Patenting Trends, Calendar Year 1996 In calendar year 1996, the number of patent documents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reached a record total of 121,806, including 109,646 utility, 11,410 design, 362 plant, and 279 reissue patents and 109 statutory invention registrations. Grants for all patent documents increased by seven percent over the total for calendar year 1995 (113,955). Total utility patent grants (patents for invention) increased by eight percent over the total for 1995 (101,419). During 1996, the share of all patent documents which were issued to U.S.-resident inventors increased to 57.0 percent from 56.6 percent for 1995. Foreign-resident inventors claimed a 43.0 percent share in 1996. The share of all U.S. patent documents claimed by Japan-resident inventors was 19.8 percent, down from the 20.1 percent share in 1995. The share of all U.S. patent documents claimed by Germany- resident inventors also declined, to 5.8 percent for 1996 as compared to a 6.0 percent share in 1995. There were 17,415 patent documents granted to U.S. independent inventors during 1996, an increase of nearly four percent over the 1995 count of U.S. independent inventor patents (16,813). The U.S. independent inventor share of all patent documents granted in 1996 declined slightly to 14.3 percent from the 14.5 percent share in 1995. The ten foreign countries which received the most patent documents during calendar year 1996 are displayed below. South Korea moved ahead of Italy from eighth position to seventh position. No other changes in rankings occurred among the top ten patenting countries. In general, only slight changes in ranking and percentage share will occur from one year to the next. South Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Canada, and the United States increased their patent receipts at a greater than average rate of growth. South Korea and Taiwan continue their exceptional rates of growth in annual patent receipts. (1995 to 1996) 1996 1996 # 1996 Share of (1995 # ) (Change in ) Rank Patents All Patents Country (Patents) (# of Patents) ---- ------- ------------- -------------------- -------- -------------- 1 24,058 19.8% Japan (22,871) ( + 5.2% ) 2 7,124 5.8% Germany (6,875) ( + 3.6% ) 3 3,016 2.5% France (3,011) ( + 0.2% ) 4 2,674 2.2% United Kingdom (2,677) ( - 0.1% ) 5 2,639 2.2% Canada (2,447) ( + 7.8% ) 6 2,419 2.0% Taiwan (2,087) ( +15.9% ) 7 1,567 1.3% South Korea (1,240) ( +26.4% ) 8 1,384 1.1% Italy (1,242) ( +11.4% ) 9 1,191 1.0% Switzerland (1,185) ( + 0.5% ) 10 971 0.8% Sweden (914) ( + 6.2% ) 69,424 57.0% United States (64,510) ( + 7.6% ) 121,806 100.0% All Countries (113,955) ( + 6.9% ) _______________________________________________________________________________________ SOURCE: U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Technology Assessment and Forecast data base (1-27-97) ------------------ Questions regarding this report should be directed to: (address as of 2/97) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Office of Electronic Information Products Technology Assessment and Forecast Program PK3-Suite 441 Washington, DC 20231 tel (703) 306-2600 FAX (703) 306-2737