Jump to content

List of prolific inventors: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Updated patent numbers for February 21 2012
Extended list threshold from 350 patent families to 300 patent families
Line 3: Line 3:
[[Thomas Edison]] was widely known as the world's most prolific inventor.<ref name="Time" /><ref>[http://edison.rutgers.edu/biogrphy.htm Thomas Alva Edison Biography at Rutgers University]</ref> He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).<ref Name="Edison Utility">[[List of Edison patents]]</ref> By 2005, he was passed by [[Japanese people|Japanese]] inventor [[Shunpei Yamazaki]].<ref name="usatoday" /> Yamazaki was subsequently passed by [[Australian]] inventor [[Kia Silverbrook]] on February 26, 2008.<ref Name="bassonbooyens">[http://www.bassonbooyens.com/The_True_Inventor.html The True Inventor] Basson-Booyens website</ref> Silverbrook currently holds 4,424 U.S. utility patents as of February 21 2012.<ref Name="Silverbrook Utility">[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=IN%2F%28%22Silverbrook%2C+Kia%22+or+%22Kia%2C+Silverbrook%22%29and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Kia Silverbrook]</ref>
[[Thomas Edison]] was widely known as the world's most prolific inventor.<ref name="Time" /><ref>[http://edison.rutgers.edu/biogrphy.htm Thomas Alva Edison Biography at Rutgers University]</ref> He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).<ref Name="Edison Utility">[[List of Edison patents]]</ref> By 2005, he was passed by [[Japanese people|Japanese]] inventor [[Shunpei Yamazaki]].<ref name="usatoday" /> Yamazaki was subsequently passed by [[Australian]] inventor [[Kia Silverbrook]] on February 26, 2008.<ref Name="bassonbooyens">[http://www.bassonbooyens.com/The_True_Inventor.html The True Inventor] Basson-Booyens website</ref> Silverbrook currently holds 4,424 U.S. utility patents as of February 21 2012.<ref Name="Silverbrook Utility">[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=IN%2F%28%22Silverbrook%2C+Kia%22+or+%22Kia%2C+Silverbrook%22%29and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Kia Silverbrook]</ref>


'''Prolific inventors''' with more than 350 worldwide [[utility patent]] [[Patent family|families]] are shown in the following table. In many cases, this number is also the number of granted U.S. utility patents. A [[patent family]] is a set of patents filed in various countries to protect a single invention.
'''Prolific inventors''' with more than 300 worldwide [[utility patent]] [[Patent family|families]] are shown in the following table. In many cases, this number is also the number of granted U.S. utility patents. A [[patent family]] is a set of patents filed in various countries to protect a single invention.


