List of prolific inventors

Thomas Alva Edison was widely known as America's most prolific inventor, even after his death in 1931.^{[Info 1]} He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents).^{[Info 2]} In 2003, his patent count was exceeded by Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki. On February 26, 2008, Yamazaki's patent count was exceeded by Australian inventor Kia Silverbrook.^{[Info 3]} In 2017, Silverbrook's patent count was exceeded by Yamazaki.

Worldwide utility patents[]

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		Patents	Residence	Patent Years	Years	Patents / Year	Majority assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki	[1]	5902	Japan	1972-2021	50	118	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook	[2]	4747	Australia	1994-2018	25	190	Silverbrook Research
Kangguo Cheng	[3]	2493	USA	2004-2021	18	138	IBM
Lowell L. Wood, Jr.	[4]	1970	USA	1977-2021	45	44	Intellectual Ventures
Roderick A. Hyde	[5]	1877	USA	2001-2021	21	89	Intellectual Ventures
Jun Koyama	[6]	1436	Japan	1991-2021	31	46	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Gurtej Sandhu	[7]	1378	USA	1991-2021	31	44	Micron
Paul Lapstun	[8]	1298	Australia	2000-2021	22	59	Silverbrook Research
Clarence T. Tegreene	[9]	1233	USA	2000-2021	22	56	Intellectual Ventures
Shou-Shan Fan	[10]	1198	China	2006-2021	16	75	Hon Hai
Leonard Forbes	[11]	1108	USA	1991-2019	29	38	Micron
Edward K. Y. Jung	[12]	1102	USA	1996-2021	26	42	Intellectual Ventures
Thomas Edison	[13]	1084	USA	1869-1931	63	17	Thomas Edison
Alexander Reznicek	[14]	1055	USA	2006-2021	16	66	IBM
Rick Allen Hamilton II	[15]	1038	USA	1999-2021	23	45	IBM
Donald E. Weder	[16]	1000	USA	1978-2017	40	25	Weder Family Trust
George Albert Lyon	[17]	993	Canada	1901-1965	65	15	Lyon George Albert
Jordin T. Kare	[18]	978	USA	1992-2020	29	34	Intellectual Ventures
Michael J. Sullivan	[19]	973	USA	1989-2021	33	29	Acushnet Holdings
Jay S. Walker	[20]	969	USA	1998-2020	23	42	Walker Digital
John F. O'Connor	[21]	949	USA	1901-1935	35	27	William H. Miner
Melvin De Groote	[22]	925	USA	1924-1966	43	22	Petrolite
Nathan Myhrvold	[23]	896	USA	1994-2020	27	33	Intellectual Ventures
Francis H. Richards	[24]	894	USA	1899-1930	32	28	Francis H. Richards
Ahmadreza Rofougaran	[25]	889	USA	2002-2021	20	44	Broadcom
Mark Malamud	[26]	881	USA	1997-2021	25	35	Intellectual Ventures
Robert W. Lord	[27]	860	USA	2003-2021	19	45	Intellectual Ventures
Jason K. Resch	[28]	852	USA	2009-2021	13	66	IBM
Royce A. Levien	[29]	851	USA	1997-2021	25	34	Intellectual Ventures
William H. Eby	[30]	836	USA	1994-2020	27	31	Monsanto
Muriel Y. Ishikawa	[31]	833	USA	2002-2020	19	44	Intellectual Ventures
Michael K. Gschwind	[32]	817	USA	2001-2021	21	39	IBM
Clifford A. Pickover	[33]	786	USA	1992-2021	30	26	IBM
Warren Farnworth	[34]	774	USA	1990-2020	31	25	Micron
Salman Akram	[35]	772	USA	1995-2021	27	29	Micron
Sarbajit K. Rakshit	[36]	765	India	2013-2021	9	85	IBM
