US	North America
Solvay	1,149	504	132	43.9%	26.2%	Chemicals	BE	Europe
Electrolux	1,146	143	38	12.5%	26.6%	Consumer goods	US	North America
Total	1,136	409	142	36.0%	34.7%	Energy	FR	Europe
Autoliv	1,136	97	53	8.5%	54.6%	Automotive	SE	Europe
Fujikura	1,130	241	98	21.3%	40.7%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Bose	1,130	175	109	15.5%	62.3%	Electronics	US	North America
Sandvik	1,120	247	92	22.1%	37.2%	Industrial	SE	Europe
Intuit (new entry)	1,118	159	50	14.2%	31.4%	Computing and software	US	North America
Omnivision Technologies (new entry)	1,117	63	34	5.6%	54.0%	Semiconductors	CN	Asia
Lutron Technology (new entry)	1,107	141	64	12.7%	45.4%	Electronics	US	North America
Visa (new entry)	1,100	733	255	66.6%	34.8%	Financial Institution	US	North America
Maxell (new entry)	1,092	202	98	18.5%	48.5%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Keysight Technologies	1,092	89	31	8.2%	34.8%	Electronics	US	North America
Karl Storz SE & Co Kg (new entry)	1,086	114	39	10.5%	34.2%	Medical/pharma	DE	Europe
Avaya	1,086	50	38	4.6%	76.0%	Telecom	US	North America
Agilent Technologies	1,084	141	41	13.0%	29.1%	Computing and software	US	North America
Cirrus Logic	1,083	236	151	21.8%	64.0%	Electronics	US	North America
Takeda Pharmaceutical (new entry)	1,070	293	106	27.4%	36.2%	Medical/pharma	JP	Asia
Memjet Technology	1,069	36	29	3.4%	80.6%	Imaging/printing	US	North America
NSK	1,065	153	88	14.4%	57.5%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Pioneer	1,063	165	74	15.5%	44.8%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Advantest	1,059	69	23	6.5%	33.3%	Electronics	JP	Asia
Essilor International (new entry)	1,058	246	85	23.3%	34.6%	Medical/pharma	FR	Europe
Silicon Laboratories	1,050	80	49	7.6%	61.3%	Electronics	US	North America
Inventec	1,042	116	39	11.1%	33.6%	Electronics	TW	Asia
Intuitive Surgical (new entry)	1,041	524	254	50.3%	48.5%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Resmed (new entry)	1,032	297	85	28.8%	28.6%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Yokohama Rubber	1,031	381	138	37.0%	36.2%	Industrial	JP	Asia
Arkema (new entry)	1,019	504	162	49.5%	32.1%	Chemicals	FR	Europe
Acer (new entry)	1,013	174	91	17.2%	52.3%	Computing and software	TW	Asia
Rakuten (new entry)	1,005	205	47	20.4%	22.9%	Other	JP	Asia
Twitter (new entry)	1,004	69	21	6.9%	30.4%	Computing and software	US	North America
Trimble Navigation	1,004	50	17	5.0%	34.0%	Electronics	US	North America
NCR	1,003	131	-	13.1%	0.0%	Electronics	US	North America
Japan Aviation Electronics	1,002	38	25	3.8%	65.8%	Electronics	JP	Asia

Metholodogy

To create this list, ktMINE analysed patent publications to determine granted and pending patent applications in good standing with the USPTO. Granted patent data includes utility patents along with design and plant patents. Patents and applications that have expired, been abandoned or are otherwise unmaintained are excluded from this data set. The data pulled for this publication is current as of 1 January 2020. ktMINE technology aggregates each granted patent and application owner to a corporate tree in order to create the most up-to-date, accurate and complete snapshot of each company’s patent portfolio. Each entity is designated by the location of its corporate headquarters for supplementary analysis. In addition, we include the ratio of patent application activity to consider the rate of an entity’s innovation. These are based on each entity’s patent publication activity in 2019 relative to its overall portfolio of granted patents.

A quick look at the statistics

For patent portfolios, the median number of patents in 2019 is 2,161, with the average held at 5,257 – figures that are on par with 2018. This is in stark contrast to applications, where the median for 2019 is 491, off 12% from 2018. What is more, the average number of applications held is 1,010, a fall of 23%. These observations support the conclusions noted in the top 100 list that the number of applications filed may have reached a peak last year – given that applications precede grants, we might expect grants to level off this year and perhaps decline next year.

