Global Patent Statistics
A decade of patents: +86% growth and a 2020 peak
Between 2013 and 2023, innovators filed 82,146,214 patent applications across 38 countries. Annual filings grew from 4,786,571 to 8,898,738 (+86%), with a clear peak in 2020.
82,146,214
Total Applications
38
Countries
8
Technology Sections
656
Subclasses Tracked
2020 broke the curve
Annual filings climbed almost every year until 2020, when they reached 9,874,601 applications (+19% over 2019). Since then, volumes have eased 10% across nearly every section, settling above the pre-peak level.
| Year | Section A | Section B | Section C | Section D | Section E | Section F | Section G | Section H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 817,850 | 863,153 | 629,161 | 61,028 | 190,907 | 511,027 | 858,348 | 855,097 |
| 2014 | 893,121 | 939,275 | 662,995 | 59,804 | 202,837 | 529,693 | 904,597 | 874,096 |
| 2015 | 1,016,917 | 1,084,822 | 714,300 | 70,606 | 235,393 | 578,560 | 1,008,150 | 936,084 |
| 2016 | 1,136,698 | 1,268,428 | 798,447 | 84,367 | 270,570 | 649,887 | 1,151,683 | 1,028,254 |
| 2017 | 1,220,999 | 1,554,399 | 838,633 | 92,964 | 324,701 | 736,253 | 1,322,440 | 1,132,529 |
| 2018 | 1,249,730 | 1,727,426 | 855,744 | 101,791 | 358,114 | 770,904 | 1,449,719 | 1,184,384 |
| 2019 | 1,289,277 | 1,944,300 | 837,078 | 105,829 | 416,843 | 814,565 | 1,653,255 | 1,250,589 |
| 2020 | 1,527,621 | 2,457,738 | 895,194 | 123,336 | 534,467 | 1,009,174 | 1,913,723 | 1,413,348 |
| 2021 | 1,411,332 | 2,226,224 | 863,293 | 103,336 | 495,731 | 892,198 | 1,940,952 | 1,368,274 |
| 2022 | 1,238,102 | 2,164,077 | 858,096 | 95,993 | 468,294 | 839,568 | 1,906,843 | 1,381,941 |
| 2023 | 1,150,791 | 2,239,057 | 815,137 | 96,496 | 476,549 | 831,258 | 1,925,543 | 1,363,907 |
Performing Operations (B) and Fixed Constructions (E) pulled ahead
Indexed to 2013, Section B (Performing Operations) grew +159% and Section E (Fixed Constructions) grew +150%, far ahead of the slowest field, Section C (Chemistry) at +30%. The chart shows how unevenly the last decade treated the eight technology fields. See which subclasses drive this shift.
| Year | Section A | Section B | Section C | Section D | Section E | Section F | Section G | Section H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2014 | 109 | 109 | 105 | 98 | 106 | 104 | 105 | 102 |
| 2015 | 124 | 126 | 114 | 116 | 123 | 113 | 117 | 109 |
| 2016 | 139 | 147 | 127 | 138 | 142 | 127 | 134 | 120 |
| 2017 | 149 | 180 | 133 | 152 | 170 | 144 | 154 | 132 |
| 2018 | 153 | 200 | 136 | 167 | 188 | 151 | 169 | 139 |
| 2019 | 158 | 225 | 133 | 173 | 218 | 159 | 193 | 146 |
| 2020 | 187 | 285 | 142 | 202 | 280 | 197 | 223 | 165 |
| 2021 | 173 | 258 | 137 | 169 | 260 | 175 | 226 | 160 |
| 2022 | 151 | 251 | 136 | 157 | 245 | 164 | 222 | 162 |
| 2023 | 141 | 259 | 130 | 158 | 250 | 163 | 224 | 160 |
Performing Operations files the most patents
Section B (Performing operations; transporting) accounts for 22% of all filings between 2013 and 2023, ahead of Section G (Physics) and Section A (Human necessities). Browse Section B.
| Section | Title | Applications |
|---|---|---|
| B | PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING | 18,468,899 |
| G | PHYSICS | 16,035,253 |
| A | HUMAN NECESSITIES | 12,952,438 |
| H | ELECTRICITY | 12,788,503 |
| C | CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY | 8,768,078 |
| F | MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING | 8,163,087 |
| E | FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS | 3,974,406 |
| D | TEXTILES; PAPER | 995,550 |
Four countries dominate the filings tracked here
United States, South Korea, Japan, Germany together account for 78% of the applications attributed to the top applicants tracked in this dataset.
- 1 United States 29%
- 2 South Korea 25%
- 3 Japan 13%
- 4 Germany 10%
- 5 China 7%
| Country | Applications | Top Applicant |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 817,301 | QUALCOMM |
| South Korea | 702,832 | SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY |
| Japan | 368,605 | SONY CORPORATION |
| Germany | 284,375 | ROBERT BOSCH |
| China | 200,349 | HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY |
| Switzerland | 91,422 | ROCHE |
| France | 67,838 | L'OREAL |
| Sweden | 63,976 | TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL) |
| Taiwan | 56,799 | TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY |
| Netherlands | 53,499 | PHILIPS ELECTRONICS |
| United Kingdom | 17,566 | NICOVENTURES TRADING |
| Saudi Arabia | 10,652 | SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY |
| Denmark | 9,449 | VESTAS |
| Finland | 7,246 | KONE CORPORATION |
| Austria | 7,182 | BOREALIS |
| Russia | 6,641 | KVASENKOV OLEG IVANOVICH |
| Luxembourg | 5,335 | ARCELORMITTAL |
| Liechtenstein | 2,698 | HILTI |
| Australia | 2,076 | ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA |
| Israel | 1,499 | ISCAR |
| Italy | 1,180 | INDUSTRIE DE NORA |
| Belgium | 1,120 | ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV |
| Greece | 618 | BIC-VIOLEX |
| South Africa | 442 | DETNET SOUTH AFRICA |
| Norway | 380 | YARA INTERNATIONAL |
| New Zealand | 305 | FISHER AND PAYKEL HEALTHCARE |
| Malta | 248 | FLOORING TECHNOLOGIES |
| Canada | 117 | OMACHRON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY |
| Ukraine | 6 | SHRAMENKO NATALIA YURIIVNA |
| Turkey | 3 | SABANCI UNIVERSITY |
| Poland | 2 | UNIVERSITY OF SILESIA IN KATOWICE |
| Philippines | 2 | CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE |
| Spain | 2 | SANZ RONDA, FRANCISCO JAVIER |
| Morocco | 1 | AGZENAY EL AMIN |
| Lithuania | 1 | VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS |
| Colombia | 1 | ANHIDRIDOS Y DERIVADOS DE COLOMBIA S.A ANDERCOL |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | B Bond Beyond Technology Ltd |
Dig deeper
- Trending technologies Fastest growing and declining subclasses
- Top applicants Who files the most, by section and country
- Technology topics Curated entry points from AI to wind energy