Ruilong Xie	[37]	760	USA	2013-2021	9	84	IBM
Jeyhan Karaoguz	[38]	755	USA	1996-2021	26	29	Broadcom
Carleton Ellis	[39]	753	USA	1902-1946	45	17	Ellis Foster Co
Ali Khakifirooz	[40]	742	USA	2011-2021	11	67	IBM
Devendra K. Sadana	[41]	737	USA	1983-2021	39	19	IBM
Chih-Chao Yang	[42]	733	USA	2003-2021	19	39	IBM
Hideo Ando	[43]	729	Japan	1983-2017	35	21	Toshiba
John M. Santosuosso	[44]	725	USA	2001-2021	21	35	IBM
George Spector	[45]	722	USA	1975-1998	24	30	George Spector
Bruce B. Doris	[46]	719	USA	1995-2021	27	27	IBM
Austin L. Gurney	[47]	717	USA	1999-2021	23	31	Genentech
Tetsujiro Kondo	[48]	700	Japan	1987-2021	35	20	Sony
Elihu Thomson	[49]	696	USA	1899-1935	37	19	GE
Esmael H. Dinan	[50]	691	USA	2006-2021	16	43	Ofinno
Eric C. Leuthardt	[51]	662	USA	2006-2021	16	41	Intellectual Ventures
William I. Wood	[52]	653	USA	1981-2016	36	18	Genentech
Gregory J. Boss	[53]	652	USA	2008-2021	14	47	IBM
Simon R. Walmsley	[54]	651	Australia	1995-2015	21	31	Silverbrook Research
Irwin Gerszberg	[55]	646	USA	1994-2021	28	23	AT&T
Edward J. Nowak	[56]	635	USA	1979-2021	43	15	IBM
Audrey D. Goddard	[57]	626	USA	1997-2021	25	25	Genentech
Paul S. Henry	[58]	626	USA	1978-2021	44	14	AT&T
Kie Y. Ahn	[59]	614	USA	1976-2018	43	14	Micron
Lisa Seacat DeLuca	[60]	613	USA	2009-2021	13	47	IBM
Jerome H. Lemelson	[61]	606	USA	1953-2009	57	11	Jerome Lemelson
Jean-Philippe Vasseur	[62]	598	France	2006-2021	16	37	Cisco Systems
Tadahiro Ohmi	[63]	597	Japan	1981-2018	38	16	Tadahiro Ohmi
Béla Barényi	[64]	595	Austria	1939-1979	41	15	Daimler
Paul J. Godowski	[65]	579	USA	1994-2014	21	28	Genentech
Jeffrey P. Gambino	[66]	575	USA	1992-2021	30	19	IBM
Artur Fischer	[67]	570	Germany	1951-2006	56	10	Artur Fischer
Anthony K. Stamper	[68]	568	USA	1998-2021	24	24	IBM
Victoria Y. H. Wood	[69]	565	USA	2009-2021	13	43	Intellectual Ventures
Kai-Li Jiang	[70]	561	China	2006-2021	16	35	Hon Hai
Ronald S. Cok	[71]	561	USA	1986-2021	36	16	Kodak
Robert S. Langer	[72]	557	USA	1983-2021	39	14	MIT
Stuart C. Salter	[73]	554	USA	2009-2021	13	43	Ford
Louis L. Hsu	[74]	551	Taiwan	1988-2016	29	19	IBM
Frederick A. Ware	[75]	539	USA	1981-2021	41	13	Rambus
Belgacem Haba	[76]	538	USA	1991-2021	31	17	Tessera
Farhad Barzegar	[77]	537	USA	1988-2021	34	16	AT&T
Edwin H. Land	[78]	535	USA	1933-1990	58	9	Polaroid
Pouya Hashemi	[79]	526	USA	2013-2021	9	58	IBM
Lawrence A. Clevenger	[80]	525	USA	1996-2021	26	20	IBM
Henri Dreyfus	[81]	524	Switzerland	1916-1945	30	17	Henri Dreyfus
Tenko Yamashita	[82]	516	USA	2005-2021	17	30	IBM
Clyde C. Farmer	[83]	513	USA	1905-1960	56	9	Westinghouse Air Brake
Heinz Focke	[84]	512	Germany	1965-2013	49	10	Focke & Co.
Mark I. Gardner	[85]	511	USA	1994-2010	17	30	AMD
Thomas M. Willis III	[86]	511	USA	2006-2021	16	32	AT&T
Ravi K. Arimilli	[87]	508	USA	1992-2019	28	18	IBM
Muhammad A. Kazmi	[88]	505	Sweden	2010-2021	12	42	Ericsson
Louis H. Morin	[89]	503	USA	1924-1969	46	11	Louis H. Morin
Tobin A. King	[90]	501	Australia	2000-2018	19	26	Silverbrook Research
