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List of prolific inventors

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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.

Inventors with 200 or more 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.

Inventor # of patents Country Active Main fields of invention Ref
Shunpei Yamazaki 5128  Japan 1976-2018 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 4745  Australia 1994-2018 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. 1696  USA 1977-2018 Mosquito laser, Nuclear weapons [19][20][15]
Roderick A. Hyde 1559  USA 2001-2018 Various [21][22][15]
Kangguo Cheng 1351  USA 2004-2018 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [23][24]
Jun Koyama 1310  Japan 1991-2018 Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays, OLED [25][26]
Gurtej Sandhu 1289  India 1991-2018 Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [27][28][7][8][9][16]
Paul Lapstun 1286  Australia 2000-2018 Printing, Digital paper, Internet, Electronics, CGI, VLSI [29][30][4][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Leonard Forbes 1100  Canada 1991-2018 Semiconductor Memories, CCDs, Thin film processes and materials, VLSI [31][32][4][8][9][10][12]
Thomas Edison 1084  USA 1847(b)-1931(d) Electric power, Lighting, Batteries, Phonograph, Cement, Telegraphy, Mining [2][3][4][5][33][34]
Clarence T. Tegreene 1055  USA 2000-2018 Various [35][36]
Edward K. Y. Jung 1009  USA 1996-2018 Various [37][38][15]
Donald E. Weder 1000  USA 1976-2017 Florist supplies [39][40][4][7][8][9][16]
George Albert Lyon 993  Canada 1882(b)-1961(d) Automotive, Stainless steel products [4][41]
John F. O'Connor 949  USA 1864(b)-1938(d) Railway draft gearing [4][42]
Jay S. Walker 940  USA 1998-2018 Gaming machines [43][44][9][14]
Melvin De Groote 925  USA 1895(b)-1963(d) Chemical de-emulsifiers [2][4]
Shou-Shan Fan 925  China 2006-2018 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [45][46]
Francis H. Richards 894  USA 1850(b)-19??(d) Mechanical, automation [2][4]
Michael J. Sullivan 869  USA 1977-2018 Golf balls [47][48]
Rick Allen Hamilton II 864  USA 1999-2018 Various [49][50][15]
Ahmadreza Rofougaran 828  USA 2002-2018 Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits [51][52]
Nathan Myhrvold 782  USA 1994-2018 Various [53][54]
Warren Farnworth 772  USA 1990-2017 Semiconductor packaging [55][56][7][8][9]
Jordin T. Kare 768  USA 1992-2018 Various [57][58]
William H. Eby 766  USA 1994-2018 Transgenic soybeans [59][60]
Mark Malamud 759  USA 1997-2018 Various [61][62][15]
Carleton Ellis 753  USA 1876(b)-1941(d) Margarine, Polyester, Anti-knock gasoline, Paint stripper [42][63]
Robert W. Lord 751  USA 2003-2018 Various [64][65]
Royce A. Levien 748  USA 1997-2018 Various [66][67][15]
Salman Akram 742  USA 1995-2018 Semiconductor packaging [68][69][7][8][9]
Jeyhan Karaoguz 740  USA 1996-2018 Wireless communications, Computer networks [70][71]
Muriel Y. Ishikawa 732  USA 2002-2018 Various [72][73][74]
Hideo Ando 729  Japan 1983-2017 Optical recording [75][76][14]
George Spector 722  USA 1976-1998 Gadgets, Toys [77][78][7][8]
Austin L. Gurney 711  USA 1999-2018 Proteins, Antibodies [79][80][10][11]
Elihu Thomson 696  UK 1853(b)-1937(d) Electric power, Arc lamp, Electric motors, Lightning arrester, Arc welder [2][42]
Tetsujiro Kondo 693  Japan 1987-2018 Signal processing, Image processing [81][82]
William I. Wood 653  USA 1981-2016 Proteins, Antibodies [83][84][10][11]
Simon R. Walmsley 651  Australia 1995-2015 Printing, Electronics, VLSI, Cryptography [85][86][13][14]
Ali Khakifirooz 633  USA 2011-2018 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, Semiconductor device fabrication [87][88]
Audrey D. Goddard 623  USA 1997-2017 Proteins, Antibodies [89][90][10][11]
Bruce B. Doris 609  USA 1995-2018 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [91][92]
Jerome Lemelson 606  USA 1923(b)-1997(d) Toys, Industrial robots, Cordless telephones, Fax machines, Videocassette recorders [93][2][16][94]
Béla Barényi 595  Austria 1907(b)-1997(d) Passive safety in automobiles [95][96]
Kie Y Ahn 595  USA 1976-2017 Thin film processes and materials, VLSI, Semiconductor device fabrication [97][98]
