List of prolific inventors

Last updated

The 100 known most prolific inventors based on worldwide utility patents are shown in the following table. While in many cases this is the number of utility patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it may include utility patents granted by other countries, as noted by the source references for an inventor.

Contents

Prolific Inventors

InventorPatsFamsFam %Pat YrsYrsPat /YrInv /PatPat ResidenceMajority Assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki [1] 6329280144.3%1972—202452.11213.6Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook [2] 4747131127.6%1994—2014202371.6Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo [3] 3157265284.0%2006—2024181755.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng [4] 2733149354.6%2004—202419.51403.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV [5] 2282109247.9%2005—202418.91214.5Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ethicon
Junyi Li [6] 2072175884.8%2002—202421.5965.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Peter Gaal [7] 2070159677.1%2002—202421.7955.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr. [8] 1994132566.4%1971—202452.5388.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Wanshi Chen [9] 1962152577.7%2009—2024151315.7Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Roderick A. Hyde [10] 1888125266.3%2001—202322.5848.7Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu [11] 169292554.7%1996—202428604.9Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan TSMC
Hanbyul Seo [12] 1595117073.4%2012—2024121333.8Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Xiaoxia Zhang [13] 1511131587.0%2009—202415.3995.5Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Jun Koyama [14] 148361841.7%1991—202432.9453.1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Esmael H. Dinan [15] 143261142.7%2006—202417.9803.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ofinno
Gurtej Singh Sandhu [16] 142258441.1%1991—202432.7432.5Flag of the United States.svg  USA Micron
Paul Lapstun [17] 130424618.9%2000—202323572.5Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Silverbrook Research
Shou-Shan Fan [18] 1301108783.6%2006—202418724.2Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Hon Hai
Jing Sun [19] 1259107285.1%2012—202411.41105.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Sarbajit K. Rakshit [20] 1250103582.8%2013—202411.31113.4Flag of India.svg  India IBM
Clarence T. Tegreene [21] 124590272.4%2000—202423.15410.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Alexander Reznicek [22] 123173259.5%2006—202418.1683.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Satoshi Seo [23] 115054847.7%2002—202421.4544.1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kijun Kim [24] 112578770.0%2013—202410.41084.6Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Leonard Forbes [25] 110941137.1%1975—201943.3262.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA Micron
Edward K. Y. Jung [26] 110979471.6%1996—202327.4408.0Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Suckchel Yang [27] 110471464.7%2013—202410.81024.7Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Thomas Edison [28] 1084NANA1869—193363.9171.0Flag of the United States.svg  USA Thomas Edison
Joonkui Ahn [29] 108370465.0%2013—202410.81004.7Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Shan Liu [30] 107972967.6%2013—202410.71013.4Flag of the United States.svg  USA Tencent
Rick Allen Hamilton II [31] 106271467.2%1999—202425424.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Marta Karczewicz [32] 103385682.9%2000—202423.4444.0Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Juan Montojo [33] 102383381.4%2004—202420.2516.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Donald E. Weder [34] 100039539.5%1978—201537.1271.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Weder Family Trust
Ruilong Xie [35] 100074374.3%2013—202411.3884.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Jason K. Resch [36] 99450050.3%2009—202414.7684.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
George Albert Lyon [37] 993NANA1901—196564.5151.0Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Lyon George Albert
Michael J. Sullivan [38] 99353553.9%1989—202434.9283.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Acushnet Holdings
Jordin T. Kare [39] 98864064.8%1992—202431.4319.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Jay S. Walker [40] 97842143.0%1998—202425.8385.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA Walker Digital
Jason L. Harris [41] 97558760.2%2011—202413.3736.0Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ethicon
Yunjung Yi [42] 96568571.0%2015—20248.51143.3Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Tingfang Ji [43] 95470874.2%2006—202417.8546.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
John F. O'Connor [44] 949NANA1901—193533.928NAFlag of the United States.svg  USA William H. Miner
Ahmadreza Rofougaran [45] 94545948.6%2002—202421.9436.4Flag of the United States.svg  USA Broadcom
Takahiro Nishi [46] 93633736.0%2001—202422.7416.3Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Panasonic
Melvin De Groote [47] 925NANA1924—196641.822NAFlag of the United States.svg  USA Petrolite
David R. Hall [48] 90875382.9%1985—202438.8233.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Hall Labs