Stephen E. Terry	[91]	498	USA	2003-2021	19	26	InterDigital
Valentina Salapura	[92]	495	USA	2004-2021	18	28	IBM
Brian M. O'Connell	[93]	490	USA	2009-2021	13	38	IBM
James M. Hart	[94]	488	USA	1988-2021	34	14	General Motors
Robert S. Chau	[95]	486	USA	1993-2021	29	17	Intel
John L. Melanson	[96]	483	USA	1978-2021	44	11	Cirrus Logic
Jack A. Mandelman	[97]	481	USA	1987-2014	28	17	IBM
Brent A. Anderson	[98]	464	USA	2001-2021	21	22	IBM
Vincent J. Zimmer	[99]	456	USA	1999-2021	23	20	Intel
Eberhard Ammermann	[100]	451	Germany	1979-2015	37	12	BASF
Robert Bennett	[101]	450	USA	2002-2021	20	22	AT&T
Thomas E. Murray	[102]	449	USA	1891-1940	50	9	Thomas E. Murray
Jack T. Kavalieros	[103]	446	USA	2000-2021	22	20	Intel
Michael (S.) Tsirkin	[104]	446	USA	2012-2021	10	45	Red Hat
Donald J. Barnickel	[105]	445	USA	2000-2021	22	20	AT&T
Hongyong Zhang	[106]	440	Japan	1993-2016	24	18	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Scott H. Wittkopp	[107]	437	USA	2001-2020	20	22	General Motors
Assaf Natanzon	[108]	436	Israel	2007-2021	15	29	EMC
Xuemin (Sherman) Chen	[109]	432	USA	1997-2021	25	17	Broadcom
Gary W. Grube	[110]	426	USA	1991-2021	31	14	IBM
Bengt Lindoff	[111]	418	Sweden	2000-2021	22	19	Ericsson
John Hays Hammond, Jr.	[112]	417	USA	1912-1967	56	7	John Hays Hammond, Jr.
Hossein Eslambolchi	[113]	417	USA	1993-2021	29	14	AT&T
Cary L. Bates	[114]	414	USA	1994-2020	27	15	IBM
James E. Bostick	[115]	414	USA	1993-2021	29	14	IBM
Wilhelm Brandes	[116]	411	Germany	1976-2010	35	12	Bayer
Paul Marinier	[117]	408	USA	2004-2021	18	23	InterDigital
Qinghua Li	[118]	405	USA	2006-2021	16	25	Intel
Timothy J. Slegel	[119]	403	USA	1993-2021	29	14	IBM
Stanford R. Ovshinsky	[120]	400	USA	1952-2012	61	7	Energy Conversion Devices
Greg R. Dhuse	[121]	399	USA	2011-2021	11	36	IBM
Jeffrey E. Stahmann	[122]	397	USA	1994-2021	28	14	Cardiac Pacemakers
Dean L. Kamen	[123]	395	USA	1979-2021	43	9	DEKA
John M. Ganci	[124]	395	USA	2009-2021	13	30	IBM
Akira Nakazawa	[125]	393	Australia	1980-2016	37	11	Silverbrook Research
Paul W. Dent	[126]	391	USA	1984-2021	38	10	Ericsson
Josef Theurer	[127]	388	Austria	1958-2016	59	7	Plasser & Theurer
David V. Horak	[128]	388	USA	1992-2020	29	13	IBM
Wael W. Diab	[129]	386	USA	2003-2021	19	20	Broadcom
Philip D. Nguyen	[130]	382	USA	1992-2021	30	13	Halliburton
Hans-Joachim Santel	[131]	377	Germany	1986-2013	28	13	Bayer
Elizabeth A. Sweeney	[132]	376	USA	2010-2020	11	34	Intellectual Ventures
Gisela Lorenz	[133]	374	Germany	1990-2015	26	14	BASF
Norman M. Berry	[134]	374	Australia	2006-2021	16	23	Silverbrook Research
William Daniel Hillis	[135]	374	USA	1986-2021	36	10	Intellectual Ventures
Wesley B. Legette	[136]	373	USA	2011-2021	11	34	IBM
George P. Liang	[137]	371	USA	1983-2017	35	11	Florida Turbine Technologies
Paul K. Dellock	[138]	371	USA	2002-2021	20	19	Ford
Carl J. Radens	[139]	370	USA	1994-2021	28	13	IBM
Bor Z. Jang	[140]	370	USA	1996-2021	26	14	Nanotek Instruments
Andrew J. Ouderkirk	[141]	369	USA	1989-2021	33	11	3M
