Apple Ranks 7th on 2021 List of Top U.S. Patent Assignees

Apple has ranked seventh on the 2021 list of the top U.S. patent assignees. The list, compiled by IFI, reveals that Apple was granted 2,541 patents last year. That's down 9% from 2020, though total patents granted were also down for the year.

Total US patent grants declined 7.5 percent from 2020, the most precipitous drop since 2018. Grants went from 352,000 in 2020 to 327,329 during the past year; patent applications also saw a slight downtick, about 1 percent, going from 413,173 to 410,093 during that time frame.

Topping the list is IBM with 8,682 patents granted, followed by Samsung with 6,366 and Canon with 3,021.


Although U.S. patent grants were down, China-based companies saw an increase in grants of 10% last year.

In a year that saw US patent grants decrease anywhere from 8 to 12 percent among worldwide corporations, China-based companies stood out with an increase of 10 percent, going from 18,792 awards in 2020 to 20,679 during the past year. A total of four Chinese companies are now in the US Top 50 including Huawei at #5, BOE at #11, Advanced New Technologies at #43, and Guangdong Oppo at #49. US company grants were down commensurate with the worldwide total decline, 8 percent.

IFI has also updated its list of the world's largest patent holders. Samsung comes in first place, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences, Midea Group, Huawei, and China Petrochemical.

Check out the full list at the link below...


Read More [via PatentlyApple]