Nathan Myhrvold [49] 90461267.7%1994—202329.13111.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
William H. Eby [50] 89889499.6%1994—202429.7301.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA Monsanto
Francis H. Richards [51] 894NANA1899—193030.829NAFlag of the United States.svg  USA Francis H. Richards
Mark Malamud [52] 88569078.0%1997—202325.9347.5Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hao Xu [53] 88163171.6%2005—202419.1464.7Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Qualcomm
Seungmin Lee [54] 87464173.3%2014—20249.6913.5Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Hajime Kimura [55] 87027832.0%2002—202421.5402.6Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Robert W. Lord [56] 86568178.7%2003—202319.4457.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Royce A. Levien [57] 85466678.0%1997—202325.9336.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang [58] 84846855.2%2009—202415573.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Marvell
Muriel Y. Ishikawa [59] 83856066.8%2002—202321.24011.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Michael K. Gschwind [60] 83644252.9%2001—202423.2362.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Clifford A. Pickover [61] 82954665.9%1992—202431.8263.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Lee D. Whetsel [62] 82812815.5%1991—202433251.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Texas Instruments
Chih-Chao Yang [63] 82851462.1%2003—202420.4413.4Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Devendra K. Sadana [64] 80645556.5%1983—202441.2204.3Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
SungDuck Chun [65] 78547860.9%2007—202416.4483.8Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Salman Akram [66] 78229037.1%1995—202428.6272.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Micron
Warren M. Farnworth [67] 77428937.3%1990—202024.4322.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Micron
Bruce B. Doris [68] 76343356.7%1995—202328.7274.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Jeyhan Karaoguz [69] 75737149.0%1996—202427.5284.6Flag of the United States.svg  USA Broadcom
Carleton Ellis [70] 753NANA1902—194643.117NAFlag of the United States.svg  USA Ellis Foster Co
Stuart C. Salter [71] 75270693.9%2009—202414.4524.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ford
Hsien-Wei Chen [72] 75137650.1%2005—202419.2393.5Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan TSMC
Ali Khakifirooz [73] 74940554.1%2011—202312624.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Youngdae Lee [74] 74658778.7%2014—202410.1743.1Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Justin T. Mason [75] 74173799.5%2008—202415.5481.0Flag of the United States.svg  USA MS Technologies
John M. Santosuosso [76] 73846663.1%2001—202422.5333.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Xue Dong [77] 73571997.8%2010—202413.4557.4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China BOE
Hideo Ando [78] 73312316.8%1983—202036.7203.1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Toshiba
George Spector [79] 723723100%1974—199824.6292.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA George Spector
Austin L. Gurney [80] 71818225.3%1999—202121.6332.9Flag of the United States.svg  USA Genentech
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur [81] 71157681.0%2006—202418402.6Flag of France.svg  France Cisco Systems
Shougo Sato [82] 71028039.4%1992—202431.6221.8Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Brother
Lisa Seacat DeLuca [83] 70651372.7%2009—202415.2462.7Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Frederick A. Ware [84] 70622431.7%1981—202442.4172.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA Rambus
Gregory J. Boss [85] 70548268.4%2008—202416.2444.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA IBM
Tetsujiro Kondo [86] 70052875.4%1987—202134213.8Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Sony
Elihu Thomson [87] 696NANA1899—193535.919NAFlag of the United States.svg  USA GE
Yan Zhou [88] 69362189.6%2012—202411.7594.4Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm
Satoshi Nagata [89] 69165694.9%2011—202412.6554.0Flag of Japan.svg  Japan NTT
Irwin Gerszberg [90] 68031245.9%1994—202329.2236.8Flag of the United States.svg  USA AT&T
Eric C. Leuthardt [91] 67645767.6%2006—202417.5399.1Flag of the United States.svg  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chung-Shi Liu [92] 67637455.3%2000—202424.3286.1Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan TSMC
Paul S. Henry [93] 65630145.9%1978—202344.9156.3Flag of the United States.svg  USA AT&T
William I. Wood [94] 65325939.7%1981—201332.2205.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA Genentech
Simon R. Walmsley [95] 65117126.3%1995—201217.2383.2Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Silverbrook Research
Kyungmin Park [96] 65136155.5%2014—202410.1645.2Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ofinno
Jae Hoon Chung [97] 65038158.6%2010—202313504.5Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Woosuk Ko [98] 64724938.5%2015—20249723.4Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea LG
Xiaochuan Chen [99] 64663398.0%2014—20249.8667.0Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China BOE
Aleksandar Damnjanovic [100] 64147073.3%2003—202420.8314.4Flag of the United States.svg  USA Qualcomm

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of May 21,2024.