{|class="wikitable sortable"
{|class="wikitable sortable"
Line 390: Line 390:
||[[Printer (computing)|Printing]], [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical]]
||[[Printer (computing)|Printing]], [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical]]
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=In%2F%22Nakazawa%2C+Akira%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=silverbrook&IN=Akira+Nakazawa&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa]</ref>
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=In%2F%22Nakazawa%2C+Akira%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=silverbrook&IN=Akira+Nakazawa&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa]</ref>
|-
||[[Stanford Ovshinsky]]
||400
||{{flag|United States}}
||1620
||1922 -
||[[Batteries]], [[Solar cells]], [[Liquid crystal displays]], [[Hydrogen fuel cell]]s, [[Computer data storage]]
||<ref>[http://www.kettering.edu/news/stanford-r-ovshinsky-receives-honorary-degree US Patents of Stanford Ovshinsky]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Ovshinsky+Stanford%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Stanford Ovshinsky]</ref>
|-
|-
||Hans-Joachim Santel
||Hans-Joachim Santel
Line 404: Line 412:
||4094
||4094
||19?? -
||19?? -
||[[Fungicide]]s
||[[Fungicide]]s, [[Organic chemistry]]
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22LORENZ%2C+GISELA%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=Gisela+Lorenz&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz]</ref><ref Name="USPTO list 1988-1997" />
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22LORENZ%2C+GISELA%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=Gisela+Lorenz&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz]</ref><ref Name="USPTO list 1988-1997" />
|-
|-
Line 414: Line 422:
||[[Electricity generation|Electric power]], [[Electricity meter]], [[Railway air brake]], [[Steam engine]]s
||[[Electricity generation|Electric power]], [[Electricity meter]], [[Railway air brake]], [[Steam engine]]s
||<ref>[http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/westinghouse.htm George Westinghouse article at ideafinder.com]</ref><ref>Hubert, P. G. (1894). [http://books.google.com/books?id=R3lBmY6v4PMC Men of achievement. Inventors]. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Page 296+</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641020/George-Westinghouse George Westinghouse article in Encyclopaedia Britannica]</ref>
||<ref>[http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/westinghouse.htm George Westinghouse article at ideafinder.com]</ref><ref>Hubert, P. G. (1894). [http://books.google.com/books?id=R3lBmY6v4PMC Men of achievement. Inventors]. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Page 296+</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/641020/George-Westinghouse George Westinghouse article in Encyclopaedia Britannica]</ref>
|-
||Ahmadreza Rofougaran
||355
||{{flag|United States}}
||1027
||19?? -
||[[Radio Frequency]][[Integrated Circuit]]s
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22Rofougaran%2C+Ahmadreza%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Ahmadreza Rofougaran]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=Ahmadreza+Rofougaran&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Ahmadreza Rofougaran]</ref>
|-
||Robert R. Schmidt
||343
||{{flag|Germany}}
||2418
||19?? -
||[[Herbicide]]s, [[Fungicide]]s, [[Organic chemistry]]
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22SCHMIDT%2C+ROBERT+R.%22+and+APT%2F1&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Robert R. Schmidt]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Schmidt+Robert+R%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Robert R. Schmidt]</ref>
|-
||Garry Jackson
||331
||{{flag|Australia}}
||655
||19?? -
||[[Printer (computing)|Printing]], [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical]]
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22Jackson%2C+Garry%22&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Garry Jackson]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Jackson+Garry%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Garry Jackson]</ref>
|-
||Edward Jung
||324
||{{flag|United States}}
||1719
||19?? -
||Various
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=In%2F%28%22Jung%2C+Edward%22+or+%22Edward%2C+Jung%22%29+&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Edward Jung]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Jung+Edward%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Edward Jung]</ref>
|-
||Norman Berry
||312
||{{flag|Australia}}
||519
||19?? -
||[[Printer (computing)|Printing]], [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical]]
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%22berry%2C+norman%22&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Norman Berry]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Berry+Norman%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Norman Berry]</ref>
|-
||[[Lowell Wood]]
||306
||{{flag|United States}}
||875
||19?? -
||[[Mosquito laser]], [[Nuclear]], [[Geoengineering]], Various
||<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=In%2F%28%22Wood%2C+Jr%2C+Lowell%22+or+%22Wood%2C+Lowell%22+or+%22Lowell%2C+Wood%22%29+&d=PTXT USPTO Utility Patent Search for Lowell Wood]</ref><ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?bookmarkedResults=true&submitted=true&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_gb&sf=a&FIRST=1&CY=gb&LG=en&&TI=&AB=&PN=&AP=&PR=&PD=&PA=&IN=%22Wood+Lowell%22&EC=&IC= Worldwide Patent Search for Lowell Wood]</ref>
|}
|}
†<small>This table was last updated on February 21, 2012.</small>
†<small>This table was last updated on March 16, 2012.</small>


* '''Inventor''': The name of the inventor.
* '''Inventor''': The name of the inventor.
Line 425: Line 481:


