US patents hit record 333,530 granted in 2019; IBM, Samsung (not the FAANGs) lead the pack

We may have moved on from a nearly-daily cycle of news involving tech giants sparring in courts over intellectual property infringement, but patents continue to be a major cornerstone of how companies and people measure their progress and create moats around the work that they have done in hopes of building that into profitable enterprises in the future. IFI Claims, a company that tracks patent activity in the US, released its annual tally of IP work today underscoring that theme: it noted that 2019 saw a new high-watermark of 333,530 patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The figures are notable for a few reasons. One is that this is the most patents ever granted in a single year; and the second that this represents a 15% jump on a year before. The high overall number speaks to the enduring interest in safeguarding IP, while the 15% jump has to do with the fact that patent numbers actually dipped last year (down 3.5%) while the number that were filed and still in application form (not granted) was bigger than ever. If we can draw something from that, it might be that filers and the USPTO were both taking a little more time to file and process, not a reduction in the use of patents altogether.

But patents do not tell the whole story in another very important regard.

Namely, the world's most valuable, and most high profile tech companies are not always the ones that rank the highest in patents filed.

Consider the so-called FAANG group, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google: Facebook is at number-36 (one of the fastest movers but still not top 10) with 989 patents; Apple is at number-seven with 2,490 patents; Amazon is at number-nine with 2,427 patents; Netflix doesn't make the top 50 at all; and the Android, search and advertising behemoth Google is merely at slot 15 with 2,102 patents (and no special mention for growth).

Indeed, the fact that one of the oldest tech companies, IBM, is also the biggest patent filer almost seems ironic in that regard.

As with previous years - the last 27, to be exact - IBM has continued to hold on to the top spot for patents granted, with 9,262 in total for the year. Samsung Electronics, at 6,469, is a distant second.

These numbers, again, don't tell the whole story: IFI Claims notes that Samsung ranks number-one when you consider all active patent "families", which might get filed across a number of divisions (for example a Samsung Electronics subsidiary filing separately) and count the overall number of patents to date (versus those filed this year). In this regard, Samsung stands at 76,638, with IBM the distant number-two at 37,304 patent families.

Part of this can be explained when you consider their businesses: Samsung makes a huge range of consumer and enterprise products. IBM, on the other hand, essentially moved out of the consumer electronics market years ago and these days mostly focuses on enterprise and B2B and far less hardware. That means a much smaller priority placed on that kind of R&D, and subsequent range of families.

Two other areas that are worth tracking are biggest movers and technology trends.

In the first of these, it's very interesting to see a car company rising to the top. Kia jumped 58 places and is now at number-41 (921 patents) - notable when you think about how cars are the next "hardware" and that we are entering a pretty exciting phase of connected vehicles, self-driving and alternative energy to propel them.

Others rounding out fastest-growing were Hewlett Packard Enterprise, up 28 places to number-48 (794 patents); Facebook, up 22 places to number-36 (989 patents); Micron Technology, up nine places to number-25 (1,268), Huawei, up six places to number-10 (2,418), BOE Technology, up four places to number-13 (2,177), and Microsoft, up three places to number-4 (3,081 patents).

In terms of technology trends, IFI looks over a period of five years, where there is now a strong current of medical and biotechnology innovation running through the list right now, with hybrid plant creation topping the list of trending technology, followed by CRISPR gene-editing technology, and then medicinal preparations (led by cancer therapies). "Tech" in the computer processor sense only starts at number-four with dashboards and other car-related tech; with quantum computing, 3-D printing and flying vehicle tech all also featuring.

Indeed, if you have wondered if we are in a fallow period of innovation in mobile, internet and straight computer technology" look no further than this list to prove out that thought.

Unsurprisingly, US companies account for 49% of U.S. patents granted in 2019 up from 46 percent a year before. Japan accounts for 16% to be the second-largest, with South Korea at 7% (Samsung carrying a big part of that, I'm guessing), and China passing Germany to be at number-four with 5%.

1. International Business Machines Corp 9262
2. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 6469
3. Canon Inc 3548
4. Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC 3081
5. Intel Corp 3020
6. LG Electronics Inc 2805
7. Apple Inc 2490
8. Ford Global Technologies LLC 2468
9. Amazon Technologies Inc 2427
10. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd 2418
11. Qualcomm Inc 2348
12. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd 2331
13. BOE Technology Group Co Ltd 2177
14. Sony Corp 2142
15. Google LLC 2102
16. Toyota Motor Corp 2034
17. Samsung Display Co Ltd 1946
18. General Electric Co 1818
19. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB 1607
20. Hyundai Motor Co 1504
21. Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd 1387
22. Boeing Co 1383
23. Seiko Epson Corp 1345
24. GM Global Technology Operations LLC 1285
25. Micron Technology Inc 1268
26. United Technologies Corp 1252
27. Mitsubishi Electric Corp 1244
28. Toshiba Corp 1170
29. AT&T Intellectual Property I LP 1158
30. Robert Bosch GmbH 1107
31. Honda Motor Co Ltd 1080
32. Denso Corp 1052
33. Cisco Technology Inc 1050
34. Halliburton Energy Services Inc 1020
35. Fujitsu Ltd 1008
36. Facebook Inc 989
37. Ricoh Co Ltd 980
38. Koninklijke Philips NV 973
39. EMC IP Holding Co LLC 926
40. NEC Corp 923
41. Kia Motors Corp 921
42. Texas Instruments Inc 894
43. LG Display Co Ltd 865
44. Oracle International Corp 847
45. Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 842
46. Sharp Corp 819
47. SK Hynix Inc 798
48. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP 794
49. Fujifilm Corp 791
50. LG Chem Ltd 791