Tadahiro Ohmi 595  Japan 1981-2018 Thin film processes and materials, Semiconductor device fabrication [99][100]
Edward J. Nowak 591  USA 1979-2018 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [101][102]
Paul J. Godowski 579  USA 1994-2014 Proteins, Antibodies [103][104][10][11]
Artur Fischer 570  Germany 1976-2002 Fasteners, Construction toys [105][106][107]
Eric C. Leuthardt 564  USA 2006-2018 Medical devices [108][109]
Louis L. Hsu 551  USA 1988-2016 Various [110][111]
John M. Santosuosso 540  USA 2001-2018 Various [112][113]
Edwin H. Land 535  USA 1909(b)-1991(d) Instant photography, Polarizing film [114][115]
Henri Dreyfus 524   Switzerland 1882(b)-1944(d) Polymers, Synthetic fibers, Dyes [116][117]
Jeffrey P. Gambino 515  USA 1992-2018 MEMS, CMOS, BiCMOS, DRAM, Image Sensors, RF, Biosensors, 3D Integrated Circuits [118][119]
Clyde C. Farmer 513  USA 18??(b)-19??(d) Railway air brakes [120][42][121]
Heinz Focke 512  Germany 1976-2013 Cigarette packaging [122][123][7]
Mark I. Gardner 511  USA 1994-2010 Consumer electronics, Energy, Computers, Semiconductors, Physics [124][125][7][8]
Ravi K. Arimilli 507  India 1992-2017 Computer architecture, Semiconductor memory, Cache coherence, Symmetric multiprocessing [126][127]
Louis H. Morin 503  USA 18??(b)-19??(d) Fasteners, Locks, Bobbins [128][121]
Tobin A. King 500  Australia 2000-2017 Printing, Digital paper, Mechanical [129][130]
Victoria Y. H. Wood 488  USA 2009-2018 Various [131][132]
Jack A. Mandelman 481  USA 1987-2014 Various [133][134]
James M. Hart 477  USA 1988-2018 Motor vehicle transmission [135][136]
Devendra K. Sadana 470  India 1983-2018 Solar cells, OLED, Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, LEDs [137][138]
Ronald S. Cok 463  USA 1986-2018 OLED displays; image processing [139][140]
Akira Nakazawa 455  Australia 1980-2018 Printing, Mechanical [141][142]
Robert S. Langer 454  USA 1983-2018 Biotechnology, Drug delivery, Tissue engineering [143][144]
Anthony K. Stamper 452  USA 1998-2018 MEMS, CMOS, BiCMOS, Silicon-germanium [145][146]
Eberhard Ammermann 451  Germany 1979-2015 Fungicides [147][148][16]
Thomas E. Murray 449  USA 1860(b)-1929(d) Electrical, HVAC, Wheels, Metal working, Light dimmer [149][150]
Clifford A. Pickover 447  USA 1992-2018 Various [151][152]
Chih-Chao Yang 445  USA 2003-2018 Integrated Circuits [153][154]
Hongyong Zhang 440  Japan 1993-2016 Thin film transistors, Liquid crystal displays [155][156]
Scott H. Wittkopp 432  USA 2001-2017 Motor vehicle transmission [157][158][14]
Gregory J. Boss 429  USA 2008-2018 Various [159][160]
Kai-Li Jiang 422  China 2006-2018 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [161][162]
John Hays Hammond, Jr. 417  USA 1888(b)-1965(d) Radio control, Radio communications, Torpedoes [163][164]
Hossein Eslambolchi 412  USA 1993-2017 Telecommunications, Network intelligence, information Technology, communications technology [165][166]
Wilhelm Brandes 411  Germany 1976-2010 Fungicides [167][168]
Cary L. Bates 404  USA 1994-2017 Programming tools, DBX, Memory debuggers [169][170][171]
Stanford R. Ovshinsky 400  USA 1922(b)-2012(d) Batteries, Solar cells, Liquid crystal displays, Hydrogen fuel cells, Computer data storage [172][173][174]
John L. Melanson 400  USA 1978-2018 Integrated circuits, semiconductors, mixed-signal products, signal processing, audio and voice components, hearing aids, LED lighting, and motor control [175][176]
Josef Theurer 388  Austria 1976-2016 Railroad maintenance machines [177][178][16]
Vincent J. Zimmer 385  USA 1999-2018 Computer software and firmware [179][180]
David V. Horak 384  USA 1992-2017 Various [181][182]
Brian M. O'Connell 383  USA 2009-2018 Various [183][184]
Xuemin (Sherman) Chen 382  USA 1997-2017 Computer networks, Integrated Circuits, Signal Processing [185][186][187][188][189]
George P. Liang 378  China 1983-2017 Gas turbine cooling [190][191]
Hans-Joachim Santel 377  Germany 1986-2013 Herbicides, Pesticides, Organic chemistry [192][193][16]
Gisela Lorenz 374  Germany 1990-2015 Fungicides, Organic chemistry [194][195][16]
Wael W. Diab 374  USA 2003-2018 Computer networks [196][197]
Lisa Seacat DeLuca 373  USA 2009-2018 Various [198][199]
Paul W. Dent 371  USA 1984-2017 Wireless communications [200][201]
Garry R. Jackson 367  Australia 2001-2016 Printing, Mechanical [202][203]