==Threshold for inclusion==
==Threshold for inclusion==
As the average number of patents per inventor is around 3, some sources define prolific inventors as five times above the average (in terms of patents), leading to a threshold of 15 patents.<ref>[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1625743 ''Prolific Inventors: Who are They and Where do They Locate?'' International Centre for Economic Research Working Paper No. 14/2010]</ref>. However, this table currently has an arbitrary cut-off limit for inclusion of 350 patent families. This is purely for practical reasons - there are 50 inventors throughout history with more than 350 utility patent families, but tens of thousands of inventors with more than 15 patents. The threshold of 350 patents means that some famous prolific inventors such as [[Nikola Tesla]] are not included this list, as Tesla had 111 patents.<ref>[[List of Nikola Tesla patents]]</ref><ref>[http://www.uspat.com/tesla/ Jim Bieberich's Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection]</ref>
As the average number of patents per inventor is around 3, some sources define prolific inventors as five times above the average (in terms of patents), leading to a threshold of 15 patents.<ref>[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1625743 ''Prolific Inventors: Who are They and Where do They Locate?'' International Centre for Economic Research Working Paper No. 14/2010]</ref>. However, this table currently has an arbitrary cut-off limit for inclusion of 300 patent families. This is purely for practical reasons - there are 57 inventors throughout history with more than 300 utility patent families, but tens of thousands of inventors with more than 15 patents. The threshold of 300 patents means that some famous prolific inventors such as [[Nikola Tesla]] are not included this list, as Tesla had 111 patents.<ref>[[List of Nikola Tesla patents]]</ref><ref>[http://www.uspat.com/tesla/ Jim Bieberich's Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection]</ref>


==Significance of inventions==
==Significance of inventions==
Line 912: Line 968:
* Often entities list the worldwide total number of patents that they hold. This is not the same as the number of inventions, as a patent in one country may be for the same invention as a patent in another country. The set of patents covering a ''single'' invention in different countries is a [[Patent family]].
* Often entities list the worldwide total number of patents that they hold. This is not the same as the number of inventions, as a patent in one country may be for the same invention as a patent in another country. The set of patents covering a ''single'' invention in different countries is a [[Patent family]].
* The Time, USA Today and Portfolio lists show the total number of U.S. patents, including patents for designs ([[Design patents]]) as well as patents for inventions ([[Utility patent]]s).
* The Time, USA Today and Portfolio lists show the total number of U.S. patents, including patents for designs ([[Design patents]]) as well as patents for inventions ([[Utility patent]]s).
* The annual lists from strutpatent.com list only those patents issued in the particular year to the inventor, not all of the inventor's patents.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 00:43, 17 March 2012

Thomas Edison was widely known as the world's most prolific inventor.[1][2] He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).[3] By 2005, he was passed by Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki.[4] Yamazaki was subsequently passed by Australian inventor Kia Silverbrook on February 26, 2008.[5] Silverbrook currently holds 4,424 U.S. utility patents as of February 21 2012.[6]

Prolific inventors with more than 300 worldwide utility patent families are shown in the following table. In many cases, this number is also the number of granted U.S. utility patents. A patent family is a set of patents filed in various countries to protect a single invention.