Patrick J. O'Sullivan	[142]	368	Ireland	2008-2021	14	26	IBM
Garry R. Jackson	[143]	367	Australia	2001-2016	16	23	Silverbrook Research
Hanson S. Gifford III	[144]	366	USA	1986-2021	36	10	Medtronic
Andrew D. Baptist	[145]	364	USA	2012-2021	10	36	IBM
George Westinghouse	[146]	361	USA	1873-1918	46	8	George Westinghouse
Keith R. Walker	[147]	358	USA	2003-2021	19	19	IBM
Mark W. Kroll	[148]	356	USA	1987-2020	34	10	Pacesetter
Ajith K. Kumar	[149]	354	USA	1984-2021	38	9	GE
Steven L. Teig	[150]	352	USA	1995-2021	27	13	Cadence Design Systems
Robert R. Schmidt	[151]	350	Germany	1971-2005	35	10	Bayer
Siddharth S. Oroskar	[152]	349	USA	2010-2021	12	29	Sprint
Daniel J. Winarski	[153]	349	USA	1982-2021	40	9	IBM
Kulvir S. Bhogal	[154]	347	USA	2003-2021	19	18	IBM
Chung-Lung (Kevin) Shum	[155]	347	USA	2001-2021	21	17	IBM
Paul R. Bastide	[156]	347	USA	2013-2021	9	39	IBM
Stefan Parkvall	[157]	345	Sweden	2003-2021	19	18	Ericsson
Robert Baldemair	[158]	344	Sweden	2007-2021	15	23	Ericsson
Aruna Zhamu	[159]	339	USA	2009-2021	13	26	Nanotek Instruments
Christopher B. Locke	[160]	334	UK	2010-2021	12	28	KCI
Jasinder P. Singh	[161]	333	USA	2010-2021	12	28	Sprint
Jennifer L. Hillman	[162]	332	USA	1997-2014	18	18	Incyte
Carlos Cordeiro	[163]	329	USA	2010-2021	12	27	Intel
Christian P. Jacobi	[164]	328	USA	1999-2021	23	14	IBM
Cyprian E. Uzoh	[165]	328	USA	1998-2021	24	14	Invensas
Brian S. Doyle	[166]	327	USA	1998-2021	24	14	Intel
Liang Liu	[167]	322	China	2005-2020	16	20	Hon Hai
Frank J. Viola	[168]	320	USA	1981-2021	41	8	Covidien
Sandeep R. Patil	[169]	317	India	2008-2021	14	23	IBM
Victor S. Moore	[170]	316	USA	1982-2020	39	8	IBM
Zvi Or-Bach	[171]	311	USA	1982-2021	40	8	MonolithIC 3D Inc.
Jong-Kae J. Fwu	[172]	309	USA	1999-2021	23	13	Intel
Victoria Smith	[173]	308	USA	2006-2017	12	26	Genentech
Dorin Comaniciu	[174]	305	USA	2003-2021	19	16	Siemens
Ramachandra Divakaruni	[175]	304	USA	2000-2021	22	14	IBM
Choonghyun Lee	[176]	301	USA	2017-2021	5	60	IBM
Robert G. LeTourneau	[177]	299	USA	1936-1968	33	9	LeTourneau Technologies
Troy A. Manning	[178]	299	USA	1994-2021	28	11	Micron
Daniel C. Edelstein	[179]	297	USA	1991-2021	31	10	IBM
Hui Zang	[180]	297	USA	2014-2021	8	37	GlobalFoundries
Brent Keeth	[181]	294	USA	1994-2021	28	10	Micron
Madhusudan K. Iyengar	[182]	293	USA	2005-2021	17	17	IBM
Michael L. Fripp	[183]	293	USA	2004-2021	18	16	Halliburton
Martin G. Keen	[184]	293	USA	2016-2021	6	49	IBM
William R. Tonti	[185]	292	USA	1994-2020	27	11	IBM
Adam Heller	[186]	291	USA	1968-2021	54	5	Abbott Laboratories
Corville O. Allen	[187]	291	USA	2009-2021	13	22	IBM
Zine-Eddine Boutaghou	[188]	290	USA	1994-2018	25	12	Seagate Technology
Christopher J. Dawson	[189]	289	USA	2006-2021	16	18	IBM
Jeffrey W. Sleight	[190]	288	USA	1998-2020	23	13	IBM
Kiseon Ryu	[191]	285	South Korea	2012-2021	10	28	LG
Ned M. Smith	[192]	284	USA	2007-2021	15	19	Intel
Michael A. Rothman	[193]	283	USA	2001-2021	21	13	Intel
Alexei V. Davydov	[194]	283	Russia	2008-2021	14	20	Intel