George Westinghouse 361  USA 1846(b)-1914(d) Electric power, Electricity meter, Railway air brake, Steam engines [204][205][206]
Brent A. Anderson 357  USA 2001-2018 Semiconductor device fabrication, Semiconductor memory, Semiconductor device [207][208]
Robert R. Schmidt 350  Germany 1971-2005 Herbicides, Fungicides, Organic chemistry [209][210]
Mark W. Kroll 349  USA 1987-2018 Implantable medical devices [211][212][213]
Norman M. Berry 347  Australia 2006-2016 Printing, Mechanical [214][215]
Jeffrey E. Stahmann 345  USA 1994-2017 Medical devices [216][217]
William Daniel Hillis 343  USA 1986-2017 Various [218][219]
Carl J. Radens 335  USA 1994-2018 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [220][221]
Ajith K. Kumar 321  India 1984-2018 Electric Power, Energy Management, Rail Transportation, Mining [222][223]
Steven L. Teig 313  USA 1995-2017 Integrated Circuits [224][225]
Liang Liu 312  China 2005-2017 Carbon nanotubes and applications of carbon nanotubes [226][227]
Victoria Smith 308  USA 2006-2017 Proteins, Antibodies [228][229]
Keith R. Walker 308  Saudi Arabia 2003-2018 Various [230][231]
Hanson S. Gifford III 303  USA 1986-2018 Medical devices [232][233]
Robert G. LeTourneau 299  USA 1888(b)-1969(d) Earthworks (engineering), Heavy Equipment, Industrial Machinery [234][235]
Kulvir S. Bhogal 295  USA 2003-2018 Various [236][237]
Daniel J. Winarski 294  USA 1982-2018 Various [238][239]
Victor S. Moore 294  USA 1982-2018 Various [240][241]
Ruilong Xie 293  USA 2013-2018 Semiconductor device, CMOS, Semiconductor device fabrication [242][243]
William R. Tonti 291  USA 1994-2016 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM, Semiconductor device fabrication [244][245]
Lawrence A. Clevenger 289  USA 1996-2018 Semiconductor, Cognitive, Memory, Security, Analytics [246][247]
Bengt Lindoff 287  Sweden 2000-2018 Wireless communications [248][249]
Dean L. Kamen 286  USA 1979-2018 Battery-powered electric vehicles, Medical devices, Stirling engines, Water purification, Wheelchairs [250][251]
Adam Heller 277  Romania 1968-2018 Solar cells, Glucose meters, Lasers [252][253][254]
Brent Keeth 273  USA 1994-2017 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, DRAM [255][256]
Jeffrey W. Sleight 272  USA 1998-2018 Integrated Circuits, CMOS, Semiconductor device fabrication [257][258]
Pouya Hashemi 270  USA 2013-2018 Semiconductor, VLSI, CMOS logic and memory, cognitive [259][260]
Hartley Owen 267  USA 1976-2010 Fluid catalytic cracking [261][262]
Michael A. Rothman 266  USA 2001-2018 Computer software and firmware [263][264]
Yoshihiro Kikuchi 257  Japan 1994-2018 Video processing [265][266]
Esmael H. Dinan 256  USA 2006-2018 Communication Networks [267][268]
Harry (Tom) Graef 252  USA 1976-2018 business machines, automation [269][270]
Nobuyuki Taniguchi 245  Japan 1979-2015 Cameras [271][272]
Takeshi Chujoh 245  Japan 1995-2018 Video processing [273][274]
Bran Ferren 243  USA 1986-2018 Computers, Consumer Electronics, Electro-Optical Systems, Medical, User Interfaces, Automotive, Vehicles & Transportation [275][276]
Rajiv V. Joshi 242  USA 1986-2017 Electronics, analytics [277][278]
Johnny M. Shieh 241  USA 1996-2018 Various [279][280]
Sarbajit K. Rakshit 241  India 2013-2018 Various [281][282]
Philip S. Yu 238  USA 1982-2018 Various [283][284]
Thomas J. Kennedy III 227  USA 1992-2017 Sporting Goods, Wind Turbines, Biotechnology [285][286]
Dorin Comaniciu 224  USA 2003-2018 Machine Intelligence, Medical Imaging, Image-Guided Surgery, Computer Vision [287][288]
Gerald F. McBrearty 224  USA 1997-2018 Various [289][290]
Louis B. Rosenberg 223  USA 1995-2017 Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, A.I., HCI [291][292]
Paul Ian Mackey 220  Australia 2008-2016 Printing, Mechanical [293][294]
Imad Libbus 220  USA 2007-2018 Medical devices [295][296]
Assaf Natanzon 215  Israel 2007-2018 Storage Systems, Data Protection [297][298]
Gregory McAvoy 208  Australia 2003-2017 Printing, MEMS [299][300]
Zvi Or-Bach 207  USA 1982-2018 Various [301][302]
Sebastian T. Ventrone 206  USA 1989-2018 Semiconductor, Logic, Architecture [303][304]
Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka 205  Japan 1997-2015 Cameras [305][306]