The top 10% of entities control 840,560 granted US patents, a fall of 6.1% from 2018. The top 10% also hold 154,095 US applications, down by 26%, so the drop in application filings of the large portfolio holders is more pronounced than the 23% seen throughout the entirety of the list. Further observations confirm that this drop is not contained within any one particular region nor confined to any particular business segment.

Industries

Electronics was once again the largest segment in 2019, holding 24% of US grants in the list. The semiconductor, computing and software, automotive and financial sectors round out the top five.

With 10 new entities, the number of financial institutions on the list has nearly doubled. As we noted last year, there has been a tremendous transfer of intellectual property to financial entities and this sector is the only one to exhibit increases in both patents (up 212%) and applications (up 70%). The 22 finance entities now control over 111,000 patents and over 14,000 applications.

More expertise in-house and from external providers has given financial institutions more confidence to invest in patents. It is also worth noting that as the economic crisis related to covid-19 continues to unfold, patents – which are often viewed as counter-cyclical assets – might prove to be an increasingly attractive investment proposition.

Table 2. Top 15 applications to grants

Entity	Grants	Apps	2019 applications	Ratio of applications to grants	% of application portfolio published in 2019	Industry	Country	Region
Tencent Technology	1,694	1,162	420	68.6%	36.1%	Computing and software	CN	Asia
Visa	1,100	733	255	66.6%	34.8%	Financial institution	US	North America
Altria Group	1,360	814	261	59.9%	32.1%	Consumer goods	US	North America
L'Oréal	1,547	892	208	57.7%	23.3%	Consumer goods	FR	Europe
BOE Technology Group	6,925	3,785	2,036	54.7%	53.8%	Electronics	CN	Asia
Saudi Arabian Oil	1,492	805	489	54.0%	60.7%	Energy	SA	Middle East
Salesforce	1,642	882	391	53.7%	44.3%	Computing and software	US	North America
eBay	3,127	1,677	574	53.6%	34.2%	Computing and software	US	North America
Nestlé	1,444	736	191	51.0%	26.0%	Consumer goods	CH	Europe
FANUC	2,255	1,144	610	50.7%	53.3%	Computing and software	JP	Asia
Intuitive Surgical	1,041	524	254	50.3%	48.5%	Medical/pharma	US	North America
Comcast	1,609	808	343	50.2%	42.5%	Telecom	US	North America
Arkema	1,019	504	162	49.5%	32.1%	Chemicals	FR	Europe
Huawei Technologies	13,550	6,617	3,201	48.8%	48.4%	Telecom	CN	Asia
Terumo	1,315	613	201	46.6%	32.8%	Medical/pharma	JP	Asia

Figure 1. Representation by country

The aerospace and defence segment turned in a reasonable year with the number of patents increasing by 13% from 2018 – perhaps a reflection of economies shifting from globalisation strategies towards more domestic efforts. Still, even though granted patents were up for this sector, applications numbers were down by 16%.

The automotive sector (at 5%) and medical/pharma sector (at 3%) experienced modest upticks in patent holdings. However, these spaces saw drops in application filings that are likely to reverberate in the coming years (down 15% and 18%, respectively).

On the other side of the spectrum, the semiconductor, imaging/printing, industrial and telecoms sectors have seen reductions in their patent holdings (down 9%, 9%, 8% and 8%, respectively). These are mature IP markets that have already been experiencing patent downturns. A combination of unfavourable case law, stagnant legislation, patentable subject matter and other issues continues to make traditional assertion or licensing strategies difficult. For entities such as telecoms, filings have plateaued and the commercialisation of newer technology (eg, 5G) has not developed sufficient momentum to encourage significant increases in IP holdings.

Breakdown by country

This year, the list comprises entities from 22 countries spanning five regions (a slight drop from 24 countries in 2018). Roughly one-half are from North America and hold 49% of the granted US patents, followed by Asia (representing 33% of entities, holding 38% of patents) and Europe (20% of entities, holding 13% of patents).

More specifically, the number of US entities (165) has fallen by seven, year on year. While the number of patents that they own has increased by 2%, the number of applications that they hold has dropped by 21%.