Inventor Patent Families Country Total, INPADOC Years Main fields of invention Ref
Kia Silverbrook 4424  Australia 9668 1958 - Printing, Digital paper, Internet, Electronics, CGI, Chemical, DNA, LoC, MEMS, Mechanical, VLSI [6][7][8][9][5][4][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Shunpei Yamazaki 2777  Japan 10980 1942 - Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays, Solar cells, Flash memory, OLED [16][17][18][9][4][10][19][11][12][13][14][15]
Paul Lapstun 1182  Australia 3098 19?? - Printing, Digital paper, Internet, Electronics, CGI, VLSI [20][21][22][9][11][12][13][14][15]
Thomas Edison 1084  United States 2332 1847–1931 Electric power, Lighting, Batteries, Phonograph, Cement, Telegraphy, Mining [3][23][24][1][5][9]
George Albert Lyon 993  Canada NA 1882–1961 Automotive, Stainless steel products [25][9]
Leonard Forbes 983  Canada 1316 1940 - Semiconductor Memories, CCDs, Thin film processes and materials, VLSI [26][27][9][10][11][13]
Donald Weder 965  United States 1916 1947 - Florist supplies [28][29][9][4][10][19]
John F. O'Connor 949  United States NA 1864–19?? Railway draft gearing [30][9]
Melvin De Groote 925  United States NA 1896–1963 Chemical de-emulsifiers [1][9]
Gurtej Sandhu 919  India 1506 1960 - Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [31][32][4][10][19]
Francis H. Richards 894  United States NA 1850–19?? Mechanical, automation [1][9]
Carleton Ellis 753  United States NA 1876-1941 Margarine, Polyester, Anti-knock gasoline, Paint stripper [33][30]
Warren Farnworth 743  United States 928 1954 - Semiconductor packaging [34][35][4][10]
Jun Koyama 729  Japan 2629 19?? - Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays, OLED [36][37]
George Spector 722  United States 747 19?? - Gadgets, Toys [10][38][4]
Elihu Thomson 696  UK NA 1853–1937 Electric power, Arc lamp, Electric motors, Lightning arrester, Arc welder [1][30]
Salman Akram 692  United States 833 1967 - Semiconductor packaging [39][40][4][10]
William I. Wood 647  United States 3593 19?? - Proteins, Antibodies [41][42][11][12]
Simon Walmsley 630  Australia 1253 19?? - Printing, Electronics, VLSI, Cryptography [43][44][14][15]
Josef Theurer 627  Austria 4951 19?? - Railroad maintenance machines [45][46][19]
Jay Walker 618  United States 1928 1955 - Gaming machines [47][48][15]
Audrey Goddard 616  United States 3468 19?? - Proteins, Antibodies [49][50][11][12]
Austin L. Gurney 611  United States 3408 19?? - Proteins, Antibodies [51][52][11][12]
Jerome Lemelson 606  United States NA 1923-1997 Toys, Industrial robots, Cordless telephones, Fax machines, Videocassette recorders [53][1][19]
Béla Barényi 595  Hungary 1238 1907-1997 Passive safety in automobiles [54][55]
Tetsujiro Kondo 581  Japan 4071 19?? - Signal processing, Image processing [56][57]
Paul J. Godowski 578  United States 2649 19?? - Proteins, Antibodies [58][59][11][12]
Hideo Ando 576  Japan 1762 19?? - Optical recording [60][61][15]
Artur Fischer 570  Germany 3090 1919 - Fasteners, Construction toys [62][63]
Edwin H. Land 535  United States 1216 1909-1991 Instant photography, Polarizing film [64][65]
Kie Y Ahn 525  United States 691 19?? - Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [66][67]
Henry Dreyfus 524  United States 2096 1882-1944 Polymers, Synthetic fibers, Dyes [68][69]
Clyde C. Farmer 513  United States 830 18??-19?? Railway air brakes [70][71][30]
Mark I. Gardner 511  United States 583 1955 - Consumer electronics, Energy, Computers, Semiconductors, Physics [72][73][4][10]
Heinz Focke 510  Germany 2890 19?? - Cigarette packaging [74][75][4]
Tadahiro Ohmi 508  Japan 2424 19?? - Thin film processes and materials, Semiconductor device fabrication [76][77]
Louis H. Morin 503  United States 721 18??-19?? Fasteners, Locks, Bobbins [70][78]
Michael J. Sullivan 502  United States 1188 19?? - Golf balls [79][80]
William Eby 498  United States 555 19?? - Transgenic soybeans [81][82]
Tobin King 477  Australia 1237 19?? - Printing, Digital paper, Mechanical [83][84]
Eberhard Ammermann 452  Germany 5095 19?? - Fungicides [85][86][19]
Thomas E. Murray 449  United States 462 1860 - 1929 Electrical, HVAC, Wheels, Metal working, Light dimmer [87][88]
Hongyong Zhang 425  Japan 764 19?? - Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays [89][90]
Ravi Arimilli 422  India 751 1963 - Computer architecture, Semiconductor memory, Cache coherence, Symmetric multiprocessing [91][92]
John Hays Hammond, Jr. 417  United States 459 1888-1965 Radio control, Radio communications, Torpedoes [93][94]
Wilhelm Brandes 411  Germany 2924 19?? - Fungicides [95][96][19]
Akira Nakazawa 400  Australia 566 19?? - Printing, Mechanical [97][98]
Stanford Ovshinsky 400  United States 1620 1922 - Batteries, Solar cells, Liquid crystal displays, Hydrogen fuel cells, Computer data storage [99][100]
Hans-Joachim Santel 374  Germany 2644 19?? - Herbicides, Pesticides, Organic chemistry [101][102][19]
Gisela Lorenz 371  Germany 4094 19?? - Fungicides, Organic chemistry [103][104][19]
George Westinghouse 361  United States NA 1846-1914 Electric power, Electricity meter, Railway air brake, Steam engines [105][106][107]
Ahmadreza Rofougaran 355  United States 1027 19?? - Radio FrequencyIntegrated Circuits [108][109]
Robert R. Schmidt 343  Germany 2418 19?? - Herbicides, Fungicides, Organic chemistry [110][111]
Garry Jackson 331  Australia 655 19?? - Printing, Mechanical [112][113]
Edward Jung 324  United States 1719 19?? - Various [114][115]
Norman Berry 312  Australia 519 19?? - Printing, Mechanical [116][117]
Lowell Wood 306  United States 875 19?? - Mosquito laser, Nuclear, Geoengineering, Various [118][119]