Patrick B. Usoro 205  USA 1999-2016 Transmissions, Hybrid Powertrains, Vehicle Thermal Management [307][308]
Mukta G. Farooq 200  USA 1993-2018 Semiconductor materials and structures, packaging technology, and 3-dimensional silicon integration [309][310]
Seung H. Kang 200  USA 2000-2018 Semiconductor device technologies, MRAM, spintronics, and memory circuit design [311][312]


This table was current as of March 13, 2018. The columns are defined as follows:

  • Inventor: The name of the inventor.
  • # of patents: This is 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.
  • 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.[313] However, this table currently has an arbitrary cut-off limit for inclusion of 200 patents. This is purely for practical reasons – there are 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.[314][315]

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.

The common symbol for inventiveness, the light bulb, is an 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"[316]) and 1790 Analytics[317] 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,[316] 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,[318] 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. 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 Kangguo Cheng
  24. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kangguo Cheng
  25. ^ US Patents of Jun Koyama
  26. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jun Koyama
  27. ^ US Patents of Gurtej Sandhu
  28. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gurtej Sandhu
  29. ^ US Patents of Paul Lapstun
  30. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul Lapstun
  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 Clarence T. Tegreene
  36. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clarence T. Tegreene
  37. ^ US Patents of Edward K. Y. Jung
  38. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edward K. Y. Jung
  39. ^ US Patents of Donald E. Weder
  40. ^ Worldwide Patents of Donald E. Weder
  41. ^ Archived Boliven Patents by George Albert Lyon(s)
  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 Nathan Myhrvold
  53. ^ Worldwide Patents of Nathan Myhrvold
  54. ^ US Patents of Warren Farnworth
  55. ^ Worldwide Patents of Warren Farnworth
  56. ^ US Patents of Jordin T. Kare
  57. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jordin T. Kare
  58. ^ US Patents of William H. Eby
  59. ^ Worldwide Patents of William H. Eby
  60. ^ US Patents of Mark Malamud
  61. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark Malamud
  62. ^ B. Zorina Khan, The Democratization of Invention: Patents and Copyrights in American Economic Development, 1790-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 2005) pp209-210
  63. ^ US Patents of Robert W. Lord
  64. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert W. Lord
  65. ^ US Patents of Royce A. Levien
  66. ^ Worldwide Patents of Royce A. Levien
  67. ^ US Patents of Salman Akram
  68. ^ Worldwide Patents of Salman Akram
  69. ^ US Patents of Jeyhan Karaoguz
  70. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeyhan Karaoguz
  71. ^ US Patents of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  72. ^ Worldwide Patents of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  73. ^ Bio of Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  74. ^ US Patents of Hideo Ando
  75. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hideo Ando
  76. ^ US Patents of George Spector
  77. ^ Worldwide Patents of George Spector
  78. ^ US Patents of Austin L. Gurney
  79. ^ Worldwide Patents of Austin L. Gurney
  80. ^ US Patents of Tetsujiro Kondo
  81. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tetsujiro Kondo
  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 Ali Khakifirooz
  87. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ali Khakifirooz
  88. ^ US Patents of Audrey D. Goddard
  89. ^ Worldwide Patents of Audrey D. Goddard
  90. ^ US Patents of Bruce B. Doris
  91. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bruce B. Doris
  92. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jerome Lemelson
  93. ^ The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation web site, Jerome Lemelson's Patents.
