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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 6421 2839 44.2% 1972—2024 52.5 122 3.6  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook 4747 1311 27.6% 1994—2014 20 237 1.6  Australia Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo 3520 2958 84.0% 2006—2024 18.4 191 5.6  USA Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng 2752 1512 54.9% 2004—2024 20 138 3.9  USA IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV 2409 1131 46.9% 2005—2024 19.3 125 4.5  USA Ethicon
Junyi Li 2255 1912 84.8% 2002—2024 22 102 5.2  USA Qualcomm
Peter Gaal 2213 1703 77.0% 2002—2024 22.2 100 5.9  USA Qualcomm
Wanshi Chen 2073 1602 77.3% 2009—2024 15.5 134 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 1890 1252 66.2% 2001—2023 22.4 84 8.7  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu 1755 943 53.7% 1996—2024 28.4 62 4.9  Taiwan TSMC
Xiaoxia Zhang 1678 1453 86.6% 2009—2024 15.8 106 5.5  USA Qualcomm
Hanbyul Seo 1663 1221 73.4% 2012—2024 12.5 133 3.8  South Korea LG
Esmael H. Dinan 1602 676 42.2% 2006—2024 18.3 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 1409 1193 84.7% 2012—2024 11.8 119 5.9  USA Qualcomm
Sarbajit K. Rakshit 1316 1098 83.4% 2013—2024 11.8 112 3.4  India IBM
Paul Lapstun 1305 246 18.9% 2000—2022 21.4 61 2.5  Australia Silverbrook Research
Shou-Shan Fan 1305 1091 83.6% 2006—2024 18.4 71 4.2  China Hon Hai
Clarence T. Tegreene 1248 903 72.4% 2000—2024 23.5 53 10.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Alexander Reznicek 1245 744 59.8% 2006—2024 18.5 67 3.9  USA IBM
Shan Liu 1203 800 66.5% 2013—2024 11.1 108 3.4  USA Tencent
Satoshi Seo 1188 561 47.2% 2002—2024 21.8 54 4.1  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Suckchel Yang 1179 758 64.3% 2013—2024 11.3 104 4.7  South Korea LG
Kijun Kim 1148 798 69.5% 2013—2024 10.8 106 4.6  South Korea LG
Joonkui Ahn 1121 727 64.9% 2013—2024 11.2 100 4.7  South Korea LG
Edward K. Y. Jung 1111 794 71.5% 1996—2022 26.1 43 8.0  USA Intellectual Ventures
Leonard Forbes 1109 411 37.1% 1975—2019 43.3 26 2.6  USA Micron
Juan Montojo 1103 902 81.8% 2004—2024 20.7 53 6.9  USA Qualcomm
Thomas Edison 1084 NA NA 1869—1933 63.9 17 1.0  USA Thomas Edison
Marta Karczewicz 1064 877 82.4% 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 1041 608 58.4% 2011—2024 13.8 75 6.0  USA Ethicon
Ruilong Xie 1031 770 74.7% 2013—2024 11.7 88 4.2  USA IBM
Jason K. Resch 1010 507 50.2% 2009—2024 15.2 66 4.2  USA IBM
Takahiro Nishi 1010 356 35.2% 2001—2024 23.2 44 6.3  Japan Panasonic
Tingfang Ji 1006 747 74.3% 2006—2024 18.2 55 6.9  USA Qualcomm
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 984 696 70.7% 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 955 462 48.4% 2002—2024 22.3 43 6.4  USA Broadcom
John F. O'Connor 949 NA NA 1901—1935 33.9 28 NA  USA William H. Miner
Seungmin Lee 944 693 73.4% 2014—2024 10 94 3.5  South Korea LG
Melvin De Groote 925 NA NA 1924—1966 41.8 22 NA  USA Petrolite
David R. Hall 916 758 82.8% 1985—2024 39.3 23 3.8  USA Hall Labs
Hao Xu 908 649 71.5% 2005—2024 19.5 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 890 280 31.5% 2002—2024 21.9 41 2.6  Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Mark Malamud 886 690 77.9% 1997—2022 25.1 35 7.5  USA Intellectual Ventures
Robert W. Lord 867 682 78.7% 2003—2024 20.4 42 7.6  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang 867 477 55.0% 2009—2024 15.5 56 3.9  USA Marvell
Royce A. Levien 855 666 77.9% 1997—2020 23.5 36 6.8  USA Intellectual Ventures
Muriel Y. Ishikawa 839 560 66.7% 2002—2023 21.2 40 11.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Chih-Chao Yang 839 523 62.3% 2003—2024 20.8 40 3.4  USA IBM
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
Lee D. Whetsel 835 129 15.4% 1991—2024 33.6 25 1.1  USA Texas Instruments
