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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Keithrwalker (talk | contribs) at 00:38, 27 November 2024 (→Prolific Inventors: Updated patent data). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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		6439	2849	44.2%	1972—2024	52.6	122	3.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook		4747	1311	27.6%	1994—2014	20	237	1.6	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo		3552	2983	84.0%	2006—2024	18.5	192	5.6	USA	Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng		2758	1515	54.9%	2004—2024	20.1	137	3.9	USA	IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV		2428	1137	46.8%	2005—2024	19.4	125	4.5	USA	Ethicon
Junyi Li		2279	1930	84.7%	2002—2024	22	104	5.2	USA	Qualcomm
Peter Gaal		2228	1712	76.8%	2002—2024	22.3	100	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Wanshi Chen		2085	1611	77.3%	2009—2024	15.5	135	5.7	USA	Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr.		1996	1325	66.4%	1971—2024	52.5	38	8.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Roderick A. Hyde		1891	1252	66.2%	2001—2023	22.4	84	8.7	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu		1762	944	53.6%	1996—2024	28.4	62	4.9	Taiwan	TSMC
Xiaoxia Zhang		1703	1471	86.4%	2009—2024	15.8	108	5.5	USA	Qualcomm
Hanbyul Seo		1678	1236	73.7%	2012—2024	12.6	133	3.8	South Korea	LG
Esmael H. Dinan		1621	678	41.8%	2006—2024	18.4	88	3.6	USA	Ofinno
Jun Koyama		1493	618	41.4%	1991—2022	30.8	48	3.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Gurtej Singh Sandhu		1427	584	40.9%	1991—2024	32.5	44	2.5	USA	Micron
Jing Sun		1424	1203	84.5%	2012—2024	11.9	120	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Sarbajit K. Rakshit		1332	1113	83.6%	2013—2024	11.9	112	3.4	India	IBM
Shou-Shan Fan		1307	1093	83.6%	2006—2024	18.5	71	4.2	China	Hon Hai
Paul Lapstun		1305	246	18.9%	2000—2022	21.4	61	2.5	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Alexander Reznicek		1253	751	59.9%	2006—2024	18.6	67	3.9	USA	IBM
Clarence T. Tegreene		1248	903	72.4%	2000—2024	23.5	53	10.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Shan Liu		1234	813	65.9%	2013—2024	11.2	110	3.4	USA	Tencent
Satoshi Seo		1191	563	47.3%	2002—2024	21.9	54	4.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Suckchel Yang		1185	763	64.4%	2013—2024	11.4	104	4.7	South Korea	LG
Kijun Kim		1150	799	69.5%	2013—2024	10.9	106	4.6	South Korea	LG
Joonkui Ahn		1122	728	64.9%	2013—2024	11.3	99	4.7	South Korea	LG
Edward K. Y. Jung		1111	794	71.5%	1996—2022	26.1	43	8.0	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Juan Montojo		1110	907	81.7%	2004—2024	20.7	54	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Leonard Forbes		1109	411	37.1%	1975—2019	43.3	26	2.6	USA	Micron
Thomas Edison		1084	NA	NA	1869—1933	63.9	17	1.0	USA	Thomas Edison
Marta Karczewicz		1067	877	82.2%	2000—2024	23.8	45	4.0	USA	Qualcomm
Rick Allen Hamilton II		1062	714	67.2%	1999—2024	25	42	4.2	USA	IBM
Jason L. Harris		1053	612	58.1%	2011—2024	13.8	76	6.0	USA	Ethicon
Ruilong Xie		1037	775	74.7%	2013—2024	11.8	88	4.2	USA	IBM
Takahiro Nishi		1023	359	35.1%	2001—2024	23.2	44	6.3	Japan	Panasonic
Tingfang Ji		1014	753	74.3%	2006—2024	18.3	55	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Jason K. Resch		1013	507	50.0%	2009—2024	15.2	67	4.2	USA	IBM
Donald E. Weder		1000	395	39.5%	1978—2015	37.1	27	1.1	USA	Weder Family Trust
Michael J. Sullivan		994	534	53.7%	1989—2024	34.5	29	3.8	USA	Acushnet Holdings
George Albert Lyon		993	NA	NA	1901—1965	64.5	15	1.0	Canada	Lyon George Albert
Jordin T. Kare		989	640	64.7%	1992—2023	30.5	32	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Yunjung Yi		985	695	70.6%	2015—2024	8.9	111	3.3	South Korea	LG
Jay S. Walker		979	422	43.1%	1998—2024	26.3	37	5.2	USA	Walker Digital
Ahmadreza Rofougaran		961	467	48.6%	2002—2024	22.4	43	6.4	USA	Broadcom
Seungmin Lee		958	707	73.8%	2014—2024	10.1	95	3.5	South Korea	LG
John F. O'Connor		949	NA	NA	1901—1935	33.9	28	NA	USA	William H. Miner