Ravi Pillarisetty	[195]	281	USA	2009-2021	13	22	Intel
Sheldon K. Meredith	[196]	280	USA	1996-2021	26	11	AT&T
Takeshi Chujoh	[197]	279	Japan	1995-2021	27	10	Toshiba
Bran Ferren	[198]	276	USA	1986-2021	36	8	Intellectual Ventures
Craig E. Hampel	[199]	275	USA	1996-2021	26	11	Rambus
Xin Miao	[200]	275	USA	2016-2021	6	46	IBM
Hyukjin Chae	[201]	272	South Korea	2012-2021	10	27	LG
Rajiv V. Joshi	[202]	271	USA	1986-2021	36	8	IBM
Vinodh Gopal	[203]	271	USA	2009-2021	13	21	Intel
Diana Pani	[204]	271	Canada	2008-2021	14	19	InterDigital
Robert P. Loce	[205]	270	USA	1987-2021	35	8	Xerox
Nathan J. Peterson	[206]	268	USA	2006-2021	16	17	Lenovo
Hartley Owen	[207]	267	USA	1976-2010	35	8	Mobil
Ilya Volvovski	[208]	267	USA	2011-2021	11	24	IBM
Olga Bandman	[209]	266	USA	1997-2018	22	12	Incyte
Eran Steinberg	[210]	266	USA	1996-2020	25	11	FotoNation
Marko Radosavljevic	[211]	266	USA	2005-2021	17	16	Intel
Gary D. Cudak	[212]	264	USA	2013-2021	9	29	Lenovo
Jeongki Kim	[213]	264	South Korea	2012-2021	10	26	LG
Imad Libbus	[214]	262	USA	2007-2021	15	17	Cardiac Pacemakers
Su Liu	[215]	262	USA	2012-2021	10	26	IBM
Gilbert M. Wolrich	[216]	261	USA	1986-2021	36	7	Intel
Altug Koker	[217]	261	USA	2002-2021	20	13	Intel
Yoshihiro Kikuchi	[218]	258	Japan	1994-2018	25	10	Toshiba
Burkay Donderici	[219]	257	USA	2014-2021	8	32	Halliburton
Harry (Tom) Graef	[220]	256	USA	1976-2020	45	6	Diebold Nixdorf
Santokh S. Badesha	[221]	256	USA	1983-2021	39	7	Xerox
Matthew B. Trevathan	[222]	256	USA	2005-2021	17	15	IBM
David C. Gibbon	[223]	256	USA	1995-2021	27	9	AT&T
Al Chakra	[224]	256	USA	2010-2021	12	21	IBM
Elmoustapha Ould-Ahmed-Vall	[225]	254	USA	2015-2021	7	36	Intel
Johnny M. Shieh	[226]	252	USA	1996-2021	26	10	IBM
Yuan Y. Zhu	[227]	251	China	2011-2021	11	23	Intel
Stephen M. Trimberger	[228]	250	USA	1988-2021	34	7	Xilinx
Stephen G. Perlman	[229]	249	USA	1989-2021	33	8	Sony
Aaron K. Baughman	[230]	248	USA	2011-2021	11	23	IBM
James R. Kraemer	[231]	247	USA	2008-2021	14	18	IBM
Abhishek R. Appu	[232]	247	USA	2018-2021	4	62	Intel
John A. Colgrove	[233]	247	USA	1991-2021	31	8	Pure Storage
Dale W. Malik	[234]	246	USA	1995-2021	27	9	AT&T
Nobuyuki Taniguchi	[235]	245	Japan	1979-2015	37	7	Minolta
Louis B. Rosenberg	[236]	245	USA	1995-2020	26	9	Immersion
Craig M. Trim	[237]	244	USA	2013-2021	9	27	IBM
Iana Siomina	[238]	243	Sweden	2012-2021	10	24	Ericsson
Ilyas Mohammed	[239]	242	USA	2003-2021	19	13	Tessera
Robert J. Stacey	[240]	242	USA	2009-2021	13	19	Intel
Gerald F. McBrearty	[241]	241	USA	1997-2021	25	10	IBM
Benzion Landa	[242]	241	Israel	1976-2021	46	5	Savin
Philip S. Yu	[243]	240	USA	1982-2018	37	6	IBM
Seung H. Kang	[244]	240	USA	2002-2020	19	13	Qualcomm
Daniel Larsson	[245]	239	Sweden	2012-2021	10	24	Ericsson
Thomas J. Kennedy III	[246]	238	USA	1992-2021	30	8	Callaway
Marco Pistoia	[247]	238	USA	2006-2021	16	15	IBM
Joydeep Ray	[248]	238	USA	2015-2021	7	34	Intel
Mark A. Horowitz	[249]	236	USA	1993-2020	28	8	Rambus