  94. ^ Worldwide Patents of Béla Barényi
  95. ^ German Patents of Béla Barényi
  96. ^ US Patents of Kie Y Ahn
  97. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kie Y Ahn
  98. ^ US Patents of Tadahiro Ohmi
  99. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tadahiro Ohmi
  100. ^ US Patents of Edward J. Nowak
  101. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edward J. Nowak
  102. ^ US Patents of Paul J. Godowski
  103. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul J. Godowski
  104. ^ US Patents of Artur Fischer
  105. ^ Worldwide Patents of Artur Fischer
  106. ^ Reference to German patents of Artur Fischer
  107. ^ US Patents of Eric C. Leuthardt
  108. ^ Worldwide Patents of Eric C. Leuthardt
  109. ^ US Patents of Louis L. Hsu
  110. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis L. Hsu
  111. ^ US Patents of John M. Santosuosso
  112. ^ Worldwide Patents of John M. Santosuosso
  113. ^ Worldwide Patents of Edwin H. Land
  114. ^ Victor K. McElheny, Insisting on the impossible: The Life of Edwin Land (Perseus Books, 1998)
  115. ^ Worldwide Patents of Henri Dreyfus
  116. ^ Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
  117. ^ US Patents of Jeffrey P. Gambino
  118. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeffrey P. Gambino
  119. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clyde C. Farmer
  120. ^ a b Archived Boliven.com website
  121. ^ US Patents of Heinz Focke
  122. ^ Worldwide Patents of Heinz Focke
  123. ^ US Patents of Mark I. Gardner
  124. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark I. Gardner
  125. ^ US Patents of Ravi K. Arimilli
  126. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ravi K. Arimilli
  127. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis H. Morin
  128. ^ US Patents of Tobin A. King
  129. ^ Worldwide Patents of Tobin A. King
  130. ^ US Patents of Victoria Y. H. Wood
  131. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victoria Y. H. Wood
  132. ^ US Patents of Jack A. Mandelman
  133. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jack A. Mandelman
  134. ^ US Patents of James M. Hart
  135. ^ Worldwide Patents of James M. Hart
  136. ^ US Patents of Devendra K. Sadana
  137. ^ Worldwide Patents of Devendra K. Sadana
  138. ^ US Patents of Ronald S. Cok
  139. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ronald S. Cok
  140. ^ US Patents of Akira Nakazawa
  141. ^ Worldwide Patents of Akira Nakazawa
  142. ^ US Patents of Robert S. Langer
  143. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert S. Langer
  144. ^ US Patents of Anthony K. Stamper
  145. ^ Worldwide Patents of Anthony K. Stamper
  146. ^ US Patents of Eberhard Ammermann
  147. ^ Worldwide Patents of Eberhard Ammermann
  148. ^ Full patent listing for Thomas E. Murray
  149. ^ Thomas E. Murray web site
  150. ^ US Patents of Clifford A. Pickover
  151. ^ Worldwide Patents of Clifford A. Pickover
  152. ^ US Patents of Chih-Chao Yang
  153. ^ Worldwide Patents of Chih-Chao Yang
  154. ^ US Patents of Hongyong Zhang
  155. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hongyong Zhang
  156. ^ US Patents of Scott H. Wittkopp
  157. ^ Worldwide Patents of Scott H. Wittkopp
  158. ^ US Patents of Gregory J. Boss
  159. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gregory J. Boss
  160. ^ US Patents of Kai-Li Jiang
  161. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kai-Li Jiang
  162. ^ Worldwide Patents of John Hays Hammond, Jr.
