Patents in the United States

2024: Patents for AI-generated inventions begin to be issued in the US

On February 13, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that patents could be obtained for inventions created using artificial intelligence. The main condition is that the person makes a sufficient contribution to the work. In other words, AI itself cannot be considered an inventor, and therefore it will not be possible to register a document for it.

In 2020, the USPTO rejected the patent application of inventor Stephen Thaler, who gave instructions to the artificial intelligence system to develop a new container for food and drinks. A federal court upheld the USPTO's decision in 2021. In December 2023, a similar decision was made in Britain. At the same time, against the background of the rapid growth in the popularity of AI and the introduction of all kinds of generative services, rules are needed that determine which developments created with the involvement of neural networks are subject to patenting and which are not.

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Although inventions using AI are not categorically non-proprietary, the analysis of the development process should focus on the contribution of humans, since the purpose of patents is to stimulate and reward human ingenuity, the USPTO said.

The agency released a document entitled "A Guide to Inventing Inventions Using Artificial Intelligence." It is said that AI systems themselves cannot receive patents, since in accordance with the current requirements, the inventor must be an individual, that is, a person. To avoid a traveler in the future, the USPTO document provides "hypothetical situations and how the guidance will be applied to these situations." At the same time, the department does not require patent applicants to disclose information about the use of AI in the development process.^[1]

2022

China outpaces US in AI patents

China is increasingly ahead of the United States in the number of AI patents, which indicates the Asian country's determination to shape and influence technology that could have wide-ranging consequences for the world's richest economies.

IBM lost its lead in the number of patents received for the first time in 29 years

In early January 2023, it became known that IBM for the first time in almost three decades lost its lead in the number of patents registered during the year in the United States.

According to Harrity LLP, in 2022 IBM received 4,743 new patents in the United States. This is 44% less than in 2021, when the company registered 8,520 patents. In the first place is now the South Korean giant Samsung, which received 8513 patents - approximately the same as in 2021. The number of IBM patents has decreased in all segments, but especially strongly in the areas of semiconductor products and memory.

IBM has dropped the number of patents received for the first time in a long time

Such a sharp decline in the number of new IBM patents reflects changes in the corporation's business strategy. In 2020, the company decided to focus efforts on the main areas of activity and free engineers from the time-consuming patenting process. This explains the fact that for the first time in 29 years IBM lost its leadership in the number of patents registered in a year. Since 1996, the corporation has received more than $27 billion in income from intellectual property licensing, although revenues have declined in recent years as some companies oppose licensing fees. But the company intends to continue to monetize its technologies.

In priority areas - hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cybersecurity, quantum technology - we will continue to actively patent and protect them, "said Dario Gil, head of IBM Research.

In third place in the Harrity LLP ranking is LG with 4,580 patents received in the United States in 2022. The top ten also includes Toyota (3,056 patents), Canon (3,046 patents), TSMC (3,038 patents), Huawei Technologies (3,023 patents), BOE Technology Group (2,725 patents), Raytheon Technologies (2,684 patents) and Qualcomm (2,656 patents).^[2]

2021: Patent passivity is a forced but global trend

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services conducted a study of the patent activity of the American innovative market. This became known on January 11, 2021.

The authors traditionally analyze the registration activity of global and American businesses, as well as individual foreign companies that have received US patents.

The 2021 U.S. Top 50 ranking shows that national American business as a whole leads its technology market with 150,801 patents for 2021, 69% more than Japanese entrepreneurs who took second place and received 47,105 security documents in the United States in 2021. In third place are representatives of South Korea - 21,264 patents, in fourth - holders of American patents from China (20,679). Closes the top 5 business in Germany, the most energetic European player in the American innovation market (14,663).

The United States is also leading in terms of the representation of national companies in IFI Global 250: in 2021, 70 companies were included in the rating. The second place is taken by Japan - 51 companies, the third place is taken by China (46 companies). At the same time, six Chinese companies entered the top ten of the rating at once, while the United States is represented only by IBM, which occupies the eighth place. This indicator indicates the growing patent dominance of China - there is almost every third patent from the IFI Global 250 portfolio of participants.

