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U.S. Patent Activity
Calendar Years 1790 to the Present

Table of Annual U.S. Patent Activity Since 1790

The following table displays annual, U.S. patent application and grant activity from 1790 to the present. Annual activity is determined based on the calendar year.
Calendar
Year		 Utility
Patent
Applications (e)
(inventions)		 Design
Patent
Applications		 Plant
Patent
Applications		 Utility
Patents (e)
(inventions)		 (notes) Design
Patents		 Plant
Patents		 Patent Grants
to Foreign
Residents (a)
2018 597,141 45,083 1,079 307,760   30,497 1,208 177,915
2017 606,956 43,340 1,059 318,828   30,870 1,311 182,002
2016 605,571 42,571 1,177 303,049   28,873 1,235 172,818
2015 589,410 39,097 1,140 298,408   25,986 1,074 169,764
2014 578,802 35,378 1,063 300,677   23,657 1,072 166,999
2013 571,612 36,034 1,406 277,835   23,468 847 154,891
2012 542,815 32,799 1,149 253,155   21,951 860 142,180
2011 503,582 30,467 1,139 224,505   21,356 823 125,998
2010 490,226 29,059 992 219,614   22,799 981 122,694
2009 456,106 25,806 959 167,349   23,116 1,009 96,677
2008 456,321 27,782 1,209 157,772   25,565 1,240 92,929
2007 456,154 27,752 1,049 157,282   24,062 1,047 89,007
2006 425,967 25,515 1,151 173,772   20,965 1,149 93,942
2005 390,733 25,553 1,222 143,806   12,951 716 75,046
2004 356,943 23,975 1,221 164,290   15,695 1,016 87,051
2003 342,441 22,602 1,000 169,023   16,574 994 88,258
2002 334,445 20,904 1,144 167,331   15,451 1,133 87,101
2001 326,508 18,280 944 166,035   16,871 584 85,173
2000 295,926 18,292 797 157,494   17,413 548 78,871
1999 270,187 17,761 863 153,485   14,732 420 74,877
1998 243,062 17,107 720 147,517   14,766 561 72,398
1997 215,257 16,546 621 111,984   11,414 394 54,107
1996 195,187 15,161 665 109,645   11,410 362 52,267
1995 212,377 15,409 452 101,419   11,712 387 49,327
1994 189,857 15,774 459 101,676   11,095 499 49,224
1993 174,743 13,635 361 98,342   10,630 442 48,531
1992 173,075 13,078 354 97,444   9,269 321 48,572
1991 164,306 13,061 463 96,511   9,569 353 48,944
1990 164,558 11,288 418 90,365   8,024 318 46,094
1989 152,750 12,615 383 95,537   6,092 587 47,804
1988 139,825 11,289 377 77,924   5,679 425 39,625
1987 127,917 11,153 385 82,952   5,959 229 41,588
1986 122,433 9,912 320 70,860   5,518 224 34,780
1985 117,006 9,551 231 71,661   5,066 242 33,796
1984 111,284 8,739 253 67,200   4,938 212 30,388
1983 103,703 8,082 255 56,860   4,563 197 25,334
1982 109,625 8,174 188 57,888   4,944 173 25,534
1981 106,413 7,375 178 65,771   4,745 183 27,757
1980 104,329 7,830 220 61,819   3,949 117 25,392
1979 100,494 7,519 196 48,854   3,119 131 19,462
1978 100,916 7,538 194 66,102   3,862 186 25,715
1977 100,931 7,258 188 65,269   3,929 173 24,684
1976 102,344 7,061 175 70,226   4,564 176 27,134
1975 101,014 6,292 150 72,000   4,282 150 36,271
1974 102,538 5,318 155 76,278   4,304 261 26,514
1973 104,079 5,425 118 74,143   4,033 132 23,344
1972 99,298 5,867 135 74,810   2,901 199 23,815
1971 104,729 6,211 155 78,317   3,156 71 22,850
1970 103,175 5,996 188 64,429   3,214 52 17,872
1969 98,750 5,496 111 67,559   3,335 103 17,573
1968 93,471 5,171 95 59,104   3,352 72 13,722
1967 85,697 4,744 103 65,652   3,165 85 14,711
1966 88,525 4,853 104 68,405   3,188 114 14,008
1965 94,629 5,413 108 62,857   3,424 120 12,525
1964 87,592 5,259 120 47,375   2,686 128 8,966
1963 85,869 4,968 145 45,679   2,965 129 8,505
1962 85,029 4,897 151 55,691   2,300 91 10,112
1961 83,100 4,714 107 48,368   2,488 108 8,214
1960 79,590 4,525 131 47,169   2,543 116 7,698
1959 78,594 4,879 114 52,408   2,769 101 8,340
1958 77,495 4,923 134 48,330   2,375 130 7,395
1957 74,197 4,714 101 42,745   2,362 129 6,282