The columns are defined as follows:

Significance of inventions

This table is a sortable list of the most prolific inventors as measured by utility patents granted. It does not include other types of invention, such as inventions that were never applied for nor granted, for which there is no known source. Nor does the table attempt to measure the significance of an inventor and their inventions. The significance of inventions is often not apparent until many decades after the invention has been made. For recent inventors, it is not yet possible to determine their place in history.

Various published lists

Rankings of prolific inventors have been published at various times. However, until the patent records were digitized, these lists were very tedious to prepare, as many thousands of patent records had to be checked manually. Even after digitization, it is still not a simple process. While the USPTO keeps statistics for annual rankings of inventions assigned to companies, it no longer publishes rankings of individual inventors. The last such list was published by the USPTO in 1998. [Info 1] Also, patents predating 1976 have not yet been digitized in the USPTO records. This means that patents before 1976 will not be included in a USPTO search by inventor name, and the number of patents granted before 1976 must be added to current searches.

A more extensive list of prolific inventors with additional information and ability to filter on country, gender, time period, patent type, and Nobel laureate title can be found at idiyas.com/top/inventors . There are some discrepancies with this article due to different inventor queries that attempt to account for data issues such as typos and multiple inventors with the same name.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Patent and Trademark Office</span> United States national patent bureau

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia, after a 2005 move from the Crystal City area of neighboring Arlington, Virginia.

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A patent examiner is an employee, usually a civil servant with a scientific or engineering background, working at a patent office.

In United States patent law, utility is a patentability requirement. As provided by 35 U.S.C. § 101, an invention is "useful" if it provides some identifiable benefit and is capable of use and "useless" otherwise. The majority of inventions are usually not challenged as lacking utility, but the doctrine prevents the patenting of fantastic or hypothetical devices such as perpetual motion machines.

Under United States patent law, a continuing patent application is a patent application that follows, and claims priority to, an earlier-filed patent application. A continuing patent application may be one of three types: a continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part. Although continuation and continuation-in-part applications are generally available in the U.S. only, divisional patent applications are also available in other countries, as such availability is required under Article 4G of the Paris Convention.

Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking and tax compliance etc. Business method patents are a relatively new species of patent and there have been several reviews investigating the appropriateness of patenting business methods. Nonetheless, they have become important assets for both independent inventors and major corporations.

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The United States is considered to have the most favorable legal regime for inventors and patent owners in the world. Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limited time from profiting from a patented technology without the consent of the patent holder. Specifically, it is the right to exclude others from: making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing, inducing others to infringe, applying for an FDA approval, and/or offering a product specially adapted for practice of the patent.

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Donald Weder of Highland, Illinois is an American inventor and businessman. Weder holds 984 utility patents and 413 design patents for a total of 1397 US patents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kia Silverbrook</span> Australian inventor, scientist, and serial entrepreneur

Kia Silverbrook is an Australian independent inventor and scientist. He is one of the most prolific inventors in the world, and has been granted 4,747 US utility patents as of 14 February 2022. Internationally, he has 9,874 patents or patent applications registered at the international patent document database (INPADOC). Silverbrook has founded companies and developed products in a wide range of disciplines, including computer graphics, video and audio production, scientific computing, factory automation, digital printing, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), molecular electronics, internet software, content management, genetic analysis, MEMS devices, security inks, photovoltaic solar cells, and interactive paper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leahy–Smith America Invents Act</span>

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant legislative change to the U.S. patent system since the Patent Act of 1952 and closely resembles previously proposed legislation in the Senate in its previous session.

