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List of prolific inventors

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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.

Prolific Inventors

Inventor Pats Fams Fam % Pat Yrs Yrs Pat /Yr Inv /Pat Pat Residence Majority Assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki 6309 2802 44.4% 1972—2024 52 121 3.6  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook 4747 1311 27.6% 1994—2014 20 237 1.6  Australia Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo 3071 2581 84.0% 2006—2024 17.8 173 5.6  USA Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng 2727 1489 54.6% 2004—2024 19.4 141 3.9  USA IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV 2252 1083 48.1% 2005—2024 18.8 120 4.5  USA Ethicon
Peter Gaal 2036 1573 77.3% 2002—2024 21.6 94 5.9  USA Qualcomm
Junyi Li 2028 1721 84.9% 2002—2024 21.4 95 5.2  USA Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr. 1992 1324 66.5% 1971—2024 52.3 38 8.8  USA Intellectual Ventures
Wanshi Chen 1928 1501 77.9% 2009—2024 14.9 129 5.7  USA Qualcomm
Roderick A. Hyde 1888 1252 66.3% 2001—2023 22.5 84 8.7  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu 1680 929 55.3% 1996—2024 27.8 60 4.9  Taiwan TSMC
Hanbyul Seo 1579 1157 73.3% 2012—2024 11.9 133 3.8  South Korea LG
Jun Koyama 1479 619 41.9% 1991—2024 32.8 45 3.1  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Xiaoxia Zhang 1470 1287 87.6% 2009—2024 15.2 97 5.5  USA Qualcomm
Gurtej Singh Sandhu 1422 586 41.2% 1991—2024 32.7 43 2.5  USA Micron
Esmael H. Dinan 1402 603 43.0% 2006—2024 17.8 79 3.6  USA Ofinno
Paul Lapstun 1304 246 18.9% 2000—2023 23 57 2.5  Australia Silverbrook Research
Shou-Shan Fan 1299 1087 83.7% 2006—2024 17.9 73 4.2  China Hon Hai
Clarence T. Tegreene 1245 902 72.4% 2000—2024 23.1 54 10.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Sarbajit K. Rakshit 1231 1017 82.6% 2013—2024 11.2 110 3.4  India IBM
Alexander Reznicek 1230 731 59.4% 2006—2024 18 68 3.9  USA IBM
Jing Sun 1222 1046 85.6% 2012—2024 11.3 108 5.9  USA Qualcomm
Satoshi Seo 1140 545 47.8% 2002—2024 21.3 54 4.1  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kijun Kim 1119 787 70.3% 2013—2024 10.3 109 4.6  South Korea LG
Leonard Forbes 1109 411 37.1% 1975—2019 43.3 26 2.6  USA Micron
Edward K. Y. Jung 1109 794 71.6% 1996—2023 27.4 40 8.0  USA Intellectual Ventures
Thomas Edison 1084 NA NA 1869—1933 63.9 17 1.0  USA Thomas Edison
Suckchel Yang 1082 700 64.7% 2013—2024 10.7 101 4.7  South Korea LG
Joonkui Ahn 1065 693 65.1% 2013—2024 10.7 100 4.7  South Korea LG
Rick Allen Hamilton II 1062 714 67.2% 1999—2024 25 42 4.2  USA IBM
Shan Liu 1058 724 68.4% 2013—2024 10.6 100 3.4  USA Tencent
Marta Karczewicz 1028 851 82.8% 2000—2024 23.3 44 4.0  USA Qualcomm
Juan Montojo 1007 820 81.4% 2004—2024 20.1 50 6.9  USA Qualcomm
Donald E. Weder 1000 395 39.5% 1978—2015 37.1 27 1.1  USA Weder Family Trust
George Albert Lyon 993 NA NA 1901—1965 64.5 15 1.0  Canada Lyon George Albert
Michael J. Sullivan 992 534 53.8% 1989—2024 34.5 29 3.8  USA Acushnet Holdings
Ruilong Xie 992 739 74.5% 2013—2024 11.2 89 4.2  USA IBM
Jordin T. Kare 988 641 64.9% 1992—2024 31.4 31 9.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Jason K. Resch 985 497 50.5% 2009—2024 14.6 67 4.2  USA IBM
Jay S. Walker 978 422 43.1% 1998—2024 25.8 38 5.2  USA Walker Digital
Yunjung Yi 961 685 71.3% 2015—2024 8.4 114 3.3  South Korea LG
Jason L. Harris 957 579 60.5% 2011—2024 13.2 72 6.0  USA Ethicon
John F. O'Connor 949 NA NA 1901—1935 33.9 28 NA  USA William H. Miner
Tingfang Ji 947 703 74.2% 2006—2024 17.7 54 6.9  USA Qualcomm
Ahmadreza Rofougaran 943 459 48.7% 2002—2024 21.8 43 6.4  USA Broadcom
Melvin De Groote 925 NA NA 1924—1966 41.8 22 NA  USA Petrolite