1956 74,906 4,824 104 46,816   2,977 101 6,646
1955 77,188 5,764 118 30,432   2,713 103 4,065
1954 77,185 5,465 95 33,809   2,536 101 4,433
1953 72,284 5,450 99 40,467   2,714 78 4,331
1952 64,554 4,993 84 43,616   2,959 101 5,635
1951 60,438 4,279 71 44,326   4,164 58 4,888
1950 67,264 6,739 105 43,039   4,718 90 4,408
1949 67,592 6,998 70 35,131   4,451 93 3,105
1948 68,740 7,048 59 23,961   3,968 44 1,984
1947 75,443 7,644 92 20,139   2,102 52 1,617
1946 81,056 10,698 72 21,805   2,779 56 1,656
1945 67,846 8,066 52 25,694   3,524 17 2,112
1944 54,190 5,063 42 28,053   2,916 38 2,564
1943 45,493 2,986 41 31,054   2,229 47 2,625
1942 45,549 4,218 60 38,449   3,728 65 3,943
1941 52,339 7,203 67 41,108   6,486 62 5,311
1940 60,863 8,530 91 42,237   6,145 85 6,148
1939 64,093 7,137 76 43,073   5,593 45 6,338
1938 66,874 8,084 48 38,062   5,027 41 5,776
1937 65,324 7,207 45 37,683   5,137 55 5,638
1936 62,599 6,478 66 39,783   4,556 49 5,734
1935 58,117 5,728 72 40,618   3,866 45 5,980
1934 56,643 4,399 28 44,419   2,921 32 6,489
1933 56,558 3,600 27 48,774   2,411 33 7,170
1932 67,006 4,345 46 53,458   2,944 46 7,376
1931 79,740 4,190 37 51,756   2,937 5 6,897
1930 89,554 4,182 16 45,226   2,712   6,085
1929 89,752 4,520   45,267   2,907   5,921
1928 87,603 4,761   42,326   3,188   5,218
1927 87,219 4,473   41,718   2,387   4,918
1926 81,365 4,343   44,733   2,602   5,103
1925 80,208 4,082   46,432   2,824   5,347
1924 76,987 3,635   42,572   2,671   4,723
1923 76,783 3,550   38,614   1,927   4,133
1922 83,962 4,763   38,361   1,627   4,455
1921 87,467 5,596   37,792   3,277   3,963
1920 81,915 4,660   37,057   2,485   3,762
1919 76,710 3,627   36,795   1,523   3,687
1918 57,347 2,234   38,450   1,207   2,883
1917 67,590 2,545   40,927   1,512   3,209
1916 68,075 2,684   43,892   1,759   3,767
1915 67,138 2,734   43,117   1,545   4,334
1914 67,774 2,454   39,899   1,715   4,595
1913 68,117 2,060   33,915   1,683   4,212
1912 68,969 1,850   36,196   1,342   4,489
1911 67,370 1,534   32,855   1,010   4,058
1910 63,293 1,155   35,130   639   3,719
1909 64,408 1,234   36,562   687   3,812
1908 60,142 1,131   32,736   757   3,338
1907 57,679 896   35,860   589   3,866
1906 55,471 806   31,169   625   3,471
1905 54,034 781   29,777   486   3,292
1904 51,168 818   30,259   557   3,285
1903 49,289 770   31,032   536   3,763
1902 48,320 1,170   27,121   640   3,499
1901 43,973 2,361   25,554   1,734   3,402
1900 39,673 2,225   24,656   1,758   3,483
1899 38,937 2,400   23,288   2,139   3,311
1898 33,915 1,843   20,375   1,803   2,752
1897 45,661 2,150   22,065   1,631   2,221
1896 42,077 1,828   21,825   1,445   2,027
1895 39,145 1,463   20,855   1,115   2,049
1894 36,987 1,357   19,833   928   2,166
1893 37,293 1,060   22,747   902   2,473
1892 39,514 1,130   22,645   817   2,051
1891 39,418 1,025   22,310   836   1,928
1890 39,884 1,046   25,308   886   2,105
1889 39,607 857   23,322   723   2,003
1888 34,713 971   19,552   835   1,536
1887 34,420 1,041   20,399   949   1,466
1886 35,161 645   21,768   595   1,489
1885 34,697 862   23,282   773   1,549
1884 34,192 1,230   19,122   1,150   1,284
1883 33,073 1,238   21,160   1,020   1,259
1882 30,270 948   18,135   861   1,135
1881 24,878 678   15,548   565   995
1880 21,761 634   12,926   515   786
1879 20,059     12,133   592   648
1878 20,260     12,345   590   581
1877 20,308     12,920   699   590
1876 21,425     14,172   802   787
1875 21,638     13,291   915   563
1874 21,602     12,230   886   547
1873 20,414     11,616   747   493
1872 18,246     12,200   884   581
1871 19,472     11,687   905   522
1870 19,171     12,157   737   644
1869 19,271     12,957   506   377