Devendra K. Sadana 812 457 56.3% 1983—2024 41.5 20 4.3  USA IBM
Yan Zhou 796 709 89.1% 2012—2024 12.1 66 4.4  USA Qualcomm
SungDuck Chun 794 485 61.1% 2007—2024 16.8 47 3.8  South Korea LG
Stuart C. Salter 794 746 94.0% 2009—2024 14.8 54 4.8  USA Ford
Youngdae Lee 791 622 78.6% 2014—2024 10.5 75 3.1  South Korea LG
Salman Akram 783 290 37.0% 1995—2024 28.6 27 2.9  USA Micron
Hsien-Wei Chen 778 380 48.8% 2005—2024 19.5 40 3.5  Taiwan TSMC
Warren M. Farnworth 774 289 37.3% 1990—2020 24.4 32 2.8  USA Micron
James A. Jorasch 770 309 40.1% 1994—2023 29 27 3.9  USA Walker Digital
Justin T. Mason 764 760 99.5% 2008—2024 15.9 48 1.0  USA MS Technologies
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
Satoshi Nagata 755 718 95.1% 2011—2024 13 58 4.0  Japan NTT
Carleton Ellis 753 NA NA 1902—1946 43.1 17 NA  USA Ellis Foster Co
Ali Khakifirooz 751 407 54.2% 2011—2024 12.9 58 4.2  USA IBM
Xue Dong 750 730 97.3% 2010—2024 13.8 54 7.4  China BOE
Kyungmin Park 744 389 52.3% 2014—2024 10.5 71 5.2  USA Ofinno
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 728 230 31.6% 1981—2024 42.9 17 2.8  USA Rambus
Shougo Sato 725 283 39.0% 1992—2024 32 23 1.8  Japan Brother
George Spector 723 723 100% 1974—1998 24.6 29 2.1  USA George Spector
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur 723 587 81.2% 2006—2024 18.4 39 2.6  France Cisco Systems
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
Tetsujiro Kondo 700 528 75.4% 1987—2021 34 21 3.8  Japan Sony
Chung-Shi Liu 698 378 54.2% 2000—2024 24.7 28 6.1  Taiwan TSMC
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
Eric C. Leuthardt 680 459 67.5% 2006—2024 17.8 38 9.1  USA Intellectual Ventures
Hua Zhou 672 385 57.3% 2012—2024 12.7 53 5.5  USA Ofinno
Woosuk Ko 665 265 39.8% 2015—2024 9.5 70 3.4  South Korea LG
Xiaochuan Chen 659 641 97.3% 2014—2024 10.2 65 7.0  China BOE
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
William I. Wood 653 259 39.7% 1981—2013 32.2 20 5.2  USA Genentech

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of October 29, 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. 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. Paul Lapstun
  20. Shou-Shan Fan
  21. Clarence T. Tegreene
  22. Alexander Reznicek
  23. Shan Liu
  24. Satoshi Seo
  25. Suckchel Yang
  26. Kijun Kim
  27. Joonkui Ahn
  28. Edward K. Y. Jung
  29. Leonard Forbes
  30. Juan Montojo
  31. Thomas Edison
  32. Marta Karczewicz
  33. Rick Allen Hamilton II
  34. Jason L. Harris
  35. Ruilong Xie
  36. Jason K. Resch
  37. Takahiro Nishi
  38. Tingfang Ji
  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. John F. O'Connor
  47. Seungmin Lee
  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. Robert W. Lord
  57. Hongyuan Zhang
  58. Royce A. Levien
  59. Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  60. Chih-Chao Yang
  61. Michael K. Gschwind
  62. Clifford A. Pickover
  63. Lee D. Whetsel
  64. Devendra K. Sadana
  65. Yan Zhou
  66. SungDuck Chun
  67. Stuart C. Salter
  68. Youngdae Lee
  69. Salman Akram
  70. Hsien-Wei Chen
  71. Warren M. Farnworth
  72. James A. Jorasch
  73. Justin T. Mason
  74. Bruce B. Doris
  75. Jeyhan Karaoguz
  76. Satoshi Nagata
  77. Carleton Ellis
  78. Ali Khakifirooz
  79. Xue Dong
  80. Kyungmin Park
  81. John M. Santosuosso
  82. Hideo Ando
  83. Frederick A. Ware
  84. Shougo Sato
  85. George Spector
  86. Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur
  87. Austin L. Gurney
  88. Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  89. Gregory J. Boss
  90. Tetsujiro Kondo
  91. Chung-Shi Liu
  92. Elihu Thomson
  93. Irwin Gerszberg
  94. Eric C. Leuthardt
  95. Hua Zhou
  96. Woosuk Ko
  97. Xiaochuan Chen
  98. Aleksandar Damnjanovic
  99. Paul S. Henry
  100. William I. Wood
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