†This table was last updated on March 16, 2012.

  • Inventor: The name of the inventor.
  • Patent Families: This is the number of families of utility patents that have been issued. In many cases above, it is also the number of issued U.S. utility patents. There is a direct correspondence between the number of patent families and the number of unique patented inventions. The total number of worldwide patents does not correspond closely to the number of inventions, as each separate invention must be filed as a separate patent in each country for which patent protection is sought. Only utility patents are listed, as a utility patent is a patent for an invention. Not all patents are for inventions. Other patent types are: 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.
  • Total, INPADOC: Worldwide number of patents of all types (utility, design, plant, etc.) This includes patent applications, and duplication of the same patent in multiple countries, so is usually an overestimate of the total number of inventions. This data is primarily from INPADOC, an international patent collection produced and maintained by the European Patent Office (EPO). For some inventors active before computer records were available, the total number of patents is not available (NA).
  • Country: This is the country of birth of the inventor, where known. If the country of birth is unknown, this is the country of patent filing.
  • Years: These are the birth and death years of the inventor, where known.
  • Main fields of invention: These are the main areas that the inventor is or was active in.

Threshold for inclusion

As the average number of patents per inventor is around 3, some sources define prolific inventors as five times above the average (in terms of patents), leading to a threshold of 15 patents.[120]. However, this table currently has an arbitrary cut-off limit for inclusion of 300 patent families. This is purely for practical reasons - there are 57 inventors throughout history with more than 300 utility patent families, but tens of thousands of inventors with more than 15 patents. The threshold of 300 patents means that some famous prolific inventors such as Nikola Tesla are not included this list, as Tesla had 111 patents.[121][122]

Significance of inventions

This table is a ranking of the most prolific inventors, not necessarily the most significant inventors. 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.