Takahiro Nishi 919 337 36.7% 2001—2024 22.6 41 6.3  Japan Panasonic
David R. Hall 905 750 82.9% 1985—2024 38.5 24 3.8  USA Hall Labs
Nathan Myhrvold 904 612 67.7% 1994—2023 29.1 31 11.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
William H. Eby 898 894 99.6% 1994—2024 29.7 30 1.2  USA Monsanto
Francis H. Richards 894 NA NA 1899—1930 30.8 29 NA  USA Francis H. Richards
Mark Malamud 885 690 78.0% 1997—2023 25.9 34 7.5  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hao Xu 878 630 71.8% 2005—2024 19 46 4.7  China Qualcomm
Hajime Kimura 866 281 32.4% 2002—2024 21.4 40 2.6  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Robert W. Lord 865 681 78.7% 2003—2023 19.4 45 7.6  USA Intellectual Ventures
Seungmin Lee 858 629 73.3% 2014—2024 9.5 90 3.5  South Korea LG
Royce A. Levien 854 666 78.0% 1997—2023 25.9 33 6.8  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang 843 468 55.5% 2009—2024 14.9 57 3.9  USA Marvell
Muriel Y. Ishikawa 838 560 66.8% 2002—2023 21.2 40 11.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Michael K. Gschwind 834 442 53.0% 2001—2023 22 38 2.6  USA IBM
Clifford A. Pickover 829 546 65.9% 1992—2024 31.8 26 3.9  USA IBM
Lee D. Whetsel 827 129 15.6% 1991—2024 32.9 25 1.1  USA Texas Instruments
Chih-Chao Yang 827 513 62.0% 2003—2024 20.3 41 3.4  USA IBM
Devendra K. Sadana 805 454 56.4% 1983—2024 41.1 20 4.3  USA IBM
SungDuck Chun 783 476 60.8% 2007—2024 16.3 48 3.8  South Korea LG
Salman Akram 782 290 37.1% 1995—2024 28.6 27 2.9  USA Micron
Warren M. Farnworth 774 289 37.3% 1990—2020 24.4 32 2.8  USA Micron
Bruce B. Doris 763 433 56.7% 1995—2023 28.7 27 4.2  USA IBM
Jeyhan Karaoguz 757 372 49.1% 1996—2024 27.5 28 4.6  USA Broadcom
Carleton Ellis 753 NA NA 1902—1946 43.1 17 NA  USA Ellis Foster Co
Ali Khakifirooz 749 405 54.1% 2011—2023 12 62 4.2  USA IBM
Hsien-Wei Chen 746 376 50.4% 2005—2024 19.1 39 3.5  Taiwan TSMC
Stuart C. Salter 739 694 93.9% 2009—2024 14.3 52 4.8  USA Ford
John M. Santosuosso 738 457 61.9% 2001—2024 22.5 33 3.9  USA IBM
Youngdae Lee 736 578 78.5% 2014—2024 10 74 3.1  South Korea LG
Justin T. Mason 735 731 99.5% 2008—2024 15.4 48 1.0  USA MS Technologies
Hideo Ando 733 123 16.8% 1983—2020 36.7 20 3.1  Japan Toshiba
Xue Dong 729 713 97.8% 2010—2024 13.3 55 7.4  China BOE
George Spector 723 723 100% 1974—1998 24.6 29 2.1  USA George Spector
Austin L. Gurney 718 182 25.3% 1999—2021 21.6 33 2.9  USA Genentech
Shougo Sato 708 280 39.5% 1992—2024 31.5 22 1.8  Japan Brother
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur 707 572 80.9% 2006—2024 17.8 40 2.6  France Cisco Systems
Gregory J. Boss 704 482 68.5% 2008—2024 16 44 4.2  USA IBM
Lisa Seacat DeLuca 703 510 72.5% 2009—2024 15.1 47 2.7  USA IBM
Tetsujiro Kondo 700 528 75.4% 1987—2021 34 21 3.8  Japan Sony
Frederick A. Ware 697 227 32.6% 1981—2024 42.3 16 2.8  USA Rambus
Elihu Thomson 696 NA NA 1899—1935 35.9 19 NA  USA GE
Yan Zhou 682 611 89.6% 2012—2024 11.6 59 4.4  USA Qualcomm
Irwin Gerszberg 680 312 45.9% 1994—2023 29.2 23 6.8  USA AT&T
Satoshi Nagata 678 645 95.1% 2011—2024 12.5 54 4.0  Japan NTT
Eric C. Leuthardt 675 458 67.9% 2006—2024 17.4 39 9.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chung-Shi Liu 672 377 56.1% 2000—2024 24.2 28 6.1  Taiwan TSMC
Paul S. Henry 656 301 45.9% 1978—2023 44.9 15 6.3  USA AT&T
William I. Wood 653 259 39.7% 1981—2013 32.2 20 5.2  USA Genentech
Simon R. Walmsley 651 171 26.3% 1995—2012 17.2 38 3.2  Australia Silverbrook Research
Jae Hoon Chung 650 381 58.6% 2010—2023 13 50 4.5  South Korea LG
Xiaochuan Chen 642 629 98.0% 2014—2024 9.7 66 7.0  China BOE
Woosuk Ko 640 243 38.0% 2015—2024 8.9 72 3.4  South Korea LG
Hui-Ling Lou 638 344 53.9% 1997—2024 26.6 24 3.9  USA Marvell
Edward J. Nowak 635 410 64.6% 1979—2021 41.1 15 3.0  USA IBM

