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Revision as of 18:01, 5 September 2017

Thomas Alva Edison was widely known as the America's most prolific inventor, even after his death in 1931.[1][2] He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).[3] In 2003, he was passed by Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki.[4] On February 26, 2008, Yamazaki was passed by Australian inventor Kia Silverbrook.[5] Yamazaki passed Silverbrook in 2017.

Prolific inventors with 200 or more worldwide utility patent families are shown in the following table. In many cases, this number is also the number of U.S. utility patents granted. A patent family is a set of patents filed in various countries to protect a single invention.

Inventor # of Patent Families Country # of INPADOC patents Active Main fields of invention Ref
Shunpei Yamazaki 4898  Japan 10000+ 1976-2017 Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays, Solar cells, Flash memory, OLED [6][4][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Kia Silverbrook 4743  Australia 9790 1994-2017 Printing, Digital paper, Internet, Electronics, CGI, Chemical, DNA, Lab-on-a-chip, MEMS, Mechanical, VLSI [17][18][4][5][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Lowell L. Wood, Jr. 1579  USA 1375 1977-2017 Mosquito laser, Nuclear weapons [19][20][15]
Roderick A. Hyde 1417  USA 3566 2001-2017 Various [21][22][15]
Paul Lapstun 1283  Australia 3097 2000-2017 Printing, Digital paper, Internet, Electronics, CGI, VLSI [23][24][4][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Gurtej Sandhu 1277  India 2078 1991-2017 Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [25][26][7][8][9][16]
Jun Koyama 1273  Japan 4310 1991-2017 Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays, OLED [27][28]
Kangguo Cheng 1136  USA 1590 2004-2017 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [29][30]
Leonard Forbes 1098  Canada 1402 1991-2017 Semiconductor Memories, CCDs, Thin film processes and materials, VLSI [31][32][4][8][9][10][12]
Thomas Edison 1084  USA 2332 1847(b)-1931(d) Electric power, Lighting, Batteries, Phonograph, Cement, Telegraphy, Mining [2][3][4][5][33][34]
Donald E. Weder 1000  USA 1995 1976-2017 Florist supplies [35][36][4][7][8][9][16]
George Albert Lyon 993  Canada NA 1882(b)-1961(d) Automotive, Stainless steel products [4][37]
Clarence T. Tegreene 980  USA 2387 2000-2017 Various [38][39]
Edward K. Y. Jung 964  USA 2281 1996-2017 Various [40][41][15]
John F. O'Connor 949  USA NA 1864(b)-1938(d) Railway draft gearing [4][42]
Jay S. Walker 930  USA 2198 1998-2017 Gaming machines [43][44][9][14]
Melvin De Groote 925  USA NA 1895(b)-1963(d) Chemical de-emulsifiers [2][4]
Francis H. Richards 894  USA NA 1850(b)-19??(d) Mechanical, automation [2][4]
Shou-Shan Fan 882  China 2180 2006-2017 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [45][46]
Michael J. Sullivan 834  USA 1555 1977-2017 Golf balls [47][48]
Rick Allen Hamilton II 831  USA 1104 1999-2017 Various [49][50][15]
Ahmadreza Rofougaran 820  USA 1401 2002-2017 Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits [51][52]
Warren Farnworth 771  USA 934 1990-2017 Semiconductor packaging [53][54][7][8][9]
Carleton Ellis 753  USA NA 1876(b)-1941(d) Margarine, Polyester, Anti-knock gasoline, Paint stripper [42][55]
William H. Eby 751  USA 770 1994-2017 Transgenic soybeans [56][57]
Salman Akram 735  USA 928 1995-2017 Semiconductor packaging [58][59][7][8][9]
Nathan Myhrvold 734  USA 1769 1994-2017 Various [60][61]
Jeyhan Karaoguz 733  USA 1547 1996-2017 Wireless communications, Computer networks [62][63]
Hideo Ando 728  Japan 2653 1983-2016 Optical recording [64][65][14]
George Spector 722  USA 747 1976-1998 Gadgets, Toys [66][67][7][8]
Austin L. Gurney 706  USA 3932 1999-2017 Proteins, Antibodies [68][69][10][11]
Mark Malamud 698  USA 1798 1997-2017 Various [70][71][15]
Elihu Thomson 696  UK NA 1853(b)-1937(d) Electric power, Arc lamp, Electric motors, Lightning arrester, Arc welder [2][42]
Royce A. Levien 692  USA 1819 1997-2017 Various [72][73][15]
Tetsujiro Kondo 690  Japan 4147 1987-2017 Signal processing, Image processing [74][75]
Jordin T. Kare 687  USA 1712 1992-2017 Various [76][77]
Robert W. Lord 685  USA 1734 2003-2017 Various [78][79]
Muriel Y. Ishikawa 676  USA 1765 2002-2017 Various [80][81][82]
William I. Wood 653  USA 3537 1981-2016 Proteins, Antibodies [83][84][10][11]
Simon R. Walmsley 651  Australia 1241 1995-2015 Printing, Electronics, VLSI, Cryptography [85][86][13][14]
