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U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Electronic Information Products Division
Patent Technology Monitoring Team (PTMT)

PATENTING TRENDS
CALENDAR YEAR 2008

(document dated 24-FEB-2009)

In calendar year 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted 157,772 utility, 25,565 design, 1,240 plant, and 647 reissue patents, and 20 statutory invention registrations for a total of 185,244 patent documents for the year.

Annual grants of all patent documents increased by 1.3 percent when compared to the total for calendar year 2007 (182,928 grants in 2007). Calendar year 2008 grants of utility patents ('patents for inventions') numbered 157,772, a 0.3 percent increase above the total for 2007 (157,282).

In 2008, 49.7 percent of all patents were of U.S. origin, based on the residence of the first-named inventor, while 50.3 percent were of foreign origin (as compared to a U.S. origin share of 51.2% in 2007). For the first time, more of the patents issued were of foreign origin than of U.S. origin. The increase in the number and share of foreign origin patents in 2008 results primarily from significant increases in the number of patents originating from three countries, South Korea, Japan, and the People's Republic of China.

Of the U.S. origin patents issued in 2008, California claimed a 24.1 percent share (22,202 patents), followed by Texas (6.7 percent, 6,184 patents), New York (6.4 percent, 5,905 patents), Washington (4.5 percent, 4,158 patents), Massachusetts (4.2 percent, 3,897 patents), Michigan (3.9 percent, 3,584 patents), and Illinois (3.9 percent, 3,581 patents). U.S. origin patents from the following areas had the largest percentage increases in patent receipts from 2007 to 2008: Hawaii, Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, and Washington.

There were 13,062 patents granted to U.S. independent inventors in 2008, down from the 2007 count of U.S. independent inventor patents (13,773). The independent inventor share of all patents issued to U.S.-resident inventors dropped to 14.2 percent in 2008 from a 14.7 percent share in 2007.

With regard to patents of foreign origin, South Korea jumps from 4th to 3rd position while the People's Republic of China jumps from 13th to 9th position. Of the U.S. patents that were issued in 2008, the Japan origin share was 19.8 percent, the Germany origin share was 5.4 percent, the South Korea origin share was 4.7 percent, and the Taiwan origin share was 4.2 percent. Countries with notable increases in patent receipts for 2008 include Portugal, Ukraine, Poland, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, People's Republic of China, and South Korea.

The ten foreign countries of origin receiving the most U.S. patents during calendar year 2008 are displayed in the table below. Following the table is a detail table that lists states and countries of patent origin and the percentage change in patenting from 2007 to 2008.

Annual Percentage Change in Patent Counts
By U.S. State and Country of Origin
Calendar Year 2007 to 2008

Contact Information -

Questions regarding these reports should be directed to:

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

tel: (571) 272-5600
FAX: (571) 273-0110
e-mail:oeip@uspto.gov

address of PTMT pages at the USPTO Web Site: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tafp.html
ftp download of selected PTMT reports and materials from : ftp.uspto.gov/pub/taf/

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