The common symbol for inventiveness - the light bulb - is a perfect example. The first incandescent light bulb was invented by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy in 1802. Many subsequent inventors improved Davy's invention prior to the successful commercialization of electric lighting by Thomas Edison in 1880, 78 years later. Electric lighting continued to be developed. Edison's carbon filament light bulb was made obsolete by the tungsten filament light bulb, invented in 1904. It is this that forms the popular conception of a light bulb, though there are other major forms of lighting. The principle of fluorescent lights was known since 1845, and various inventors, including Edison and Nikola Tesla worked on them without commercial success. Various improvements were made by many other inventors, until General Electric introduced "fluorescent lumiline lamps" commercially in 1938, first available to the public at the 1939 World's Fair. LED lamps also have a long history, with the first light-emitting diode (LED) invented in 1927 by Oleg Losev. LEDs were initially of low brightness, and have been used as indicator lamps and seven-segment displays since 1968. It wasn't until the development of high efficiency blue LEDs by Shuji Nakamura in the 1980s that white LEDs for lighting applications became practical. Although higher cost than incandescent light bulbs, LEDs have higher efficiency and longer life and may finally displace light bulbs in general lighting applications. In each case, more than 50 years passed between the initial invention and commercial success in general lighting applications.

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.[19] 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.

In January 1936, Popular Science Magazine published a list of the "most prolific living inventors to be found in America today."[30]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 John F. O'Connor 949
2 Elihu Thomson 696
3 Carleton Ellis 648
4 Henry A. Wise Wood 434
5 John Hays Hammond Jr. 360
6 Clyde C. Farmer 344
7 Ethan I. Dodds 321
8 Edward Weston 309

Thomas Edison was not included in the list, as he died in 1931, five years earlier.

Time Magazine (2000)

On December 4, 2000, Time Magazine published a list of the "top five inventors".[1]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Thomas Edison 1,093
2 Melvin De Groote 925
3 Francis H. Richards 894
4 Elihu Thomson 696
5 Jerome Lemelson 554

This list only included U.S. inventors, so omitted Canadian inventor George Albert Lyon, with 993 U.S. patents at the time of publication, Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki, with 745 U.S. patents, and Béla Barényi, with 595 German patents. Also omitted were John F. O'Connor with 949 U.S. patents, and Carleton Ellis, with 753 U.S. patents at the time of publication.

USA Today (2005)

On December 13, 2005 USA Today published a list of "the top 10 living U.S. patent holders":[4]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Shunpei Yamazaki 1,432
2 Donald Weder 1,322
3 Kia Silverbrook 810
4 George Spector 723
5 Gurtej Sandhu 576
6 Warren Farnworth 547
7 Salman Akram 527
8 Mark Gardner 512
9 Heinz Focke 508
10 Joseph Straeter 477

This research was performed by ipIQ of Chicago (now "The Patent Board"[123]) and 1790 Analytics[124] of New Jersey. This list only considered living inventors, and thus did not include such prolific inventors as Thomas Edison, Melvin De Groote, and Elihu Thomson. This list included design patents, which are not patents for inventions.

Condé Nast Portfolio (2007)

On October 15, 2007 Condé Nast Portfolio Magazine published a list[10] of "the world's most prolific inventors alive":

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Shunpei Yamazaki 1,811
2 Kia Silverbrook 1,646
3 Donald Weder 1,350
4 George Spector 722
5 Gurtej Sandhu 674
6 Leonard Forbes 671
7 Warren Farnworth 635
8 Salman Akram 612
9 Mark Gardner 515
10 Joseph Straeter 485

This research was performed by The Patent Board,[123] a Chicago patent research and advisory firm. As with the USA Today list, the Portfolio list only considered living inventors, and thus did not include such prolific inventors as Thomas Edison. This list also included design patents, which are not patents for inventions.

Business Insider (2011)

On 6 May 2011 Business Insider published an article titled: "The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era"[9] containing the following list:

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 3,847
2 Shunpei Yamazaki 2,061
3 Thomas Edison 1,084
4 George Albert Lyon 993
5 Paul Lapstun 969
6 Donald Weder 951
7 John F. O'Connor 949
8 Leonard Forbes 948
9 Melvin De Groote 925
10 Francis H. Richards 894

This list included living and dead inventors, and only included granted utility patents (patents for inventions).

Annual lists (2007-2011)

Strutpatent.com publishes weekly, monthly, and annual lists of the top ten categories, inventors and assignees of US patents since 2007. These lists include all patent types, not just patents for inventions (utility patents).