Audrey D. Goddard 623  USA 3397 1997-2017 Proteins, Antibodies [87][88][10][11]
Jerome Lemelson 606  USA NA 1923(b)-1997(d) Toys, Industrial robots, Cordless telephones, Fax machines, Videocassette recorders [89][2][16][90]
Béla Barényi 595  Austria 1244 1907(b)-1997(d) Passive safety in automobiles [91][92]
Kie Y Ahn 595  USA 709 1976-2017 Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [93][94]
Tadahiro Ohmi 592  Japan 2759 1981-2016 Thin film processes and materials, Semiconductor device fabrication [95][96]
Ali Khakifirooz 586  USA 824 2011-2017 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, Semiconductor device fabrication [97][98]
Paul J. Godowski 579  USA 2596 1994-2014 Proteins, Antibodies [99][100][10][11]
Edward J. Nowak 576  USA 1161 1979-2017 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [101][102]
Bruce B. Doris 574  USA 933 1995-2017 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [103][104]
Artur Fischer 570  Germany 3097 1976-2002 Fasteners, Construction toys [105][106][107]
Louis L. Hsu 551  USA 920 1988-2016 Various [108][109]
Edwin H. Land 535  USA 1236 1909(b)-1991(d) Instant photography, Polarizing film [110][111]
Eric C. Leuthardt 535  USA 1339 2006-2017 Medical devices [112][113]
Henri Dreyfus 524   Switzerland 2117 1882(b)-1944(d) Polymers, Synthetic fibers, Dyes [114][115]
John M. Santosuosso 519  USA 741 2001-2017 Various [116][117]
Clyde C. Farmer 513  USA 830 18??(b)-19??(d) Railway air brakes [118][42][119]
Heinz Focke 512  Germany 2890 1976-2013 Cigarette packaging [120][121][7]
Mark I. Gardner 511  USA 587 1994-2010 Consumer electronics, Energy, Computers, Semiconductors, Physics [122][123][7][8]
Ravi K. Arimilli 506  India 769 1992-2016 Computer architecture, Semiconductor memory, Cache coherence, Symmetric multiprocessing [124][125]
Louis H. Morin 503  USA 720 18??(b)-19??(d) Fasteners, Locks, Bobbins [126][119]
Jeffrey P. Gambino 501  USA 817 1992-2017 MEMS, CMOS, BiCMOS, DRAM, Image Sensors, RF, Biosensors, 3D Integrated Circuits [127][128]
Tobin A. King 499  Australia 1209 2000-2017 Printing, Digital paper, Mechanical [129][130]
Jack A. Mandelman 481  USA 900 1987-2014 Various [131][132]
James M. Hart 474  USA 1154 1988-2017 Motor vehicle transmission [133][134]
Ronald S. Cok 452  USA 785 1986-2017 OLED displays; image processing [135][136]
Eberhard Ammermann 451  Germany 5108 1979-2015 Fungicides [137][138][16]
Thomas E. Murray 449  USA 462 1860(b)-1929(d) Electrical, HVAC, Wheels, Metal working, Light dimmer [139][140]
Akira Nakazawa 447  Australia 1354 1980-2017 Printing, Mechanical [141][142]
Victoria Y. H. Wood 446  USA 1126 2009-2017 Various [143][144]
Robert S. Langer 441  USA 1837 1983-2017 Biotechnology, Drug delivery, Tissue engineering [145][146]
Hongyong Zhang 440  Japan 865 1993-2016 Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays [147][148]
Scott H. Wittkopp 432  USA 1012 2001-2017 Motor vehicle transmission [149][150][14]
Anthony K. Stamper 430  USA 746 1998-2017 MEMS, CMOS, BiCMOS, Silicon-germanium [151][152]
John Hays Hammond, Jr. 417  USA 460 1888(b)-1965(d) Radio control, Radio communications, Torpedoes [153][154]
Devendra K. Sadana 417  India 923 1983-2017 Solar cells, OLED, Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, LEDs [155][156]
Wilhelm Brandes 411  Germany 2874 1976-2010 Fungicides [157][158]
Hossein Eslambolchi 411  USA 631 1993-2017 Telecommunications, Network intelligence, information Technology, communications technology [159][160]
Kai-Li Jiang 406  China 844 2006-2017 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [161][162]
Cary L. Bates 401  USA 578 1994-2017 Programming tools, DBX, Memory debuggers [163][164][165]
Stanford R. Ovshinsky 400  USA 1649 1922(b)-2012(d) Batteries, Solar cells, Liquid crystal displays, Hydrogen fuel cells, Computer data storage [166][167][168]
Gregory J. Boss 396  USA 636 2008-2017 Various [169][170]
Josef Theurer 388  Austria 4913 1976-2016 Railroad maintenance machines [171][172][16]
Chih-Chao Yang 386  USA 743 2003-2017 Integrated Circuits [173][174]
David V. Horak 384  USA 630 1992-2017 Various [175][176]
Clifford A. Pickover 384  USA 784 1992-2017 Various [177][178]
Xuemin (Sherman) Chen 382  USA 1151 1997-2017 Computer networks, Integrated Circuits, Signal Processing [179][180][181][182][183]
Hans-Joachim Santel 377  Germany 2571 1986-2013 Herbicides, Pesticides, Organic chemistry [184][185][16]
George P. Liang 376  China 512 1983-2017 Gas turbine cooling [186][187]