Vivek K. De	[250]	236	USA	1998-2021	24	10	Intel
Manu J. Kurian	[251]	235	USA	2015-2021	7	34	Bank of America
Ning Li	[252]	233	USA	2006-2021	16	15	IBM
Robert C. Valentine	[253]	233	Israel	1997-2021	25	9	Intel
Jonathan D. Dunne	[254]	233	Ireland	2014-2021	8	29	IBM
S. Christopher Gladwin	[255]	233	USA	1999-2021	23	10	IBM
Rhonda L. Childress	[256]	232	USA	2004-2021	18	13	IBM
Sreekar Marupaduga	[257]	232	USA	2010-2021	12	19	Sprint
Vijay Narayanan	[258]	231	USA	2004-2021	18	13	IBM
Michael A. Guillorn	[259]	230	USA	2003-2021	19	12	IBM
Matthew V. Metz	[260]	229	USA	2004-2021	18	13	Intel
Austin G. Walters	[261]	228	USA	2018-2021	4	57	Capital One
James W. Seaman	[262]	226	USA	2005-2021	17	13	IBM
Martin Langhammer	[263]	226	UK	2001-2021	21	11	Altera
Dureseti Chidambarrao	[264]	225	USA	1995-2020	26	9	IBM
Gilbert W. Dewey	[265]	225	USA	2006-2021	16	14	Intel
Mukta Ghate Farooq	[266]	223	USA	1993-2021	29	8	IBM
Johan Rune	[267]	222	Sweden	1998-2021	24	9	Ericsson
Paul Ian Mackey	[268]	220	Australia	2008-2016	9	24	Silverbrook Research
Maulik K. Shah	[269]	220	USA	2011-2020	10	22	Sprint
Kunal R. Parekh	[270]	220	USA	1996-2021	26	8	Micron
Neelakantan Sundaresan	[271]	220	USA	1999-2021	23	10	eBay
Rajarshi Gupta	[272]	219	USA	2004-2021	18	12	Qualcomm
David M. Durham	[273]	219	USA	2003-2021	19	12	Intel
Timothy M. Robinson	[274]	218	UK	2010-2021	12	18	KCI
Yingda Dong	[275]	216	USA	2007-2021	15	14	Western Digital
Steven J. Simske	[276]	216	USA	2007-2021	15	14	HP
Sebastian T. Ventrone	[277]	216	USA	1989-2021	33	7	IBM
Jed H. Rankin	[278]	215	USA	2000-2021	22	10	IBM
Solomon B. Trainin	[279]	215	Israel	1997-2021	25	9	Intel
Jonathan J. Hull	[280]	214	USA	1995-2020	26	8	Ricoh
Gilbert A. Neiger	[281]	214	USA	2000-2021	22	10	Intel
Bruce B. Pedersen	[282]	213	USA	1992-2020	29	7	Altera
Shuji Nakamura	[283]	213	USA	1994-2021	28	8	UC Santa Barbara
Gregory J. McAvoy	[284]	212	Ireland	2003-2020	18	12	Silverbrook Research
Kyungmin Park	[285]	212	USA	2014-2021	8	26	Ofinno
Sergey Y. Shumarayev	[286]	211	USA	2001-2021	21	10	Altera
Fredrik Gunnarsson	[287]	211	Sweden	2002-2021	20	11	Ericsson
Arup Bhattacharyya	[288]	211	USA	1974-2021	48	4	Micron
Shogo Mochizuki	[289]	211	USA	2015-2021	7	30	IBM
Anand S. Murthy	[290]	211	USA	2001-2021	21	10	Intel
Alexander A. Maltsev	[291]	209	Russia	2007-2021	15	14	Intel
Michael K. Bugenhagen	[292]	209	USA	2008-2021	14	15	Lumen Technologies
Lin Sun	[293]	208	USA	2010-2021	12	17	IBM
Vijay Ekambaram	[294]	208	India	2015-2021	7	30	IBM
Paul W. Coteus	[295]	207	USA	1992-2021	30	7	IBM
Hiroshi (You) Yoshioka	[296]	205	Japan	1997-2015	19	11	Toshiba
Patrick B. Usoro	[297]	205	USA	1999-2016	18	11	General Motors
Robert E. Fischell	[298]	205	USA	1963-2020	58	4	Angel Medical Systems
Gunnar Mildh	[299]	205	Sweden	2006-2021	16	13	Ericsson
Akira Goda	[300]	203	USA	2003-2021	19	11	Micron
Sadeg M. Faris	[301]	202	USA	1979-2018	40	5	Reveo
Shipeng Li	[302]	202	USA	2000-2021	22	9	Microsoft
Emily H. Qi	[303]	202	USA	2004-2021	18	11	Intel

