Patenting Trends, Calendar Year 1997 In calendar year 1997, the number of patent documents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reached a record total of 124,147, including 111,984 utility, 11,414 design, 394 plant, and 277 reissue patents and 78 statutory invention registrations. Grants for all patent documents increased by two percent over the total for calendar year 1996 (121,806) and grants for utility patents (patents for invention) increased by two percent over the total for 1996 (109,646). During 1997, the share of all patent documents which were issued to U.S.-resident inventors decreased to 56.3 percent from 57.0 percent for 1996. California resident inventors claimed a 10.4 percent share of all patent documents (12,915 patents), followed by New York (4.4 percent, 5,421 patents), Texas (3.6 percent, 4,448 patents), Illinois (2.9 percent, 3,539 patents), and New Jersey (2.8 percent, 3,463 patents). There were 16,285 patent documents granted to U.S. independent inventors during 1997, a decrease of six percent from the 1996 count of U.S. independent inventor patents (17,415). The U.S. independent inventor share of all patent documents granted in 1997 declined to 13.1 percent from the 14.3 percent share in 1996. Foreign-resident inventors claimed a 43.7 percent share of all U.S. patent documents issued in 1997. The share of all U.S. patent documents issued to Japan-resident inventors in calendar year 1997 was 19.5 percent, down from the 19.8 percent share in 1996 and the 20.1 percent share in 1995. The share of all U.S. patent documents issued to Germany-resident inventors increased slightly to 5.9 percent for 1997 as compared to 5.8 percent for 1996. In 1997, South Korea increased its annual patent receipts by 25 percent over its receipts for 1996, the only country to display double digit annual growth. The United Kingdom, Taiwan, Canada, France, Italy and Germany also displayed greater than average annual growth for 1997. The ten foreign countries which received the most patent documents during calendar year 1997 are displayed below. (1996 to 1997) 1997 1997 # 1997 Share of (1996 # ) (Change in ) Rank Patents All Patents Country (Patents) (# of Patents) ---- ------- ------------- -------------------- -------- -------------- 1 24,190 19.5% Japan (24,058) ( + 0.5% ) 2 7,292 5.9% Germany (7,124) ( + 2.4% ) 3 3,202 2.6% France (3,016) ( + 6.2% ) 4 2,904 2.3% United Kingdom (2,674) ( + 8.6% ) 5 2,816 2.3% Canada (2,639) ( + 6.7% ) 6 2,597 2.1% Taiwan (2,419) ( + 7.4% ) 7 1,965 1.6% South Korea (1,567) ( +25.4% ) 8 1,417 1.1% Italy (1,384) ( + 2.4% ) 9 1,179 0.9% Switzerland (1,191) ( - 1.0% ) 10 970 0.8% Sweden (971) ( + 0.1% ) 69,925 56.3% United States (69,424) ( + 0.7% ) 124,147 100.0% All Countries (121,806) ( + 1.9% ) _______________________________________________________________________________________ SOURCE: U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Technology Assessment and Forecast data base (1-30-98) ------------------ 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