Gisela Lorenz 374  Germany 4082 1990-2015 Fungicides, Organic chemistry [188][189][16]
Vincent J. Zimmer 369  USA 1040 1999-2017 Computer software and firmware [190][191]
Wael W. Diab 368  USA 782 2003-2017 Computer networks [192][193]
Garry R. Jackson 367  Australia 653 2001-2016 Printing, Mechanical [194][195]
Paul W. Dent 367  USA 2148 1984-2017 Wireless communications [196][197]
Brian M. O'Connell 364  USA 602 2009-2017 Various [198][199]
George Westinghouse 361  USA NA 1846(b)-1914(d) Electric power, Electricity meter, Railway air brake, Steam engines [200][201][202]
Robert R. Schmidt 350  Germany 2467 1971-2005 Herbicides, Fungicides, Organic chemistry [203][204]
Norman M. Berry 347  Australia 516 2006-2016 Printing, Mechanical [205][206]
Mark W. Kroll 347  USA 460 1987-2017 Implantable medical devices [207][208][209]
William Daniel Hillis 338  USA 227 1986-2017 Various [210][211]
Brent A. Anderson 337  USA 473 2001-2017 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [212][213]
Jeffrey E. Stahmann 337  USA 668 1994-2017 Medical devices [214][215]
Carl J. Radens 329  USA 658 1994-2017 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [216][217]
Lisa Seacat DeLuca 318  USA 440 2009-2017 Various [218][219]
Steven L. Teig 313  USA 364 1995-2017 Integrated Circuits [220][221]
Liang Liu 311  China 782 2005-2017 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [222][223]
Victoria Smith 307  USA 2071 2006-2017 Proteins, Antibodies [224][225]
Keith R. Walker 301  Saudi Arabia 320 2003-2017 Various [226][227]
Robert G. LeTourneau 299  USA NA 1888(b)-1969(d) Earthworks (engineering), Heavy Equipment, Industrial Machinery [228][229]
Hanson S. Gifford III 292  USA 653 1986-2017 Medical devices [230][231]
William R. Tonti 291  USA 449 1994-2016 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [232][233]
Victor S. Moore 291  USA 429 1982-2017 Various [234][235]
Daniel J. Winarski 287  USA 521 1982-2017 Various [236][237]
Adam Heller 274  Romania 716 1968-2017 Solar cells, Glucose meters, Lasers [238][239][240]
Brent Keeth 272  USA 474 1994-2017 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM [241][242]
Kulvir S. Bhogal 272  USA 507 2003-2017 Various [243][244]
Bengt Lindoff 268  Sweden 1666 2000-2017 Wireless communications [245][246]
Hartley Owen 267  USA 709 1976-2010 Fluid catalytic cracking [247][248]
Dean L. Kamen 264  USA 1227 1979-2017 Battery-powered electric vehicles, Medical devices, Stirling engines, Water purification, Wheelchairs [249][250]
Michael A. Rothman 260  USA 685 2001-2017 Computer software and firmware [251][252]
Yoshihiro Kikuchi 256  Japan 1129 1994-2017 Video processing [253][254]
Lawrence A. Clevenger 252  USA 493 1996-2017 Semiconductor, Cognitive, Memory, Security, Analytics [255][256]
Nobuyuki Taniguchi 245  Japan 967 1979-2015 Cameras [257][258]
Rajiv V. Joshi 241  USA 362 1986-2017 Electronics, analytics [259][260]
Philip S. Yu 236  USA 158 1982-2016 Various [261][262]
Takeshi Chujoh 236  Japan 1077 1995-2017 Video processing [263][264]
Johnny M. Shieh 236  USA 455 1996-2017 Various [265][266]
Ruilong Xie 232  USA 363 2013-2017 Semiconductor device, CMOS, Semiconductor device fabrication [267][268]
Bran Ferren 229  USA 591 1986-2017 Computers, Consumer Electronics, Electro-Optical Systems, Medical, User Interfaces, Automotive, Vehicles & Transportation [269][270]
Esmael H. Dinan 221  USA 348 2006-2017 Communication Networks [271][272]
Paul Ian Mackey 220  Australia 246 2008-2016 Printing, Mechanical [273][274]
Louis Rosenberg 220  USA 465 1995-2017 Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, A.I., HCI [275][276]
Gerald F. McBrearty 220  USA 400 1997-2017 Various [277][278]
Thomas J. Kennedy III 219  USA 511 1992-2017 Sporting Goods, Wind Turbines [279][280]
Imad Libbus 214  USA 481 2007-2017 Medical devices [281][282]
Dorin Comaniciu 211  USA 467 2003-2017 Machine Intelligence, Medical Imaging, Image-Guided Surgery, Computer Vision [283][284]
Gregory McAvoy 208  Australia 432 2003-2017 Printing, MEMS [285][286]
Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka 205  Japan 181 1997-2015 Cameras [287][288]
Patrick B. Usoro 205  USA 343 1999-2016 Transmissions, Hybrid Powertrains, Vehicle Thermal Management [289][290]
Sebastian T Ventrone 205  USA 286 1989-2017 Semiconductor, Logic, Architecture [291][292]
Pouya Hashemi 200  USA 2013- Semiconductor, VLSI, CMOS logic and memory technologies, cognitive technologies [293][294]