This table is usually updated every Tuesday evening in US Eastern time, and is current as of August 24, 2021.

The columns are defined as follows:

• Inventor: The name of the inventor.
• Patents: 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.
• Residence: The country of inventor's residence listed in their most recent patent issuance.
• Patent Years: The first and last year in which an inventor received a patent issuance.
• Years: The number of years between and including the first and last year in which an inventor received a patent issuance.
• Patents / Year: The average number of patents received per year [Patents column divided by Years column, rounded].
• Majority assignment: The entity that has the most patents assigned from an inventor's portfolio. This is current and not original assignment. It is usually, but not always an indication of which company the inventor worked at for the majority of their patent activity.

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.^{[Info 4]} 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.^{[Info 5][Info 6]}

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.

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.^{[Info 7]} 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.

Popular Science (1936)[]

In January 1936, Popular Science published a list of the "most prolific living inventors to be found in America today".

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".

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":^{[Info 8]}

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"^{[Info 9]}) and 1790 Analytics^{[Info 10]} of New Jersey. This list only considered living inventors, and thus did not include prolific inventors such 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^{[Info 11]} 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,^{[Info 9]} 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 May 6, 2011, Business Insider published an article titled: "The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era"^{[Info 12]} 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"^{[Info 13]} 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:^{[Info 14]}

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:^{[Info 15]}

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:^{[Info 16]}

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:^{[Info 17]}

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:^{[Info 18]}

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:^{[Info 19]}

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,^{[Info 20]} 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[]

• Timeline of historic inventions
• List of inventors
• List of top United States patent recipients

References[]

References of Inventors' Patents[]