Melvin De Groote		925	NA	NA	1924—1966	41.8	22	NA	USA	Petrolite
David R. Hall		918	760	82.8%	1985—2024	39.4	23	3.8	USA	Hall Labs
Hao Xu		915	653	71.4%	2005—2024	19.6	47	4.7	China	Qualcomm
Nathan Myhrvold		905	613	67.7%	1994—2024	29.7	30	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
William H. Eby		899	895	99.6%	1994—2024	30.2	30	1.2	USA	Monsanto
Francis H. Richards		894	NA	NA	1899—1930	30.8	29	NA	USA	Francis H. Richards
Hajime Kimura		891	281	31.5%	2002—2024	22	40	2.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Mark Malamud		886	690	77.9%	1997—2022	25.1	35	7.5	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang		871	476	54.6%	2009—2024	15.5	56	3.9	USA	Marvell
Robert W. Lord		867	682	78.7%	2003—2024	20.4	42	7.6	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Royce A. Levien		855	666	77.9%	1997—2020	23.5	36	6.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chih-Chao Yang		840	524	62.4%	2003—2024	20.9	40	3.4	USA	IBM
Muriel Y. Ishikawa		839	560	66.7%	2002—2023	21.2	40	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Lee D. Whetsel		838	130	15.5%	1991—2017	26.4	32	1.1	USA	Texas Instruments
Michael K. Gschwind		836	442	52.9%	2001—2021	20.6	41	2.6	USA	IBM
Clifford A. Pickover		835	548	65.6%	1992—2024	32.2	26	3.9	USA	IBM
Devendra K. Sadana		814	458	56.3%	1983—2024	41.7	20	4.3	USA	IBM
Yan Zhou		808	721	89.2%	2012—2024	12.2	66	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Stuart C. Salter		798	750	94.0%	2009—2024	14.9	54	4.8	USA	Ford
Youngdae Lee		796	626	78.6%	2014—2024	10.6	75	3.1	South Korea	LG
SungDuck Chun		795	486	61.1%	2007—2024	17	47	3.8	South Korea	LG
Salman Akram		784	291	37.1%	1995—2024	29.4	27	2.9	USA	Micron
Hsien-Wei Chen		781	381	48.8%	2005—2024	19.7	40	3.5	Taiwan	TSMC
Warren M. Farnworth		774	289	37.3%	1990—2020	24.4	32	2.8	USA	Micron
Justin T. Mason		774	770	99.5%	2008—2024	16	48	1.0	USA	MS Technologies
James A. Jorasch		771	309	40.1%	1994—2023	29	27	3.9	USA	Walker Digital
Satoshi Nagata		767	730	95.2%	2011—2024	13.1	59	4.0	Japan	NTT
Bruce B. Doris		763	433	56.7%	1995—2023	28.6	27	4.2	USA	IBM
Jeyhan Karaoguz		757	371	49.0%	1996—2020	23.8	32	4.6	USA	Broadcom
Kyungmin Park		756	390	51.6%	2014—2024	10.6	71	5.2	USA	Ofinno
Carleton Ellis		753	NA	NA	1902—1946	43.1	17	NA	USA	Ellis Foster Co
Xue Dong		752	731	97.2%	2010—2024	13.9	54	7.4	China	BOE
Ali Khakifirooz		751	407	54.2%	2011—2024	12.9	58	4.2	USA	IBM
John M. Santosuosso		738	466	63.1%	2001—2022	20.7	36	3.9	USA	IBM
Hideo Ando		733	123	16.8%	1983—2020	36.7	20	3.1	Japan	Toshiba
Frederick A. Ware		731	227	31.1%	1981—2024	42.8	17	2.8	USA	Rambus
Shougo Sato		730	282	38.6%	1992—2024	32.1	23	1.8	Japan	Brother
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur		727	590	81.2%	2006—2024	18.6	39	2.6	France	Cisco Systems
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
Lisa Seacat DeLuca		712	516	72.5%	2009—2024	15.7	45	2.7	USA	IBM
Gregory J. Boss		710	487	68.6%	2008—2024	16.6	43	4.2	USA	IBM
Chung-Shi Liu		701	378	53.9%	2000—2024	24.7	28	6.1	Taiwan	TSMC
Tetsujiro Kondo		700	528	75.4%	1987—2021	34	21	3.8	Japan	Sony
Elihu Thomson		696	NA	NA	1899—1935	35.9	19	NA	USA	GE
Irwin Gerszberg		682	312	45.7%	1994—2023	29.2	23	6.8	USA	AT&T
Hua Zhou		682	388	56.9%	2012—2024	12.8	53	5.5	USA	Ofinno
Eric C. Leuthardt		680	459	67.5%	2006—2024	17.8	38	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Woosuk Ko		672	271	40.3%	2015—2024	9.6	70	3.4	South Korea	LG
Xiaochuan Chen		663	645	97.3%	2014—2024	10.4	64	7.0	China	BOE
Toshiyasu Sugio		659	240	36.4%	2009—2024	15.2	43	4.9	Japan	Panasonic
Aleksandar Damnjanovic		658	483	73.4%	2003—2024	21.2	31	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Paul S. Henry		657	301	45.8%	1978—2023	44.9	15	6.3	USA	AT&T

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of November 26, 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

• Timeline of historic inventions
• List of inventors

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

• Inventors
• Science-related lists
• Lists of inventors