Key Takeaways

  • As of recent data, there are over 15 million active patents worldwide, with more than 3.4 million new patent applications filed annually.
  • China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the European Patent Office account for most global patent activity.
  • The number of patents grows each year, particularly in technology and communications, making patent searches increasingly complex.
  • Technology sectors, such as computer software, electronics, and telecommunications, dominate patent filings.
  • The growth in patent filings has raised questions about “patent thickets” and the difficulty of navigating overlapping patents.

How Many Patents Are There?

If you’ve ever asked, “how many patents are there,” the number of active patents globally is approximately 10.6 million as of 2015. Twenty-five percent of those patents were issued in the United States, 18 percent were issued in Japan, and 14 percent were issued in China.  

The number of patents granted globally in 2015 was approximately 1.25 million. This number was an increase of greater than 5 percent over 2014 and the most significant growth rate since 2012. The increase can be mainly attributed to the increase of patents granted in China.  

China issued roughly 360,000 patents in 2015, which was greater than the approximately 300,000 patents issued in the United States. The number of patents issued in the United States remained stable in 2015, marking the first time in almost 10 years that there wasn’t steady growth.

Furthermore, total patents issued was approximately 710,000 in 2015, which established a new record. However, the patent numbers in 2015 only exceeded the 2014 patent numbers by less than 2,000 issued patents. Historically, the issued patent number increased at a rate of less than 1 percent annually from 1930 to 1982. Since 1982, following the creation of the Federal Circuit, patent grants have roughly tripled, growing at a 6 percent growth rate.

Additionally, Information Technology (IT) patent portfolio grew increasingly larger. During the Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice hearings in 2002, patent counsel for one of the more sophisticated licensors of patents, Texas Instruments, spoke about the immense challenges of identifying the patents in their own portfolio calling it an immense drain on the mind and budget.  

In 2002, Texas Instruments had roughly 8,000 patents in its portfolio. By 2011, the Texas Instruments patent portfolio had roughly doubled in size.

At the National Science Foundation (NSF), patents related to information and communications technology (ICT) have nearly doubled from 1995 to 2008, whereas patents in other industries have remained the same. One area of growth is related to smartphones. There are an estimated 250,000 active patents related to smartphones in the United States.

If one were to assume that each of these patents related to the smartphone had about 20 claims, a simple calculation would yield approximately five million restrictions on smartphone innovation and usage.

In 2015, innovation around the globe saw approximately three million patent applications filed, which represented an almost 8 percent increase over patent applications filed in 2014. This was the sixth consecutive year of increasing patent protection demand. 

In China, a new record was established in 2015 with greater than one million patent applications filed. This marked the first year in which the one million patent application threshold was surpassed, demonstrating that intellectual property has a great impact on economic activity. The following is the specific breakdown of patent application filings in 2015:

  • China filed 1,010, 406 patents
  • United States filed 526,296 patents
  • Japan filed 454,285 patents

One similarity among these nations is the fact that most patent applications were limited to the nation’s own borders. More specifically, of China’s more than one million patent applications, only 42,000 applications were for activity outside their borders.

This figure has increased over the last 20 years to the point where China overseas patent application now roughly equal the number of overseas patent applications filed by France. Compare this figure with the United States, which filed almost 240,000 patent applications abroad – 6 percent more than in 2014. Japan filed almost 200,000 patents abroad.

Put these figures together, and one can conclude that almost 66 percent of patent applications were limited to the home country in 2015.

The Challenge of Tracking Patents in the Modern Era

Given the exponential growth of global patents, determining “how many patents are there” at any given moment is complex. Patent offices continually issue, expire, or abandon patents, creating a constantly shifting total. Many experts point out that this expansion has created “patent thickets”—dense webs of overlapping patent claims that make innovation and product development more difficult.