This table was current as of August 15, 2017. The columns are defined as follows:

  • Inventor: The name of the inventor.
  • # of 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. Conversely, 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 (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 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.
  • # of INPADOC patents: This is the 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). The database limits results to 10,000 records per inventor, and so "10,000+" is used when an inventor exceeds the limit.
  • Country: This is the country of birth or upbringing of the inventor, where known. If unknown, this is the country of residence identified in the inventor's patent filings.
  • Active: The first and last year in which an inventor received a patent issuance, except when activity was prior to digital records, in which case year of birth (b) and death (d) may be substituted. If an inventor's first year is 1976 or a few years after, there may be activity prior to this; earlier dates are not present in the primary source, and would require a secondary source.
  • 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.[295] However, this table currently has an arbitrary cut-off limit for inclusion of 200 patent families. This is purely for practical reasons – there are 139 inventors throughout history with more than 200 utility patent families, but tens of thousands of inventors with more than 15 patents. The threshold of 200 patents means that some famous prolific inventors such as Nikola Tesla are not included in this list, as Tesla had 111 patents.[296][297]

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 by Sándor Just and Franjo Hanaman. 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.[16] 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 published a list of the "most prolific living inventors to be found in America today".[42]

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".[2]

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":[7]

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"[298]) and 1790 Analytics[299] 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[8] 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,[298] 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"[4] 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).