With data on patent applications and issued security documents, it is easy to determine market trends - in which industry the rates are highest, which kind of technology is best sold. In addition, the desire of businesses to register inventions usually testifies to the favorable economic situation and developed legal institutions of states.

At the same time, the most noticeable result of the year was a serious subsidence of the curve on the chart of patent activity. In 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted only 327,329 applications. In pandemic 2020, this figure was more - 352,000. The decline was about 7%. According to the observations of Mike Bakroft, in 2020 there was the steepest reduction in the number of issued patents in the last decade: the previous time such a powerful failure was in 2012.

Patent activity has declined not only for American companies, but also for the vast majority of foreign applicants. The exception is China with an increase of 10% - from 18,792 patents in 2020 to 20,679 in 2021. As a result, four Chinese companies hit the 2021 U.S. Top 50: Huawei - on the fifth line of the rating, BOE - on the 11th, Advanced New Technologies - on the 43rd, and Guangdong Oppo - on the 49th.

Against the background of a global decline in inventive enthusiasm, the list of the most successful segments of the American technology market has changed slightly. Among research areas, biocomputing has risen to the first place in terms of the number of patents - an approach in the field of artificial intelligence that uses biological theories and principles. It is worth noting that since 2017, biocomputing has grown by 54%. Also among the leaders in the growth of agricultural technology, namely improvements and the creation of new varieties of plants such as soybeans, corn, tomatoes. Growth over the five-year period was 42%. Also, electronic smoking devices showed positive dynamics - an increase of 40%, machine learning - by 39%, quantum computers - by 36%. Growth indicators were recorded in the field of drilling technologies for the extraction of minerals and water, in automated design and other areas.

The top three companies in the 2021 U.S. Top 50 rating also differ little from last year. It should be noted that it has remained unchanged over the past five years. IBM retained the first place in the number of patents issued, even slowing down 5% compared to 2020 (8682 versus 9138). Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Canon follow with 6366 and 3021 patents issued, respectively.

The fourth line in the ranking in 2021 was taken by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd with 2,798 patents issued, thus rising four positions compared to 2020. Huawei closes the top five with 2,770 patents, also moving four points higher.

Despite the fact that the majority of the rating participants had to moderate patent activity in 2021, a number of companies managed to increase the number of patents issued to them.

Of the U.S. Top 2021, 50 13 companies increased their patent activity in 2021. The top five was led by Advanced New Technologies Co Ltd, which increased its patent portfolio by almost eight times. This is followed by Micron Technology, whose patents grew by 16.5%, Saudi Arabian Oil Co with a 28% increase in patents, Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd - by 33% and EMC IP Holding Co LLC - by 13.5%, "Mike Bakroft said.

If we talk about the total volumes of corporate patent portfolios, the IFI Global 250 rating was headed by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd with a portfolio of 90,416 patents. The second place goes to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (78,415), the third to Midea Group Co Ltd (58,495), the fourth to Huawei Investment and Holding Co Ltd (48,307). China Petrochemical Corp closes the top five (45,362).

Commenting on the results of the rating, the President of the Intellectual Property Federation (FIS), Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property and Creative Industries Sergey Matveev noted the maximum concentration of industrial property in the hands of corporations, which has a tangible impact on the institution of patent law.

The alarm is the increased control of corporations over technology. Strong patent holders have become stronger. Monopolization levels are very high: for example, wireless network protocols dominated, and it is very likely that Huawei, Samsung, LG will continue to dominate without alternative. In quantum computing, no one will catch up with IBM and Google, and in machine learning - IBM and Microsoft. Achievements in the field of plants will remain in the hands of Monsanto and Pioneer, the expert stated.

If we trace the fate of technical solutions patented two to three years ago by startups, then all of them (or patents, or patents together with startups) have been bought. As a result, instead of fair remuneration for valuable knowledge and technical solutions, the patent law institution works to monopolize this knowledge.

Among the optimistic forecasts, the 2021 ratings showed that the variety of industries presented as the most active in patenting gives hope that both purely innovative and traditional industries will increase intangible assets in the near future.

