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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Keithrwalker (talk | contribs) at 23:20, 30 April 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		6323	2798	44.3%	1972—2024	52	122	3.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook		4747	1311	27.6%	1994—2014	20	237	1.6	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo		3116	2617	84.0%	2006—2024	17.9	174	5.6	USA	Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng		2731	1492	54.6%	2004—2024	19.5	140	3.9	USA	IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV		2268	1085	47.8%	2005—2024	18.8	121	4.5	USA	Ethicon
Peter Gaal		2054	1583	77.1%	2002—2024	21.7	95	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Junyi Li		2047	1734	84.7%	2002—2024	21.5	95	5.2	USA	Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr.		1993	1325	66.5%	1971—2024	52.5	38	8.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Wanshi Chen		1943	1507	77.6%	2009—2024	15	130	5.7	USA	Qualcomm
Roderick A. Hyde		1888	1252	66.3%	2001—2023	22.5	84	8.7	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu		1689	925	54.8%	1996—2024	27.9	61	4.9	Taiwan	TSMC
Hanbyul Seo		1588	1164	73.3%	2012—2024	12	132	3.8	South Korea	LG
Xiaoxia Zhang		1494	1303	87.2%	2009—2024	15.3	98	5.5	USA	Qualcomm
Jun Koyama		1481	618	41.7%	1991—2024	32.8	45	3.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Gurtej Singh Sandhu		1422	584	41.1%	1991—2024	32.7	43	2.5	USA	Micron
Esmael H. Dinan		1417	603	42.6%	2006—2024	17.8	80	3.6	USA	Ofinno
Paul Lapstun		1304	246	18.9%	2000—2023	23	57	2.5	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Shou-Shan Fan		1301	1087	83.6%	2006—2024	18	72	4.2	China	Hon Hai
Clarence T. Tegreene		1245	902	72.4%	2000—2024	23.1	54	10.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Jing Sun		1245	1061	85.2%	2012—2024	11.3	110	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Sarbajit K. Rakshit		1245	1031	82.8%	2013—2024	11.3	110	3.4	India	IBM
Alexander Reznicek		1230	731	59.4%	2006—2024	18	68	3.9	USA	IBM
Satoshi Seo		1146	547	47.7%	2002—2024	21.4	54	4.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kijun Kim		1125	789	70.1%	2013—2024	10.4	108	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
Suckchel Yang		1098	710	64.7%	2013—2024	10.8	102	4.7	South Korea	LG
Thomas Edison		1084	NA	NA	1869—1933	63.9	17	1.0	USA	Thomas Edison
Joonkui Ahn		1078	700	64.9%	2013—2024	10.8	100	4.7	South Korea	LG
Shan Liu		1065	722	67.8%	2013—2024	10.6	100	3.4	USA	Tencent
Rick Allen Hamilton II		1062	714	67.2%	1999—2024	25	42	4.2	USA	IBM
Marta Karczewicz		1030	853	82.8%	2000—2024	23.3	44	4.0	USA	Qualcomm
Juan Montojo		1015	825	81.3%	2004—2024	20.2	50	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Donald E. Weder		1000	395	39.5%	1978—2015	37.1	27	1.1	USA	Weder Family Trust
Ruilong Xie		996	740	74.3%	2013—2024	11.2	89	4.2	USA	IBM
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
Jason K. Resch		989	498	50.4%	2009—2024	14.7	67	4.2	USA	IBM
Jordin T. Kare		988	640	64.8%	1992—2024	31.4	31	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Jay S. Walker		978	421	43.0%	1998—2024	25.8	38	5.2	USA	Walker Digital
Jason L. Harris		967	583	60.3%	2011—2024	13.3	73	6.0	USA	Ethicon
Yunjung Yi		964	685	71.1%	2015—2024	8.4	115	3.3	South Korea	LG
Tingfang Ji		953	707	74.2%	2006—2024	17.7	54	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
John F. O'Connor		949	NA	NA	1901—1935	33.9	28	NA	USA	William H. Miner
Ahmadreza Rofougaran		943	459	48.7%	2002—2024	21.8	43	6.4	USA	Broadcom