References

  1. ↑ "USPTO publication: Prolific Inventors Receiving Utility Patents 1988–1997" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2011-07-12.

References of Inventors' Patents

  1. ↑ Shunpei Yamazaki
  2. ↑ Kia Silverbrook
  3. ↑ Tao Luo
  4. ↑ Kangguo Cheng
  5. ↑ Frederick E. Shelton IV
  6. ↑ Junyi Li
  7. ↑ Peter Gaal
  8. ↑ Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
  9. ↑ Wanshi Chen
  10. ↑ Roderick A. Hyde
  11. ↑ Chen-Hua Yu
  12. ↑ Hanbyul Seo
  13. ↑ Xiaoxia Zhang
  14. ↑ Jun Koyama
  15. ↑ Esmael H. Dinan
  16. ↑ Gurtej Singh Sandhu
  17. ↑ Paul Lapstun
  18. ↑ Shou-Shan Fan
  19. ↑ Jing Sun
  20. ↑ Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  21. ↑ Clarence T. Tegreene
  22. ↑ Alexander Reznicek
  23. ↑ Satoshi Seo
  24. ↑ Kijun Kim
  25. ↑ Leonard Forbes
  26. ↑ Edward K. Y. Jung
  27. ↑ Suckchel Yang
  28. ↑ Thomas Edison
  29. ↑ Joonkui Ahn
  30. ↑ Shan Liu
  31. ↑ Rick Allen Hamilton II
  32. ↑ Marta Karczewicz
  33. ↑ Juan Montojo
  34. ↑ Donald E. Weder
  35. ↑ Ruilong Xie
  36. ↑ Jason K. Resch
  37. ↑ George Albert Lyon
  38. ↑ Michael J. Sullivan
  39. ↑ Jordin T. Kare
  40. ↑ Jay S. Walker
  41. ↑ Jason L. Harris
  42. ↑ Yunjung Yi
  43. ↑ Tingfang Ji
  44. ↑ John F. O'Connor
  45. ↑ Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  46. ↑ Takahiro Nishi
  47. ↑ Melvin De Groote
  48. ↑ David R. Hall
  49. ↑ Nathan Myhrvold
  50. ↑ William H. Eby
  51. ↑ Francis H. Richards
  52. ↑ Mark Malamud
  53. ↑ Hao Xu
  54. ↑ Seungmin Lee
  55. ↑ Hajime Kimura
  56. ↑ Robert W. Lord
  57. ↑ Royce A. Levien
  58. ↑ Hongyuan Zhang
  59. ↑ Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  60. ↑ Michael K. Gschwind
  61. ↑ Clifford A. Pickover
  62. ↑ Lee D. Whetsel
  63. ↑ Chih-Chao Yang
  64. ↑ Devendra K. Sadana
  65. ↑ SungDuck Chun
  66. ↑ Salman Akram
  67. ↑ Warren M. Farnworth
  68. ↑ Bruce B. Doris
  69. ↑ Jeyhan Karaoguz
  70. ↑ Carleton Ellis
  71. ↑ Stuart C. Salter
  72. ↑ Hsien-Wei Chen
  73. ↑ Ali Khakifirooz
  74. ↑ Youngdae Lee
  75. ↑ Justin T. Mason
  76. ↑ John M. Santosuosso
  77. ↑ Xue Dong
  78. ↑ Hideo Ando
  79. ↑ George Spector
  80. ↑ Austin L. Gurney
  81. ↑ Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur
  82. ↑ Shougo Sato
  83. ↑ Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  84. ↑ Frederick A. Ware
  85. ↑ Gregory J. Boss
  86. ↑ Tetsujiro Kondo
  87. ↑ Elihu Thomson
  88. ↑ Yan Zhou
  89. ↑ Satoshi Nagata
  90. ↑ Irwin Gerszberg
  91. ↑ Eric C. Leuthardt
  92. ↑ Chung-Shi Liu
  93. ↑ Paul S. Henry
  94. ↑ William I. Wood
  95. ↑ Simon R. Walmsley
  96. ↑ Kyungmin Park
  97. ↑ Jae Hoon Chung
  98. ↑ Woosuk Ko
  99. ↑ Xiaochuan Chen
  100. ↑ Aleksandar Damnjanovic
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