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2007:[11]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 502
2 Audrey Goddard 232
3 William I. Wood 232
4 Austin L. Gurney 225
5 Chang-Hwan Hwang 203
6 Paul J. Godowski 193
7 Shunpei Yamazaki 139
8 Paul Lapstun 129
9 Leonard Forbes 120
10 Victoria Smith 112

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2008:[12]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 576
2 Chang-Hwan Hwang 198
3 Audrey Goddard 168
4 Austin L. Gurney 167
5 William I. Wood 166
6 Paul J. Godowski 153
7 Shunpei Yamazaki 143
8 Paul Lapstun 137
9 Chang-Soo Lee 129
10 Victoria Smith 122

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2009:[13]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 444
2 Shunpei Yamazaki 137
3 Paul Lapstun 113
4 Bartley K. Andre 92
5 Daniele De Iuliis 92
6 Jonathan Ive 92
7 Matthew Rohrbach 92
8 Richard P. Howarth 91
9 Duncan Robert Kerr 91
10 Leonard Forbes 91

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2010:[14]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 709
2 Paul Lapstun 191
3 Shunpei Yamazaki 162
4 Simon Walmsley 115
5 Bartley K. Andre 114
6 Matthew Rohrbach 109
7 Richard P. Howarth 108
8 Jonathan Ive 108
9 Duncan Robert Kerr 108
10 Daniel J. Coster 106

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2011:[15]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 754
2 Paul Lapstun 268
3 Shunpei Yamazaki 163
4 Hideo Ando 162
5 You Yoshioka 153
6 Scott H. Wittkopp 126
7 James M. Hart 125
8 Edward K. Y. Jung 112
9 Simon Walmsley 112
10 Jay S. Walker 99

Differences between lists

Differences in patent numbers between the various lists are due to several reasons:

  • The lists were created on different dates. As many of the inventors in the lists are still active, the number of patents they hold are increasing.
  • While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the primary source for U.S. patent information, only patents issued since 1976 can be electronically searched by the inventor's name at the USPTO website.[125] For some of the listed inventors, such as Thomas Edison, all of their patents predate 1976, so other sources must be used.
  • Often entities list the worldwide total number of patents that they hold. This is not the same as the number of inventions, as a patent in one country may be for the same invention as a patent in another country. The set of patents covering a single invention in different countries is a Patent family.
  • The Time, USA Today and Portfolio lists show the total number of U.S. patents, including patents for designs (Design patents) as well as patents for inventions (Utility patents).
  • The annual lists from strutpatent.com list only those patents issued in the particular year to the inventor, not all of the inventor's patents.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Man-Made Marvels Time Magazine, Dec 4, 2000
  2. ^ Thomas Alva Edison Biography at Rutgers University
  3. ^ a b List of Edison patents
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k You really can find identities of top patent holders USA Today, Dec 13, 2005
  5. ^ a b c The True Inventor Basson-Booyens website
  6. ^ a b USPTO Utility Patent Search for Kia Silverbrook
  7. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Kia Silverbrook
  8. ^ US Patent Applications of Kia Silverbrook
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era Business Insider, 6 May 2011
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Masters of invention Portfolio, October 15, 2007
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2007 StrutPatent.com website
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2008 StrutPatent.com website
  13. ^ a b c d e List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2009 StrutPatent.com website
  14. ^ a b c d e List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2010 StrutPatent.com website
  15. ^ a b c d e f g List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2011 StrutPatent.com website
  16. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Shunpei/Shumpei Yamazaki
  17. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Shunpei/Shumpei Yamazaki
  18. ^ US Patent Applications of Shunpei Yamazaki
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j USPTO publication: Prolific Inventors Receiving Utility Patents 1988-1997
  20. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Paul Lapstun
  21. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Paul Lapstun
  22. ^ US Patent Applications of Paul Lapstun
  23. ^ Edison's Foreign Patents
  24. ^ The Complete Thomas Alva Edison U.S. Patent Collection
  25. ^ Archived Boliven Utility Patent Search for George Albert Lyon(s)
  26. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Leonard Forbes
  27. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Leonard Forbes
  28. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Donald Weder
  29. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Donald Weder
  30. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Gurtej Sandhu
  31. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Gurtej Sandhu
  32. ^ B. Zorina Khan, The Democratization of Invention: Patents and Copyrights in American Economic Development, 1790-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 2005) pp209-210
  33. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Warren Farnworth
  34. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Warren Farnworth
  35. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Jun Koyama
  36. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Jun Koyama
  37. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for George Spector
  38. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Salman Akram
  39. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Salman Akram
  40. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for William I. Wood
  41. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for William I. Wood
  42. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Simon Walmsley
  43. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Simon Walmsley
  44. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Josef Theurer
  45. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Josef Theurer
  46. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Jay Walker
  47. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Jay Walker
  48. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Audrey Goddard
  49. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Audrey Goddard
  50. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Austin L. Gurney
  51. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Austin L. Gurney
  52. ^ The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation web site, Jerome Lemelson's Patents.
  53. ^ German Utility Patent Search for Béla Barényi
  54. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Béla Barényi
  55. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Tetsujiro Kondo
  56. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Tetsujiro Kondo
  57. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Paul J. Godowski
  58. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Paul J. Godowski
  59. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Hideo Ando
  60. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Hideo Ando
  61. ^ Reference to German patents of Artur Fischer
  62. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Artur Fischer
  63. ^ Victor K. McElheny, Insisting on the impossible: The Life of Edwin Land (Perseus Books, 1998)
  64. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Edwin H. Land
  65. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Kie Y Ahn
  66. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Kie Y Ahn
  67. ^ Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
  68. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Henry Dreyfus
  69. ^ a b Archived Boliven.com website
  70. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Clyde C. Farmer
  71. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Mark I. Gardner
  72. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Mark I. Gardner
  73. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Heinz Focke
  74. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Heinz Focke
  75. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Tadahiro Ohmi
  76. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Tadahiro Ohmi
  77. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Louis H. Morin
  78. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Michael Sullivan
  79. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Michael J. Sullivan
  80. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for William Eby
  81. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for William Eby
  82. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Tobin King
  83. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Tobin King
  84. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Eberhard Ammermann
  85. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Eberhard Ammermann
  86. ^ Full patent listing for Thomas E. Murray
  87. ^ Thomas E. Murray web site
  88. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Hongyong Zhang
  89. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Hongyong Zhang
  90. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Ravi Arimilli
  91. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Ravi Arimilli
  92. ^ The Infography of John Hays Hammond, Jr.
  93. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for John Hays Hammond
  94. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Wilhelm Brandes
  95. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Wilhelm Brandes
  96. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa
  97. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Akira Nakazawa
  98. ^ US Patents of Stanford Ovshinsky
  99. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Stanford Ovshinsky
  100. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Hans-Joachim Santel
  101. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Hans-Joachim Santel
  102. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz
  103. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Gisela Lorenz
  104. ^ George Westinghouse article at ideafinder.com
  105. ^ Hubert, P. G. (1894). Men of achievement. Inventors. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Page 296+
  106. ^ George Westinghouse article in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  107. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  108. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  109. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Robert R. Schmidt
  110. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Robert R. Schmidt
  111. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Garry Jackson
  112. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Garry Jackson
  113. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Edward Jung
  114. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Edward Jung
  115. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Norman Berry
  116. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Norman Berry
  117. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Lowell Wood
  118. ^ Worldwide Patent Search for Lowell Wood
  119. ^ Prolific Inventors: Who are They and Where do They Locate? International Centre for Economic Research Working Paper No. 14/2010
  120. ^ List of Nikola Tesla patents
  121. ^ Jim Bieberich's Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection
  122. ^ a b The Patent Board website
  123. ^ 1790 Analytics website
  124. ^ USPTO Patent Search website
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_prolific_inventors&oldid=482289662"