Innovation Atlas

Explore the sources of over 8 million patents granted in the United States

Patents per county
Every US patent, by county — patents attributed to inventors living there. Hover or click a county.

Decade

Technology

Find a firm

16,984 firms · every name they patent under

Documents

Per year
240k481k19801990200020102020Applications filed…and later grantedApplications publishedPatents granted

Every US application is dated by its own event. Filed is every application the record can see; filed & granted is the part that went on to issue. They coincide until 2001, when the US began publishing pending applications — before that an application that never granted left no public trace, so the two lines are the same measurement. Applications are complete through 2022, since one publishes about 18 months after filing; grants only through 2020, because a patent takes about 5 years to issue.

Inventors

Per year
340k681k19801990200020102020Inventors filingNew to the record

People named on that year's filings, and those appearing in the record for the first time. Complete through 2022: an application is published about 18 months after filing, so the last year or two is still arriving.
ClassField PrimaryNumber of patents where this class is listed first in sequence AnyNumber of patents that list this class at all FractionalWeighted count: each patent split evenly across the classes it carries
H04Electric communication technique920,7921,236,710932,597.4
G06Computing or calculating; counting926,1111,274,658927,920.3
A61Medical or veterinary science; hygiene639,404902,954665,292.8
H01Electric elements540,636780,663537,335.1
G01Measuring; testing447,243663,267439,260.0
C07Organic chemistry298,087419,320241,275.3
H10Semiconductor devices; electric solid-state devices not otherwise prov…242,325363,004238,469.6
B60Vehicles in general238,010340,676227,208.4
F16Engineering elements and units; general measures for producing and mai…193,161303,209200,044.0
G02Optics197,681296,297191,695.2
G11Information storage183,738250,024182,880.0
H02Generation; conversion or distribution of electric power158,324244,317162,201.9
G03Photography; cinematography; analogous techniques using waves other th…159,928220,821159,028.6
C08Organic macromolecular compounds; their preparation or chemical workin…140,614233,139148,352.5
B65Conveying; packing; storing; handling thin or filamentary material148,114208,496147,694.0
H03Electronic circuitry138,903201,949142,901.7
B01Physical or chemical processes or apparatus in general122,317223,065120,656.9
A01Agriculture; forestry; animal husbandry; hunting; trapping; fishing117,226161,826115,993.7
H05Electric techniques not otherwise provided for101,442198,338109,223.4
C12Biochemistry; beer; spirits; wine; vinegar; microbiology; enzymology…109,635182,326106,146.0
A47Furniture; domestic articles or appliances; coffee mills; spice mills…103,803139,14599,911.3
A63Sports; games; amusements100,433123,78695,748.0
F02Combustion engines; hot-gas or combustion-product engine plants92,436133,33292,380.2
G09Education; cryptography; display; advertising; seals84,478141,95186,129.5
B41Printing; lining machines; typewriters; stamps86,431109,56483,850.0
C09Dyes; paints; polishes; natural resins; adhesives; compositions not ot…77,719154,29976,322.5
B29Working of plastics; working of substances in a plastic state in gener…72,811135,90374,896.3
B23Machine tools; metal-working not otherwise provided for68,257110,35068,780.0
G05Controlling; regulating63,625134,17967,578.4
E21Earth or rock drilling; mining67,98189,79765,987.6
B62Land vehicles for travelling otherwise than on rails62,39792,73362,327.7
F01Machines or engines in general; engine plants in general; steam engine…64,399104,43961,579.7
E04Building52,45574,16052,072.1
G10Musical instruments; acoustics50,57280,46950,889.4
G07Checking-devices47,49288,85148,564.7
B25Hand tools; portable power-driven tools; manipulators45,53672,49345,690.2
F04Positive - displacement machines for liquids; pumps for liquids or ela…45,29970,10944,657.4
G08Signalling41,59487,35640,596.0
B64Aircraft; aviation; cosmonautics39,33562,83139,247.5
C23Coating metallic material; coating material with metallic material; ch…36,59678,36338,735.6
F21Lighting37,85457,15637,392.6
C10Petroleum, gas or coke industries; technical gases containing carbon m…36,18455,58935,745.2
E05Locks; keys; window or door fittings; safes33,46446,70034,184.6
A23Foods or foodstuffs; treatment thereof, not covered by other classes29,57056,53634,068.0
F24Heating; ranges; ventilating32,28556,29933,082.0
B05Spraying or atomising in general; applying fluent materials to surface…30,94156,66031,060.0
F41Weapons30,48738,04429,957.1
C01Inorganic chemistry26,06762,32029,440.1
B32Layered products33,68170,76428,283.5
F25Refrigeration or cooling; combined heating and refrigeration systems…27,38044,52527,690.1
B63Ships or other waterborne vessels; related equipment27,06836,96527,046.3
G16Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for s…19,08961,87226,793.7
