The US granted 323,018 patents in 2022 – with East Asian tech powerhouses dominating the Top 10.
Just three US companies joined the Top 10 for most patents granted in 2022: IBM, Raytheon, and Qualcomm.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) says 3.4 million patent applications were made in 2021, meanwhile, the highest annual total ever, with 1.7 million patent applications granted the same year.
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Asia’s share of global patent filings over the past decade has risen steadily from 54.6% in 2011 to 67.5% in 2021 says the WEF. In the UK total patent applications have fallen from 22,055 in 2016 to 18,854 in 2021.
And one early 2023 report suggests that the UK saw just 0.8% of cybersecurity-related patent filings between 2000 and 2022, versus 45% in the US; 12.4% in China and 10.2% in Europe. (It is possible that innovative UK cybersecurity companies made patent filings in the US or Europe etc. for IP protection in key markets.)
The most US patents in 2022 were awarded to:
- Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
- IBM (US)
- LG (South Korea)
- Toyota (Japan)
- Canon (Japan)
- TSMC (Taiwan)
- Huawei (China)
- BOE (China)
- Raytheon (US)
- Qualcomm (US)
Several financial services firms were among the 300 companies in terms of patents granted in 2022, with Capital One Financial leading the list with 708 patents in 2022 and Bank of America following with 608 patents. BOA said it received patents in AI and machine learning, information security, and payments.
"Over $10B in annual investment in these innovations earned our company a patented portfolio of solutions that spans artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, payments, and other technologies that help our clients live better financial lives," said Aditya Bhasin, Bank of America's CTIO.
The Intellectual Property Owners association, which provided the list of most patents granted in 2022 in the US notes, perhaps obviously, that the number of patents granted does not necessarily indicate the value of a company’s technology, the effectiveness of its R&D, or whether it will be profitable.