Strutpatent.com (2012)

Strutpatent.com publishes a list of the "Top 10 Inventors" [9] listing inventors ranked by US patents (of all types) issued since 1990:

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 4,279
2 Shunpei Yamazaki 1,664
3 Donald Weder 1,310
4 Paul Lapstun 1,098
5 Leonard Forbes 959
6 Gurtej Sandhu 728
7 Warren Farnworth 685
8 Salman Akram 653
9 Jay Walker 644
10 Chang-Hwan Hwang 634

This list included only patents granted since 1990, and includes design patents as well as utility patents.

Annual lists (2007–2012)

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:[10]

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:[11]

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:[12]

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:[13]

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:[14]

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 Jung 112
9 Simon Walmsley 112
10 Jay S. Walker 99

The top ten inventors of US patents for 2012:[15]

Rank Inventor U.S. Patents
1 Kia Silverbrook 220
2 Edward Jung 180
3 Shunpei Yamazaki 172
4 Lowell Wood 169
5 Roderick Hyde 140
6 Bin Li 124
7 Royce Levien 122
8 Mark Malamud 119
9 Shunpei Yamazaki 118
10 John Rinaldo 117

This table omitted Rick Allen Hamilton II. The USPTO database shows Hamilton was an inventor or co-inventor of 128 US patents granted in 2012,[300] which would place Hamilton at 6th rank for 2012.