In industries like telecommunications, automotive, and semiconductors, thousands of interrelated patents cover even minor components or design features. For instance, a single smartphone can be protected by over 250,000 active patents, covering everything from battery technology to touchscreen software. This complexity has increased the cost and effort of patent searches, often requiring sophisticated databases and AI-driven tools to identify potential conflicts.

Moreover, the average number of patents per product has grown significantly. A modern car, for example, may incorporate over 10,000 patented technologies, ranging from navigation systems to safety sensors. This highlights the critical role of comprehensive intellectual property management for businesses operating in highly technical sectors.

Global Patent Growth and Modern Statistics

The number of patents worldwide continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), there are now more than 15 million active patents globally, a significant increase from the roughly 10.6 million recorded in 2015. Each year, patent offices around the world receive approximately 3.4 million new patent applications, a figure that underscores the rapid pace of innovation across industries.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) alone has issued over 12 million total patents since its founding. Recent trends show that China now leads the world in patent filings, often surpassing the U.S. by more than double in annual application volume. Together, these two countries account for nearly half of all global patent activity.

This growth reflects not only the rise of new technologies—such as artificial intelligence, green energy, and biotechnology—but also increased competition in established industries like consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals. The surge has led experts to question whether the patent system can effectively manage the sheer volume of intellectual property filings being submitted each year.

Top Countries Filing Patent Applications

Among the top five countries filing patent applications:

  • China had the fastest growth, almost 19 percent
  • The European Patent Office was second with almost 5 percent growth
  • The United States grew at approximately 2 percent
  • Republic of Korea grew at a slightly lower rate of 1.5 percent
  • Japan actually experienced a decline of approximately 2 percent, which continues a downward trend over past ten years

Leading Patent Offices and Regional Trends

The global patent landscape continues to be dominated by a few key jurisdictions. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has held the top position for several years, with more than 1.6 million patent applications filed annually. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ranks second with around 600,000 applications per year, followed by the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the European Patent Office (EPO).

These offices collectively account for over 80% of all global filings, illustrating where innovation is most concentrated. While the growth rate in the U.S. and Japan has stabilized, emerging economies such as India and Brazil are seeing steady increases in patent activity, particularly in pharmaceuticals, software, and renewable energy technologies.

International patent filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) have also reached record levels, with over 278,000 PCT applications filed in the latest reporting year. This system allows inventors to seek protection in multiple countries simultaneously, reflecting the increasingly global nature of innovation.

Industry Breakdown

Lastly, the following is the industry breakdown of patent applications filed in 2015:

  • Computer Technology equaled about 8 percent of total patent applications
  • Electrical machinery was roughly 7 percent of the total patent applications
  • Digital communications was approximately 5 percent of total patent applications

Most Patented Industries and Emerging Technologies

Certain sectors account for the majority of modern patent filings. Computer technology, digital communications, and electrical machinery consistently lead all other industries, together representing nearly 20% of total global patent applications.

Emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, medical devices, and green energy are also seeing a surge in filings. For example:

  • AI and machine learning patents have grown by over 30% in the past five years.
  • Clean energy technologies, including solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, represent one of the fastest-growing segments.
  • Healthcare and biotech patents continue to dominate in Europe and the U.S., driven by innovation in gene therapies and pharmaceuticals.

This continued expansion reflects both technological advancement and increased strategic use of intellectual property as a competitive tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How many patents are there in the world right now?
    As of recent WIPO data, there are more than 15 million active patents worldwide, and roughly 3.4 million new applications are filed annually.
  2. Which country has the most patents?
    China currently leads the world in total patent filings, followed by the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.
  3. How many patents does the U.S. issue each year?
    The USPTO issues around 350,000 to 400,000 patents annually, maintaining one of the highest approval rates among major patent offices.
  4. What industries have the most patents?
    Technology sectors like computer software, telecommunications, and biotechnology generate the most patents, with AI and clean energy showing rapid growth.
  5. Why are there so many patents today?
    Increased global competition, rapid technological change, and stronger intellectual property awareness have driven record-high patent filings in nearly every industry.

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