Takahiro Nishi		928	337	36.3%	2001—2024	22.7	41	6.3	Japan	Panasonic
Melvin De Groote		925	NA	NA	1924—1966	41.8	22	NA	USA	Petrolite
David R. Hall		908	753	82.9%	1985—2024	38.8	23	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		879	629	71.6%	2005—2024	19	46	4.7	China	Qualcomm
Hajime Kimura		869	278	32.0%	2002—2024	21.4	41	2.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Seungmin Lee		866	634	73.2%	2014—2024	9.5	91	3.5	South Korea	LG
Robert W. Lord		865	681	78.7%	2003—2023	19.4	45	7.6	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Royce A. Levien		854	666	78.0%	1997—2023	25.9	33	6.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang		846	469	55.4%	2009—2024	15	56	3.9	USA	Marvell
Muriel Y. Ishikawa		838	560	66.8%	2002—2023	21.2	40	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Michael K. Gschwind		836	444	53.1%	2001—2024	23.2	36	2.6	USA	IBM
Clifford A. Pickover		829	546	65.9%	1992—2024	31.8	26	3.9	USA	IBM
Lee D. Whetsel		828	128	15.5%	1991—2024	33	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		806	455	56.5%	1983—2024	41.2	20	4.3	USA	IBM
SungDuck Chun		784	477	60.8%	2007—2024	16.4	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	371	49.0%	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		749	377	50.3%	2005—2024	19.2	39	3.5	Taiwan	TSMC
Stuart C. Salter		744	699	94.0%	2009—2024	14.3	52	4.8	USA	Ford
John M. Santosuosso		738	466	63.1%	2001—2024	22.5	33	3.9	USA	IBM
Youngdae Lee		738	579	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		732	716	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		709	279	39.4%	1992—2024	31.5	23	1.8	Japan	Brother
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur		708	573	80.9%	2006—2024	18	39	2.6	France	Cisco Systems
Lisa Seacat DeLuca		705	512	72.6%	2009—2024	15.2	46	2.7	USA	IBM
Gregory J. Boss		704	481	68.3%	2008—2024	16	44	4.2	USA	IBM
Frederick A. Ware		703	222	31.6%	1981—2024	42.4	17	2.8	USA	Rambus
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
Yan Zhou		687	616	89.7%	2012—2024	11.6	59	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Satoshi Nagata		686	652	95.0%	2011—2024	12.5	55	4.0	Japan	NTT
Irwin Gerszberg		680	312	45.9%	1994—2023	29.2	23	6.8	USA	AT&T
Eric C. Leuthardt		675	457	67.7%	2006—2024	17.4	39	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chung-Shi Liu		674	374	55.5%	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
Woosuk Ko		644	247	38.4%	2015—2024	9	72	3.4	South Korea	LG
Xiaochuan Chen		643	630	98.0%	2014—2024	9.8	66	7.0	China	BOE
Hui-Ling Lou		639	344	53.8%	1997—2024	26.7	24	3.9	USA	Marvell
Aleksandar Damnjanovic		639	470	73.6%	2003—2024	20.7	31	4.4	USA	Qualcomm

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of April 30, 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. 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. Xiaoxia Zhang
14. Jun Koyama
15. Gurtej Singh Sandhu
16. Esmael H. Dinan
17. Paul Lapstun
18. Shou-Shan Fan
19. Clarence T. Tegreene
20. Jing Sun
21. Sarbajit K. Rakshit
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. George Albert Lyon
37. Michael J. Sullivan
38. Jason K. Resch
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. Hajime Kimura
55. Seungmin Lee
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. 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. Lisa Seacat DeLuca
84. Gregory J. Boss
85. Frederick A. Ware
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. Jae Hoon Chung
97. Woosuk Ko
98. Xiaochuan Chen
99. Hui-Ling Lou
100. Aleksandar Damnjanovic

• Inventors
• Science-related lists
• Lists of inventors