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.[301] 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. ^ Thomas Alva Edison Biography at Rutgers University
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Man-Made Marvels Time Magazine, Dec 4, 2000
  3. ^ a b List of Edison patents
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era Business Insider, 6 May 2011
  5. ^ a b c The True Inventor Basson-Booyens website
  6. ^ US Patents of Shunpei Yamazaki
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j You really can find identities of top patent holders USA Today, Dec 13, 2005
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Masters of invention Portfolio, October 15, 2007
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Strutpatent list of the top 10 inventors since 1990
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2007 StrutPatent.com website
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2008 StrutPatent.com website
  12. ^ a b c d e List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2009 StrutPatent.com website
  13. ^ a b c d e List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2010 StrutPatent.com website
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2011 StrutPatent.com website
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i List of the top ten US patent grantees for 2012 StrutPatent.com website
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i USPTO publication: Prolific Inventors Receiving Utility Patents 1988-1997
  17. ^ US Patents of Kia Silverbrook
  18. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kia Silverbrook
  19. ^ US Patents of Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
  20. ^ Worldwide Patents of Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
  21. ^ US Patents of Roderick A. Hyde
  22. ^ Worldwide Patents of Roderick A. Hyde
  23. ^ US Patents of Paul Lapstun
  24. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul Lapstun
  25. ^ US Patents of Gurtej Sandhu
  26. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gurtej Sandhu
  27. ^ US Patents of Jun Koyama
  28. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jun Koyama
  29. ^ US Patents of Kangguo Cheng
  30. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kangguo Cheng
  31. ^ US Patents of Leonard Forbes
  32. ^ Worldwide Patents of Leonard Forbes
  33. ^ Edison's Foreign Patents
  34. ^ The Complete Thomas Alva Edison U.S. Patent Collection
  35. ^ US Patents of Donald E. Weder
  36. ^ Worldwide Patents of Donald E. Weder
  37. ^ Archived Boliven Patents by George Albert Lyon(s)
  38. ^ US Patents of Clarence T. Tegreene
  39. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clarence T. Tegreene
  40. ^ US Patents of Edward K. Y. Jung
  41. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edward K. Y. Jung
  42. ^ US Patents of Jay S. Walker
  43. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jay S. Walker
  44. ^ US Patents of Shou-Shan Fan
  45. ^ Worldwide Patents of Shou-Shan Fan
  46. ^ US Patents of Michael J. Sullivan
  47. ^ Worldwide Patents of Michael J. Sullivan
  48. ^ US Patents of Rick Allen Hamilton II
  49. ^ Worldwide Patents of Rick Allen Hamilton II
  50. ^ US Patents of Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  51. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  52. ^ US Patents of Warren Farnworth
  53. ^ Worldwide Patents of Warren Farnworth
  54. ^ B. Zorina Khan, The Democratization of Invention: Patents and Copyrights in American Economic Development, 1790-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 2005) pp209-210
  55. ^ US Patents of William H. Eby
  56. ^ Worldwide Patents of William H. Eby
  57. ^ US Patents of Salman Akram
  58. ^ Worldwide Patents of Salman Akram
  59. ^ US Patents of Nathan Myhrvold
  60. ^ Worldwide Patents of Nathan Myhrvold
  61. ^ US Patents of Jeyhan Karaoguz
  62. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeyhan Karaoguz
  63. ^ US Patents of Hideo Ando
  64. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hideo Ando
  65. ^ US Patents of George Spector
  66. ^ Worldwide Patents of George Spector
  67. ^ US Patents of Austin L. Gurney
  68. ^ Worldwide Patents of Austin L. Gurney
  69. ^ US Patents of Mark Malamud
  70. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark Malamud
  71. ^ US Patents of Royce A. Levien
  72. ^ Worldwide Patents of Royce A. Levien
  73. ^ US Patents of Tetsujiro Kondo
  74. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tetsujiro Kondo
  75. ^ US Patents of Jordin T. Kare
  76. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jordin T. Kare
  77. ^ US Patents of Robert W. Lord
  78. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert W. Lord
  79. ^ US Patents of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  80. ^ Worldwide Patents of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  81. ^ Bio of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  82. ^ US Patents of William I. Wood
  83. ^ Worldwide Patents of William I. Wood
  84. ^ US Patents of Simon R. Walmsley
  85. ^ Worldwide Patents of Simon R. Walmsley
  86. ^ US Patents of Audrey D. Goddard
  87. ^ Worldwide Patents of Audrey D. Goddard
  88. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jerome Lemelson
  89. ^ The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation web site, Jerome Lemelson's Patents.