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of April 9, 2024.

The columns are defined as follows:

  • Inventor: The name of the inventor.
  • Pats: The number of utility patents that have been issued. Only utility patents (or the international equivalent) are listed, as a utility patent is a patent for an invention. Not all patents are for inventions. Other patent types include: design patents for the ornamental design of an object; plant patents for plant varieties; and reissue patents, where a correction is made to an already granted patent. This list does not include patent applications (patents pending) as there is no guarantee that a patent application actually describes a novel invention until the patent is granted.
  • Fams: The number of patent families, which in USPTO data includes an original or continuation-in-part patent by itself or with one or more continuation or divisional patents based on the original or continuation-in-part patent. This is different than global patent families that represent a patent filed in more than one jurisdiction. "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
  • Fam %: The percentage of original and continuation-in-part patents that are in the inventor's patent portfolio . "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
  • Pat Yrs: The first and last year in which an inventor received a patent issuance.
  • Yrs: The number of years from first issuance to most recent issuance, rounded to first decimal based on dates.
  • Pats /Yr: The average number of patents received per year .
  • Inv / Pat: The average number of inventors listed on the inventor's most recent 50 patents as of September 7, 2021 or on the date the inventor was added to the table if later. "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
  • Pat Residence: The country of inventor's residence listed in their most recent patent issuance.
  • Majority Assignment: The entity that has the most patents assigned from an inventor's portfolio. This is current and not original assignment. It is usually, but not always an indication of which company the inventor worked at for the majority of their patent activity.

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. 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

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. Peter Gaal
  7. Junyi Li
  8. Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
  9. Wanshi Chen
  10. Roderick A. Hyde
  11. Chen-Hua Yu
  12. Hanbyul Seo
  13. Jun Koyama
  14. Xiaoxia Zhang
  15. Gurtej Singh Sandhu
  16. Esmael H. Dinan
  17. Paul Lapstun
  18. Shou-Shan Fan
  19. Clarence T. Tegreene
  20. Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  21. Alexander Reznicek
  22. Jing Sun
  23. Satoshi Seo
  24. Kijun Kim
  25. Leonard Forbes
  26. Edward K. Y. Jung
  27. Thomas Edison
  28. Suckchel Yang
  29. Joonkui Ahn
  30. Rick Allen Hamilton II
  31. Shan Liu
  32. Marta Karczewicz
  33. Juan Montojo
  34. Donald E. Weder
  35. George Albert Lyon
  36. Michael J. Sullivan
  37. Ruilong Xie
  38. Jordin T. Kare
  39. Jason K. Resch
  40. Jay S. Walker
  41. Yunjung Yi
  42. Jason L. Harris
  43. John F. O'Connor
  44. Tingfang Ji
  45. Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  46. Melvin De Groote
  47. Takahiro Nishi
  48. David R. Hall
  49. Nathan Myhrvold
  50. William H. Eby
  51. Francis H. Richards
  52. Mark Malamud
  53. Hao Xu
  54. Hajime Kimura
  55. Robert W. Lord
  56. Seungmin Lee
  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. Ali Khakifirooz
  72. Hsien-Wei Chen
  73. Stuart C. Salter
  74. John M. Santosuosso
  75. Youngdae Lee
  76. Justin T. Mason
  77. Hideo Ando
  78. Xue Dong
  79. George Spector
  80. Austin L. Gurney
  81. Shougo Sato
  82. Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur
  83. Gregory J. Boss
  84. Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  85. Tetsujiro Kondo
  86. Frederick A. Ware
  87. Elihu Thomson
  88. Yan Zhou
  89. Irwin Gerszberg
  90. Satoshi Nagata
  91. Eric C. Leuthardt
  92. Chung-Shi Liu
  93. Paul S. Henry
  94. William I. Wood
  95. Simon R. Walmsley
  96. Jae Hoon Chung
  97. Xiaochuan Chen
  98. Woosuk Ko
  99. Hui-Ling Lou
  100. Edward J. Nowak
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