  163. ^ The Infography of John Hays Hammond, Jr.
  164. ^ US Patents of Hossein Eslambolchi
  165. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hossein Eslambolchi
  166. ^ US Patents of Wilhelm Brandes
  167. ^ Worldwide Patents of Wilhelm Brandes
  168. ^ US Patents of Cary L. Bates
  169. ^ Worldwide Patents of Cary L. Bates
  170. ^ Bio of Cary L. Bates
  171. ^ US Patents of Stanford R. Ovshinsky
  172. ^ Worldwide Patents of Stanford R. Ovshinsky
  173. ^ US Patents of Stanford Ovshinsky
  174. ^ US Patents of John L. Melanson
  175. ^ Worldwide Patents of John L. Melanson
  176. ^ US Patents of Josef Theurer
  177. ^ Worldwide Patents of Josef Theurer
  178. ^ US Patents of Vincent J. Zimmer
  179. ^ Worldwide Patents of Vincent J. Zimmer
  180. ^ US Patents of David V. Horak
  181. ^ Worldwide Patents of David V. Horak
  182. ^ US Patents of Brian M. O'Connell
  183. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brian M. O'Connell
  184. ^ US Patents of Xuemin (Sherman) Chen
  185. ^ Worldwide Patents of Xuemin (Sherman) Chen
  186. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen a
  187. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen b
  188. ^ US Patents of Xuemin Chen c
  189. ^ US Patents of George P. Liang
  190. ^ Worldwide Patents of George P. Liang
  191. ^ US Patents of Hans-Joachim Santel
  192. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hans-Joachim Santel
  193. ^ US Patents of Gisela Lorenz
  194. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gisela Lorenz
  195. ^ US Patents of Wael W. Diab
  196. ^ Worldwide Patents of Wael W. Diab
  197. ^ US Patents of Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  198. ^ Worldwide Patents of Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  199. ^ US Patents of Paul W. Dent
  200. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul W. Dent
  201. ^ US Patents of Garry R. Jackson
  202. ^ Worldwide Patents of Garry R. Jackson
  203. ^ George Westinghouse article at ideafinder.com
  204. ^ Hubert, P. G. (1894). Men of achievement. Inventors. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Page 296+
  205. ^ George Westinghouse article in Encyclopædia Britannica
  206. ^ US Patents of Brent A. Anderson
  207. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brent A. Anderson
  208. ^ US Patents of Robert R. Schmidt
  209. ^ Worldwide Patents of Robert R. Schmidt
  210. ^ US Patents of Mark W. Kroll
  211. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mark W. Kroll
  212. ^ Bio of Mark Kroll
  213. ^ US Patents of Norman M. Berry
  214. ^ Worldwide Patents of Norman M. Berry
  215. ^ US Patents of Jeffrey E. Stahmann
  216. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeffrey E. Stahmann
  217. ^ US Patents of William Daniel Hillis
  218. ^ Worldwide Patents of William Daniel Hillis
  219. ^ US Patents of Carl J. Radens
  220. ^ Worldwide Patents of Carl J. Radens
  221. ^ US Patents of Ajith K. Kumar
  222. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ajith K. Kumar
  223. ^ US Patents of Steven L. Teig
  224. ^ Worldwide Patents of Steven L. Teig
  225. ^ US Patents of Liang Liu
  226. ^ Worldwide Patents of Liang Liu
  227. ^ US Patents of Victoria Smith
  228. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victoria Smith
  229. ^ US Patents of Keith R. Walker
  230. ^ Worldwide Patents of Keith R. Walker
  231. ^ US Patents of Hanson S. Gifford III
  232. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hanson S. Gifford III
  233. ^ Robert G. LeTourneau: Dean of Earthmoving
  234. ^ Texas Co-op Power: He Was a Mover and a Shaker
  235. ^ US Patents of Kulvir S. Bhogal
  236. ^ Worldwide Patents of Kulvir S. Bhogal
  237. ^ US Patents of Daniel J. Winarski
  238. ^ Worldwide Patents of Daniel J. Winarski