  90. ^ Worldwide Patents of Béla Barényi
  91. ^ German Patents of Béla Barényi
  92. ^ US Patents of Kie Y Ahn
  93. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kie Y Ahn
  94. ^ US Patents of Tadahiro Ohmi
  95. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tadahiro Ohmi
  96. ^ US Patents of Ali Khakifirooz
  97. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ali Khakifirooz
  98. ^ US Patents of Paul J. Godowski
  99. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul J. Godowski
  100. ^ US Patents of Edward J. Nowak
  101. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edward J. Nowak
  102. ^ US Patents of Bruce B. Doris
  103. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bruce B. Doris
  104. ^ US Patents of Artur Fischer
  105. ^ Worldwide Patents of Artur Fischer
  106. ^ Reference to German patents of Artur Fischer
  107. ^ US Patents of Louis L. Hsu
  108. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis L. Hsu
  109. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edwin H. Land
  110. ^ Victor K. McElheny, Insisting on the impossible: The Life of Edwin Land (Perseus Books, 1998)
  111. ^ US Patents of Eric C. Leuthardt
  112. ^ Worldwide Patents of Eric C. Leuthardt
  113. ^ Worldwide Patents of Henri Dreyfus
  114. ^ Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
  115. ^ US Patents of John M. Santosuosso
  116. ^ Worldwide Patents of John M. Santosuosso
  117. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clyde C. Farmer
  118. ^ a b Archived Boliven.com website
  119. ^ US Patents of Heinz Focke
  120. ^ Worldwide Patents of Heinz Focke
  121. ^ US Patents of Mark I. Gardner
  122. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark I. Gardner
  123. ^ US Patents of Ravi K. Arimilli
  124. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ravi K. Arimilli
  125. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis H. Morin
  126. ^ US Patents of Jeffrey P. Gambino
  127. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeffrey P. Gambino
  128. ^ US Patents of Tobin A. King
  129. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tobin A. King
  130. ^ US Patents of Jack A. Mandelman
  131. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jack A. Mandelman
  132. ^ US Patents of James M. Hart
  133. ^ Worldwide Patents of James M. Hart
  134. ^ US Patents of Ronald S. Cok
  135. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ronald S. Cok
  136. ^ US Patents of Eberhard Ammermann
  137. ^ Worldwide Patents of Eberhard Ammermann
  138. ^ Full patent listing for Thomas E. Murray
  139. ^ Thomas E. Murray web site
  140. ^ US Patents of Akira Nakazawa
  141. ^ Worldwide Patents of Akira Nakazawa
  142. ^ US Patents of Victoria Y. H. Wood
  143. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victoria Y. H. Wood
  144. ^ US Patents of Robert S. Langer
  145. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert S. Langer
  146. ^ US Patents of Hongyong Zhang
  147. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hongyong Zhang
  148. ^ US Patents of Scott H. Wittkopp
  149. ^ Worldwide Patents of Scott H. Wittkopp
  150. ^ US Patents of Anthony K. Stamper
  151. ^ Worldwide Patents of Anthony K. Stamper
  152. ^ Worldwide Patents of John Hays Hammond, Jr.
  153. ^ The Infography of John Hays Hammond, Jr.
  154. ^ US Patents of Devendra K. Sadana
  155. ^ Worldwide Patents of Devendra K. Sadana
  156. ^ US Patents of Wilhelm Brandes
  157. ^ Worldwide Patents of Wilhelm Brandes
  158. ^ US Patents of Hossein Eslambolchi
  159. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hossein Eslambolchi
  160. ^ US Patents of Kai-Li Jiang
  161. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kai-Li Jiang
  162. ^ US Patents of Cary L. Bates
  163. ^ Worldwide Patents of Cary L. Bates
  164. ^ Bio of Cary L. Bates
  165. ^ US Patents of Stanford R. Ovshinsky
  166. ^ Worldwide Patents of Stanford R. Ovshinsky
  167. ^ US Patents of Stanford Ovshinsky
  168. ^ US Patents of Gregory J. Boss
  169. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gregory J. Boss
  170. ^ US Patents of Josef Theurer
  171. ^ Worldwide Patents of Josef Theurer
  172. ^ US Patents of Chih-Chao Yang
  173. ^ Worldwide Patents of Chih-Chao Yang
  174. ^ US Patents of David V. Horak
  175. ^ Worldwide Patents of David V. Horak
  176. ^ US Patents of Clifford A. Pickover
  177. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clifford A. Pickover
  178. ^ US Patents of Xuemin (Sherman) Chen
  179. ^ Worldwide Patents of Xuemin (Sherman) Chen
  180. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen a
  181. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen b
  182. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen c
  183. ^ US Patents of Hans-Joachim Santel
  184. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hans-Joachim Santel
  185. ^ US Patents of George P. Liang
  186. ^ Worldwide Patents of George P. Liang
  187. ^ US Patents of Gisela Lorenz
  188. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gisela Lorenz
  189. ^ US Patents of Vincent J. Zimmer
  190. ^ Worldwide Patents of Vincent J. Zimmer
  191. ^ US Patents of Wael W. Diab
  192. ^ Worldwide Patents of Wael W. Diab
  193. ^ US Patents of Garry R. Jackson
  194. ^ Worldwide Patents of Garry R. Jackson
  195. ^ US Patents of Paul W. Dent
  196. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul W. Dent
