Patenting Trends, Calendar Year 1995
Trends in All Patent Documents (Utility, Design, Plant, Reissue Patents,
Statutory Invention Registrations)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In calendar year 1995, the total number of patent documents granted
by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office increased to a record
113,955, including 101,419 utility, 11,712 design, 387 plant, and
316 reissue patents and 121 statutory invention registrations.
Utility patent grants (patents for invention) were down slightly
from 1994 (101,676 patents).
U.S. resident inventors continued to display strong patenting
activity in 1995. During the year, the share of all patent
documents which were issued to U.S. resident inventors remained
unchanged at 56.6 percent (64,410 patent documents). Foreign
resident inventors claimed a 43.4 percent share of all patent
documents granted (49,445 patent documents).
The share of all U.S. patent documents which were issued to
inventors residing in Japan was 20.1 percent in 1995 (22,871
patent documents), down from a 20.7 percent share in 1994. The
share of all U.S. patent documents which were issued to inventors
residing in Germany dropped to 6.0 percent (6,875 patent documents)
in 1995 from 6.1 percent in 1994.
There were 16,813 patent documents granted to U.S. independent
inventors during 1995, an increase of 1.7 percent over 1994. The
share of all patent documents which were granted to U.S.independent
inventors increased to 14.8 percent of all patent documents in 1995
from 14.5 percent in 1994.
The ten foreign countries which received the most patent documents
during calendar year 1995 are displayed below. In general, only
slight changes in ranking and percentage share will occur from one
year to the next. United Kingdom, Taiwan (province of China), South
Korea, and Sweden resident inventors are notable for their increase
in patent documents received while Italy, Switzerland, and Japan
resident inventors are notable for their decrease in patent
documents received.
(1994 to 1995)
1995 1995 # 1995 Share of (1994 # ) (Change in )
Rank Patents All Patents Country (Patents) (# of Patents)
---- ------- ------------- -------------------- -------- --------------
1 22,871 20.1% Japan (23,517) ( - 2.8%)
2 6,875 6.0% Germany (6,989) ( - 1.6%)
3 3,011 2.6% France (2,985) ( + 0.9%)
4 2,677 2.3% United Kingdom (2,469) ( + 8.4%)
5 2,447 2.1% Canada (2,380) ( + 2.8%)
6 2,087 1.8% Taiwan, Prov of China (1,814) ( +15.0%)
7 1,242 1.1% Italy (1,360) ( - 8.7%)
8 1,240 1.1% South Korea (1,008) ( +23.0%)
9 1,185 1.0% Switzerland (1,244) ( - 4.7%)
10 914 0.8% Sweden (800) ( +14.3%)
64,510 56.6% United States (64,347) ( + 0.3%)
113,955 100.0% All Patent Documents(113,704) ( + 0.2%)
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Utility Patents (Patents for Invention)
---------------------------------------
In calendar year 1995, a total of 101,419 utility patents were
granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, down slightly from
the 101,676 patents granted in 1994.
U.S. resident inventors obtained 55.0 percent (55,740 patents) of
the utility patents granted in 1995, also down slightly from the
55.1 percent share obtained in 1994.
The share of utility patents which were issued to inventors
residing in Japan was 21.5 percent in 1995 (21,764 patents), down
from the 22.0 percent share in 1994. The share of utility patents
which were issued to inventors residing in Germany also dropped to
6.5 percent (6,600 patents) in 1995 from 6.6 percent in 1994.
There were 12,885 utility patents granted to U.S. independent
inventors during 1995, a slight increase over 1994 (12,805
patents). The share of patents which were granted to U.S.independent
inventors was 12.7 percent in 1995, up from a 12.6 percent share in 1994.
The ten foreign countries which received the most utility patents
during calendar year 1995 are displayed below. In general, only
slight changes in ranking and percentage share will occur from one
year to the next. United Kingdom, Taiwan (province of China), South
Korea, Sweden, and Canada resident inventors are notable for their
increase in patents received while Italy, Switzerland, and Japan
resident inventors are notable for their decrease in patents received.
(1994 to 1995)
1995 1995 # 1995 Share of (1994 # ) (Change in )
Rank Patents All Patents Country (Patents) (# of Patents)
---- ------- ------------- -------------------- -------- --------------
1 21,764 21.5% Japan (22,384) ( - 2.8%)
2 6,600 6.5% Germany (6,731) ( - 1.9%)
3 2,821 2.8% France (2,779) ( + 1.5%)
4 2,474 2.4% United Kingdom (2,234) ( +10.7%)
5 2,104 2.1% Canada (2,008) ( + 4.8%)
6 1,620 2.1% Taiwan, Prov of China(1,443) ( +12.3%)
7 1,161 1.1% South Korea (943) ( +23.1%)
8 1,078 1.1% Italy (1,215) ( -11.3%)
9 1,056 1.0% Switzerland (1,169) ( - 9.7%)
10 806 0.8% Sweden (706) ( +14.2%)
55,740 55.0% United States (56,067) ( - 0.6%)
101,419 100.0% All Utility Patents(101,676) ( - 0.3%)
------------------
Questions regarding this report should be directed to:
(address updated 4/96)
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Office of Electronic Information Products
Technology Assessment and Forecast Program
PK3-Suite 441
Washington, DC 20231
tel (703) 306-2600
FAX (703) 306-2737
___________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Technology Assessment and Forecast data base (1-25-96)
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