2020: Total U.S. patents issued down 1% to 353,708

On January 13, 2021, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services published the annual top 50 global innovation companies and top 10 countries that have secured intellectual property rights in the jurisdiction of the United States of America. The researchers also talked about the fastest growing technologies.

Russia is not on the lists, while domestic guidelines are very accurate - global technological trends are taken into account in the Strategy for the Scientific and Technological Development of Russia and are developing within the framework of the National Technological Initiative.

IBM heads the list of copyright holders, in second place, Samsung significantly played up Kia Motors (), South Korea having moved immediately to 17 positions, Chinese is in the top ten. Huawei

In addition, based on data from the largest patent jurisdictions, including the United States, Europe, China, Japan, etc., IFI noted the top 250 companies that own patents around the world. In this list, Samsung has beaten IMB twice; Canon, Microsoft and Robert Bosch = round out the top five global leaders.

According to the authors of the rating, Russia is among the top 10 countries publishing patents (patent publishing authorities), but it is extremely poorly represented on the American patent market.

China took fourth place in the ranking, issuing 18.792 patents and becoming the only country that has significantly increased patent activity in the United States (by 11 percent compared to 2019). The rest either remained at the same level, or showed some decline. The United States itself has the most patents on its own market (164,379), Japan is in second place (52421), and South Korea is in third (22400). Of the European countries, Germany received the most intellectual rights in the United States (16222), the top ten include Taiwan (11286), France (6312) and the United Kingdom (5333).

Patent activity is a valuable indicator for researchers, analysts, investors and anyone who needs to get an idea of ​ ​ the performance of corporate R&D divisions and market aspirations of companies. Patents are a key tool for evaluating intangible assets of publicly traded companies, the ability to probe the technological trend and competitive landscape in various industries, says Igor Osipov, vice president of Digital Science Global, a portfolio company that includes IFI Claims patent services.

According to Mr. Osipov, patents issued in the United States are a good way to check watches with the largest technology corporations in the world, to see how technologies are developing, who makes money on them.

The total number of patents issued in the United States decreased by less than 1 percent by 2019, from 355,923 to 353,708, the number of patent applications increased by 3%, which is in line with the trend of the last four years.

Non-American companies and organizations in 2020 received 55 percent of patents in the United States. At the same time, the United States itself received several times more patents than any single country - 160,833.

Among companies based outside America, Samsung Electronics received the most American patents with 6415. Canon Inc., Microsoft, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor, LG Electronics, Apple, Huawei Technologies and Qualcomm round out the top 10 U.S. patent holders for 2020.

All but Taiwan Semiconductor and Qualcomm were in the top 10 in 2019. Amazon remained outside the top ten, climbing to 11th in 2020 from 15th in 2019.

In general, the manufacturers of electronic components and equipment (Taiwan Sharp Semiconductor) increased their positions in the ranking, those who work with internal combustion engines () and () lost their positions. General Motors oil and gas service Halliburton (Halliburton)

At the same time, South Korean automaker Kia Motors was among 19 companies that have increased the volume of patents over the past 12 months. At the same time, Kia showed the most serious leap forward - by 31 percent - from 921 patents in 2019 to 1322 in 2020. Thanks to this, the company moved from 41st to 24th place.

Sharp (ranked 32nd) rose 22 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor (ranked 6th) increased its patents by 18 percent. Huawei, the only Chinese representative in the top 10 (Huawei place), has registered 13 percent more patents in 2020.

The most patent activity in the United States in 2020 was observed in the G06F category, which covers digital data processing. The second largest patent was the transmission of digital information (CPC H04L). Semiconductor devices, electric solid-state devices (H01L) and wireless communication networks (H04W) have also grown strongly in 2020.

The fastest-growing global technologies found themselves tied to the field of biocomputers, which grew at an average annual rate of 67 percent during 2016-20. The field of agrotechnologies and plant breeding, machine learning, quantum computing, autopilot/navigation for vehicles and 3D printing has expanded.

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