  197. ^ US Patents of Brian M. O'Connell
  198. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brian M. O'Connell
  199. ^ George Westinghouse article at ideafinder.com
  200. ^ Hubert, P. G. (1894). Men of achievement. Inventors. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Page 296+
  201. ^ George Westinghouse article in Encyclopædia Britannica
  202. ^ US Patents of Robert R. Schmidt
  203. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert R. Schmidt
  204. ^ US Patents of Norman M. Berry
  205. ^ Worldwide Patents of Norman M. Berry
  206. ^ US Patents of Mark W. Kroll
  207. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark W. Kroll
  208. ^ Bio of Mark Kroll
  209. ^ US Patents of William Daniel Hillis
  210. ^ Worldwide Patents of William Daniel Hillis
  211. ^ US Patents of Brent A. Anderson
  212. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brent A. Anderson
  213. ^ US Patents of Jeffrey E. Stahmann
  214. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeffrey E. Stahmann
  215. ^ US Patents of Carl J. Radens
  216. ^ Worldwide Patents of Carl J. Radens
  217. ^ US Patents of Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  218. ^ Worldwide Patents of Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  219. ^ US Patents of Steven L. Teig
  220. ^ Worldwide Patents of Steven L. Teig
  221. ^ US Patents of Liang Liu
  222. ^ Worldwide Patents of Liang Liu
  223. ^ US Patents of Victoria Smith
  224. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victoria Smith
  225. ^ US Patents of Keith R. Walker
  226. ^ Worldwide Patents of Keith R. Walker
  227. ^ Robert G. LeTourneau: Dean of Earthmoving
  228. ^ Texas Co-op Power: He Was a Mover and a Shaker
  229. ^ US Patents of Hanson S. Gifford III
  230. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hanson S. Gifford III
  231. ^ US Patents of William R. Tonti
  232. ^ Worldwide Patents of William R. Tonti
  233. ^ US Patents of Victor S. Moore
  234. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victor S. Moore
  235. ^ US Patents of Daniel J. Winarski
  236. ^ Worldwide Patents of Daniel J. Winarski
  237. ^ US Patents of Adam Heller
  238. ^ Worldwide Patents of Adam Heller
  239. ^ The 12 US Patents of Adam Heller prior to 1976
  240. ^ US Patents of Brent Keeth
  241. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brent Keeth
  242. ^ US Patents of Kulvir S. Bhogal
  243. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kulvir S. Bhogal
  244. ^ US Patents of Bengt Lindoff
  245. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bengt Lindoff
  246. ^ US Patents of Hartley Owen
  247. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hartley Owen
  248. ^ US Patents of Dean L. Kamen
  249. ^ Worldwide Patents of Dean L. Kamen
  250. ^ US Patents of Michael A. Rothman
  251. ^ Worldwide Patents of Michael A. Rothman
  252. ^ US Patents of Yoshihiro Kikuchi
  253. ^ Worldwide Patents of Yoshihiro Kikuchi
  254. ^ US Patents of Lawrence A. Clevenger
  255. ^ Worldwide Patents of Lawrence A. Clevenger
  256. ^ US Patents of Nobuyuki Taniguchi
  257. ^ Worldwide Patents of Nobuyuki Taniguchi
  258. ^ US Patents of Rajiv V. Joshi
  259. ^ Worldwide Patents of Rajiv V. Joshi
  260. ^ US Patents of Philip S. Yu
  261. ^ Worldwide Patents of Philip S. Yu
  262. ^ US Patents of Takeshi Chujoh
  263. ^ Worldwide Patents of Takeshi Chujoh
  264. ^ US Patents of Johnny M. Shieh
  265. ^ Worldwide Patents of Johnny M. Shieh
  266. ^ US Patents of Ruilong Xie
  267. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ruilong Xie
  268. ^ US Patents of Bran Ferren
  269. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bran Ferren
  270. ^ US Patents of Esmael H. Dinan
  271. ^ Worldwide Patents of Esmael H. Dinan
  272. ^ US Patents of Paul Ian Mackey
  273. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul Ian Mackey
  274. ^ US Patents of Louis B. Rosenberg
  275. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis B. Rosenberg
  276. ^ US Patents of Gerald F. McBrearty
  277. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gerald F. McBrearty
  278. ^ US Patents of Thomas J. Kennedy III
  279. ^ Worldwide Patents of Thomas J. Kennedy III
  280. ^ US Patents of Imad Libbus
  281. ^ Worldwide Patents of Imad Libbus
  282. ^ US Patents of Dorin Comaniciu
  283. ^ Worldwide Patents of Dorin Comaniciu
  284. ^ US Patents of Gregory McAvoy
  285. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gregory McAvoy
  286. ^ US Patents of Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka
  287. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka
  288. ^ US Patents of Patrick B. Usoro
  289. ^ Worldwide Patents of Patrick B. Usoro
  290. ^ US Patents of Sebastian T Ventrone
  291. ^ Worldwide Patents of Sebastian T Ventrone
  292. ^ US Patents of Pouya Hashemi
  293. ^ [1]
  294. ^ Prolific Inventors: Who are They and Where do They Locate? International Centre for Economic Research Working Paper No. 14/2010
  295. ^ List of Nikola Tesla patents
  296. ^ Jim Bieberich's Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection
  297. ^ a b The Patent Board website
  298. ^ 1790 Analytics website
  299. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Rick Allen Hamilton II for 2012
  300. ^ Patents of Lawrence A. Clevenger
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