  239. ^ US Patents of Victor S. Moore
  240. ^ Worldwide Patents of Victor S. Moore
  241. ^ US Patents of Ruilong Xie
  242. ^ Worldwide Patents of Ruilong Xie
  243. ^ US Patents of William R. Tonti
  244. ^ Worldwide Patents of William R. Tonti
  245. ^ US Patents of Lawrence A. Clevenger
  246. ^ Worldwide Patents of Lawrence A. Clevenger
  247. ^ US Patents of Bengt Lindoff
  248. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bengt Lindoff
  249. ^ US Patents of Dean L. Kamen
  250. ^ Worldwide Patents of Dean L. Kamen
  251. ^ US Patents of Adam Heller
  252. ^ Worldwide Patents of Adam Heller
  253. ^ The 12 US Patents of Adam Heller prior to 1976
  254. ^ US Patents of Brent Keeth
  255. ^ Worldwide Patents of Brent Keeth
  256. ^ US Patents of Jeffrey W. Sleight
  257. ^ Worldwide Patents of Jeffrey W. Sleight
  258. ^ US Patents of Pouya Hashemi
  259. ^ Worldwide Patents of Pouya Hashemi
  260. ^ US Patents of Hartley Owen
  261. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hartley Owen
  262. ^ US Patents of Michael A. Rothman
  263. ^ Worldwide Patents of Michael A. Rothman
  264. ^ US Patents of Yoshihiro Kikuchi
  265. ^ Worldwide Patents of Yoshihiro Kikuchi
  266. ^ US Patents of Esmael H. Dinan
  267. ^ Worldwide Patents of Esmael H. Dinan
  268. ^ US Patents of Harry (Tom) Graef
  269. ^ Worldwide Patents of Harry (Tom) Graef
  270. ^ US Patents of Nobuyuki Taniguchi
  271. ^ Worldwide Patents of Nobuyuki Taniguchi
  272. ^ US Patents of Takeshi Chujoh
  273. ^ Worldwide Patents of Takeshi Chujoh
  274. ^ US Patents of Bran Ferren
  275. ^ Worldwide Patents of Bran Ferren
  276. ^ US Patents of Rajiv V. Joshi
  277. ^ Worldwide Patents of Rajiv V. Joshi
  278. ^ US Patents of Johnny M. Shieh
  279. ^ Worldwide Patents of Johnny M. Shieh
  280. ^ US Patents of Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  281. ^ Worldwide Patents of Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  282. ^ US Patents of Philip S. Yu
  283. ^ Worldwide Patents of Philip S. Yu
  284. ^ US Patents of Thomas J. Kennedy III
  285. ^ Worldwide Patents of Thomas J. Kennedy III
  286. ^ US Patents of Dorin Comaniciu
  287. ^ Worldwide Patents of Dorin Comaniciu
  288. ^ US Patents of Gerald F. McBrearty
  289. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gerald F. McBrearty
  290. ^ US Patents of Louis B. Rosenberg
  291. ^ Worldwide Patents of Louis B. Rosenberg
  292. ^ US Patents of Paul Ian Mackey
  293. ^ Worldwide Patents of Paul Ian Mackey
  294. ^ US Patents of Imad Libbus
  295. ^ Worldwide Patents of Imad Libbus
  296. ^ US Patents of Assaf Natanzon
  297. ^ Worldwide Patents of Assaf Natanzon
  298. ^ US Patents of Gregory McAvoy
  299. ^ Worldwide Patents of Gregory McAvoy
  300. ^ US Patents of Zvi Or-Bach
  301. ^ Worldwide Patents of Zvi Or-Bach
  302. ^ US Patents of Sebastian T. Ventrone
  303. ^ Worldwide Patents of Sebastian T. Ventrone
  304. ^ US Patents of Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka
  305. ^ Worldwide Patents of Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka
  306. ^ US Patents of Patrick B. Usoro
  307. ^ Worldwide Patents of Patrick B. Usoro
  308. ^ US Patents of Mukta G. Farooq
  309. ^ Worldwide Patents of Mukta G. Farooq
  310. ^ US Patents of Seung H. Kang
  311. ^ Worldwide Patents of Seung H. Kang
  312. ^ Prolific Inventors: Who are They and Where do They Locate? International Centre for Economic Research Working Paper No. 14/2010
  313. ^ List of Nikola Tesla patents
  314. ^ Jim Bieberich's Complete Nikola Tesla U.S. Patent Collection
  315. ^ a b The Patent Board website
  316. ^ 1790 Analytics website
  317. ^ USPTO Utility Patent Search for Rick Allen Hamilton II for 2012
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