The IFI CLAIMS Patent Services rankings show Apple at No.9 in the Top 50 US Patent Assignees in 2018. Apple registered a slight 3% loss in total patents counted versus 2017 while the tech company with biggest drop in the top 20 list was Google, dropping 16%.
Apple was last year granted more than 2,000 patents, putting in around 10th place in a ranking of US companies.
Two different organizations came up with slightly different numbers and rankings.
The Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) association said that the number of patents granted to Apple in 2018 by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was 2,147, ranking it #11.
IFI, a company that specializes in providing patent data to industry, came up with slightly different results. It says Apple was granted 2,160 patents, ranking it #9.
MacDailyNews Note: Because some patents are registered under subsidiaries, it’s sometimes difficult to match patents with parent companies, which is why the two patent counting associations have some slight discrepancies in patent totals/holders.