B21Mechanical metal-working without essentially removing material; punchi…25,75040,09726,090.6
A45Hand or travelling articles23,70135,86523,466.4
C22Metallurgy; ferrous or non-ferrous alloys; treatment of alloys or non-…22,08144,26923,178.5
D06Treatment of textiles or the like; laundering; flexible materials not…22,24136,24722,804.3
C04Cements; concrete; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories23,67945,43022,403.0
E02Hydraulic engineering; foundations; soil shifting23,35934,00722,091.3
F23Combustion apparatus; combustion processes20,45530,98121,407.0
C03Glass; mineral or slag wool21,14435,27421,314.8
B66Hoisting; lifting; hauling21,36130,60421,239.6
B24Grinding; polishing21,26830,02420,673.6
C02Treatment of water, waste water, sewage, or sludge21,74338,07220,622.0
B22Casting; powder metallurgy19,41438,11820,361.5
C11Animal or vegetable oils, fats, fatty substances or waxes; fatty acids…19,72532,64718,559.8
B82Nanotechnology1,39150,33417,981.4
F28Heat exchange in general17,23931,31317,873.0
C25Electrolytic or electrophoretic processes; apparatus therefor16,80728,30917,083.2
D21Paper-making; production of cellulose17,13926,14016,802.7
E01Construction of roads, railways, or bridges16,55324,39416,380.5
E06Doors, windows, shutters, or roller blinds in general; ladders16,37423,92316,237.6
B26Hand cutting tools; cutting; severing15,25023,27015,483.6
G21Nuclear physics; nuclear engineering15,02723,28615,342.5
A41Wearing apparel15,19622,76514,944.8
F03Machines or engines for liquids; wind, spring, or weight motors; produ…15,11723,50514,836.7
A43Footwear13,97017,92013,569.5
E03Water supply; sewerage13,32219,31412,875.0
F42Ammunition; blasting12,35417,24912,725.8
D01Natural or man-made threads or fibres; spinning11,86019,42811,885.1
B61Railways10,76816,04610,713.6
G04Horology10,17115,47510,638.4
A62Life-saving; fire-fighting11,38017,12110,277.8
F15Fluid-pressure actuators; hydraulics or pneumatics in general9,97018,34710,257.4
A24Tobacco; cigars; cigarettes; simulated smoking devices; smokers' requi…10,86315,00110,229.0
B67Opening, closing ; or cleaning; bottles, jars or similar containers; l…11,15516,19010,121.1
C21Metallurgy of iron10,12219,5609,961.1
D04Braiding; lace-making; knitting; trimmings; non-woven fabrics9,01418,2919,920.9
B42Bookbinding; albums; files; special printed matter9,82215,2959,534.3
B08Cleaning8,13620,9019,508.7
C30Crystal growth8,83317,0539,279.5
B27Working or preserving wood or similar material; nailing or stapling ma…8,52814,6068,995.7
A44Haberdashery; jewellery9,26512,8348,867.3
B81Microstructural technology7,11214,3477,533.0
D05Sewing; embroidering; tufting7,0938,3647,096.0
B02Crushing, pulverising, or disintegrating; preparatory treatment of gra…6,7609,6886,624.7
B28Working cement, clay, or stone6,05413,5246,426.3
B03Separation of solid materials using liquids or using pneumatic tables…6,11611,3286,375.1
F27Furnaces; kilns; ovens; retorts5,79811,2906,322.3
B07Separating solids from solids; sorting6,50910,6316,212.6
A46Brushware5,8529,7616,019.2
B44Decorative arts5,04111,7115,773.2
F17Storing or distributing gases or liquids5,52110,6755,718.9
B33Additive manufacturing technology16417,8055,658.3
A22Butchering; meat treatment; processing poultry or fish5,6597,0535,408.9
B43Writing or drawing implements; bureau accessories5,4277,4695,353.3
F26Drying5,0689,2335,260.6
B30Presses5,0019,3415,220.4
A21Baking; edible doughs5,2738,6815,110.5
D03Weaving4,7607,6795,038.9
A42Headwear5,5097,6295,038.1
B31Making articles of paper, cardboard or material worked in a manner ana…4,1358,6264,712.9
C05Fertilisers; manufacture thereof3,5516,2003,775.7
B04Centrifugal apparatus or machines for carrying-out physical or chemica…3,5636,4883,774.2
B06Generating or transmitting mechanical vibrations in general3,0347,3473,369.6
D02Yarns; mechanical finishing of yarns or ropes; warping or beaming3,3115,6803,209.8
C06Explosives; matches2,9454,5183,137.9
F22Steam generation2,6266,0683,063.3
B09Disposal of solid waste; reclamation of contaminated soil2,4786,1432,701.2
D07Ropes; cables other than electric1,1022,2841,148.5
B68Saddlery; upholstery9531,5691,048.8
C13Sugar industry1,0912,1421,034.8
C40Combinatorial technology1,0842,908911.8
C14Skins; hides; pelts; leather7331,260739.3
G12Instrument details203606258.3

8,432,483 classified patents — how you measure matters. Primary and Fractional each sum back to that total; Any does not, by design.

Tagging schemes

Y section · cross-cutting labels laid over the classes above
ClassField Patents tagged
Y10Technical subjects covered by former uspc905,225
Y02Technologies or applications for mitigation or adaptation against clim…614,521
Y04Information or communication technologies having an impact on other te…17,914

Y codes tag patents already classified above: Y02 marks climate-mitigation technology wherever it occurs, Y10 is the legacy USPC concordance. They carry their own count and stay out of the columns that must add up.