The number of Japanese entities increased by two, but they control 6% fewer patents and 22% fewer applications than they did a year ago. This may suggest that their older portfolios are continuing to be divested with fewer new innovations to take their place.

Europe added four more entities to its roster in 2019 and holds 2.2% more patents, but saw the most dramatic drop in applications (down 27%). The standout is Ireland, which owns 10% more patents than it did a year ago – the greatest gain of any European country – but holds 21% fewer applications.

Interestingly, and in contrast to overall trends, IP owners from countries outside the major regions have increased both the number of patents and the number of applications that they hold. The four entities from India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa admittedly represent a small fraction of the total (0.4% of worldwide patents and 0.6% of worldwide applications); however, this observation may be a small indication of where innovation is growing. Collectively, these countries registered year-on-year gains of patents and applications (up 29% and 16%, respectively).

Perhaps the most interesting shift among the largest patent owners relates to applications. A closer look at the numbers shows that of the applications held in 2018, 32% were filed within the current year. In 2019, this percentage had increased to 41%.

At the industry level, the semiconductor segment (49%) and the automotive segment (48%) are outpacing the average, while the portfolios held by the financial (33%) and entertainment (34%) segments are less current.

Even though the number of applications is down, certain industries are continuing or maybe even accelerating their rates of innovation. Rather than perceiving the decline in applications as a lull, it may be better explained as a strategic culling or a retooling effort as part of the natural innovation cycle.

Even at the country level, we notice differences. For example, countries such as Taiwan (52%), China (45%) and Japan (45%) are collectively outpacing the average. Meanwhile, countries such as France (32%) and the Netherlands (36%) might be struggling to rekindle innovation while simultaneously facing declines in assets.

Companies on the move in 2019

Up

Generally speaking, 2019 was a strong year for the financial sector. Most notably, Wilmington Trust exploded up the rankings by a whopping 321 positions (the biggest rise in the list this year) to 13th position; Deutsche Bank rocketed up 167 spots (to 91st); and the Bank of New York Mellon, a new entrant, debuted at number 40.

Outside of finance, the energy industry saw Saudi Arabian Oil move up 88 positions (purely through organic filings). The auto sector saw activity with Audi rising 86 positions due to steady filing activity between 2015 and 2017 in electric drive technologies.

Down

However, the auto industry also saw some notable falls, with Delphi Technologies slipping 134 spots – the biggest fall this year. The decline can be explained through a series of events stemming from its spin out from Delphi Automotive, resulting in the divestment of a cache of assets to Aptiv PLC. However, this does not reflect the pending acquisition of Delphi Technologies by BorgWarner, so more changes are in store for the auto supplier.

As for the electronics segment, Cree Inc saw a decline of 119 places, primarily due to the divestiture of its lighting products division, along with the related portfolio of over 1,275 US granted patents, to Ideal Industries Inc.

Funai Electric, a Japanese electronics firm, has a strong history of US grants and applications, but has seen a precipitous drop in US grants in 2019, falling 99 spots. Part of this is due to the assignment of a printing-related portfolio to commercialisation entity Slingshot Printing LLC. Additionally, Funai has seen multiple patent expirations. These lapses may be calculated responses to market challenges that serve to stabilise their business by divesting unprofitable products and associated expenses.

Other declines to note include Pfizer (down 87 places following divestitures), CenturyLink (down 81 places) and Dell (down 73 places following a collateralisation deal).

Figure 2. Industries

2019 – a tipping point

From the data, it is easy to see that patents and applications are both following a downward trend. Granted patents are arguably flat year on year, but the declines in applications are strong enough to suggest an upcoming fall in US grants. Even China, which in terms of patent filings has become the world’s IP juggernaut, has seen a drop in US applications. Chinese entities on our list saw a 14% year-on-year decline in applications.

The number of assets held provides only limited insights and supplemental analysis of the applications may explain how innovation is changing, perhaps manifesting in a different way. This year’s rankings point to a long-term shift among the world’s largest patent owners, where it is no longer the size of the portfolio that determines value but the applicability of that portfolio towards a defined business strategy.

At this point, it is difficult to analyse last year’s data without considering the potential impact of the covid-19 pandemic. We will be keeping an eye on how 2020 unfolds. While it may seem that patents will take a backseat to current events in the short term, there may be some comfort in the knowledge that innovation often sprouts from such times.