1868 20,420     12,544   446   337
1867 21,276     12,301   325   275
1866 15,269     8,874   294   244
1865 10,664     6,099   221   181
1864 6,932     4,638   139   181
1863 6,014     3,781   176   125
1862 5,038     3,221   195   80
1861 4,643     3,040   142   83
1860 7,653     4,363   183   49
1859 6,225     4,165   108   47
1858 5,364     3,467   102   28
1857 4,771     2,686   113   45
1856 4,960     2,315   107   31
1855 4,435     1,892   70   41
1854 3,328     1,759   57   35
1853 2,673     846   86   26
1852 2,639     890   109   20
1851 2,258     757   90   17
1850 2,193     884   83   20
1849 1,955     988   49   17
1848 1,628     584   46   14
1847 1,531     495   60   21
1846 1,272     566   59   19
1845 1,246     475   17   12
1844 1,045     478   12   20
1843 819     494   14   8
1842 761     488 (b) (b)   11
1841 847     490 (b) (b)   21
1840 735     458 (b) (b)   19
1839 n/a     404 (b) (b)   10
1838 n/a     515 (b) (b)   17
1837 n/a     436 (b) (b)   7
1836 (c) n/a     702(b) (d) (b)   8
1835 n/a     752       n/a
1834 n/a     630       n/a
1833 n/a     586       n/a
1832 n/a     474       n/a
1831 n/a     573       n/a
1830 n/a     544       n/a
1829 n/a     447       n/a
1828 n/a     368       n/a
1827 n/a     331       n/a
1826 n/a     323       n/a
1825 n/a     304       n/a
1824 n/a     228       n/a
1823 n/a     173       n/a
1822 n/a     200       n/a
1821 n/a     168       n/a
1820 n/a     155       n/a
1819 n/a     156       n/a
1818 n/a     222       n/a
1817 n/a     174       n/a
1816 n/a     206       n/a
1815 n/a     173       n/a
1814 n/a     210       n/a
1813 n/a     181       n/a
1812 n/a     238       n/a
1811 n/a     215       n/a
1810 n/a     223       n/a
1809 n/a     203       n/a
1808 n/a     158       n/a
1807 n/a     99       n/a
1806 n/a     63       n/a
1805 n/a     57       n/a
1804 n/a     84       n/a
1803 n/a     97       n/a
1802 n/a     65       n/a
1801 n/a     44       n/a
1800 n/a     41       n/a
1799 n/a     44       n/a
1798 n/a     28       n/a
1797 n/a     51       n/a
1796 n/a     44       n/a
1795 n/a     12       n/a
1794 n/a     22       n/a
1793 n/a     20       n/a
1792 n/a     11       n/a
1791 n/a     33       n/a
1790 n/a     3       n/a

Notes:

(a) - "Patent Grants to Foreign Residents" data include inventions, plants, and designs
(b) - counts of patent grants from 1836 to 1842 include design patents
(c) - data for 1836 include both the patents granted in that year prior to the effective date of the 1836 Patent Law (July 4, 1836) and those granted in that year after that date
(d) - data for 1836 include 599 patents issued prior to July 4, the effective date of the 1836 patent law
(e) - "Patents", as used in this column, refers to "patents for inventions", also known as "utility" patents

Data Sources

(a) - recent statistics are obtained from the report, U.S. Patent Statistics Report, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Patent Technology Monitoring Team, and from the USPTO TAF database
(b) - many of the older statistics are obtained from the Technology Assessment and Forecast Seventh Report, March 1977, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

PTMT Contacts

Questions regarding this report should be directed to:

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Electronic Information Products Division - PTMT
P.O Box 1450
Alexandria VA 22313-1450

email: oeip@uspto.gov

address of PTMT pages at the USPTO Web Site: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/reports.htm
selected PTMT files available for download at : http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/

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