3M has a total of 32182 patents globally, out of which 12839 have been granted. Of these 32182 patents, more than 67% patents are active. United States of America is where 3M has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and China and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for 3M is USA. Parallelly, USA seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of 3M.
3M was founded in 1902 by Danley Budd, Eric Paley, Henry Bryan, Hermon Cable, John Dwan and William McGonagle. 3M doing business as a conglomerate. The company offers a range of products on adhesives and tapes, automotive and aerospace, automotive aftermarket, abrasives etc. As of December 2021, 3M has a market cap of $99.48 Billion.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of 3M which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find 3M patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over 3M patent portfolio.
How many patents does 3M have?
3M has a total of 32182 patents globally. These patents belong to 8619 unique patent families. Out of 32182 patents, 21735 patents are active.
How many 3M patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did 3M File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | 3M Applications Filed | 3M Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 593 | 20 |
| 2012 | 3904 | 137 |
| 2013 | 4156 | 269 |
| 2014 | 4861 | 431 |
| 2015 | 4786 | 741 |
| 2016 | 4391 | 1327 |
| 2017 | 4075 | 1952 |
| 2018 | 2160 | 2083 |
| 2019 | 1309 | 1997 |
| 2020 | 1506 | 1990 |
| 2021 | 438 | 1892 |
How Many Patents did 3M File in Different Countries?
Countries in which 3M Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 6118 |
| China | 4171 |
| Europe | 3881 |
| Japan | 3429 |
| Korea (South) | 1977 |
| Taiwan | 1286 |
| Brazil | 1128 |
| Canada | 1000 |
| Australia | 970 |
| India | 694 |
| Mexico | 361 |
| Singapore | 332 |
| Russian Federation | 296 |
| Spain | 104 |
| United Kingdom | 103 |
| Thailand | 103 |
| Poland | 83 |
| Chile | 78 |
| Malaysia | 65 |
| Israel | 52 |
| Indonesia | 39 |
| Viet Nam | 37 |
| Germany | 35 |
| Argentina | 27 |
| Denmark | 26 |
| Turkey | 19 |
| South Africa | 18 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 17 |
| Philippines | 16 |
| Colombia | 12 |
| Portugal | 11 |
| New Zealand | 11 |
| Peru | 9 |
| Eurasian Patent Organization | 7 |
| France | 7 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 |
| Slovenia | 4 |
| Hungary | 3 |
| Gulf Cooperation Council | 2 |
| El Salvador | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Dominican Republic | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 |
| Croatia | 1 |
| Ukraine | 1 |
| Serbia | 1 |
| Monaco | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| Costa Rica | 1 |
| Nicaragua | 1 |
| Lithuania | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of 3M Patents Located?
10 Best 3M Patents
WO2014011438A1 is the most popular patent in the 3M portfolio. It has received 191 citations so far from companies like At&T, Intel and Sumitomo Electric Industries.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of 3M:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| WO2014011438A1 | 191 |
| WO2016004003A1 | 155 |
| US20150185425A1 | 148 |
| WO2013090810A1 | 124 |
| WO2014113253A1 | 121 |
| WO2012112305A2 | 107 |
| US20150009301A1 | 102 |
| WO2011130570A1 | 95 |
| WO2012112204A1 | 84 |
| US20120194054A1 | 82 |
Which Companies are using 3M Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents or patents from a particular technology area of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies that the technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top citing companies in the 3M patent portfolio are Samsung, Kci Licensing Inc and LG.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Samsung | 87 |
| Kci Licensing Inc | 74 |
| LG | 58 |
| Boe Technology Group | 48 |
| IBM | 37 |
| Nitto Denko | 26 |
| Apple | 22 |
| Fujifilm | 19 |
| 17 | |
| Intel | 17 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on 3M Patents
Top 3M Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US10437358B2 | 15 |
| US9468459B2 | 14 |
| US8944662B2 | 13 |
| US9360971B2 | 12 |
| US20140083481A1 | 12 |
| US10570524B2 | 12 |
| US9555589B1 | 11 |
| US10216330B2 | 11 |
| US9229253B2 | 10 |
| US9479859B2 | 10 |
| US20130035602A1 | 10 |
| US8978452B2 | 9 |
| US9164607B2 | 9 |
| US10076026B2 | 9 |
| US9904428B2 | 8 |
What Percentage of 3M US Patent Applications were Granted?
3M (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 15402 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 10166 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 72.17%.
Below are the key stats of 3M patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for 3M?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| 3M Innovative Properties Company | 11379 | 65.87% |
| W&T Corning | 151 | 96.69% |
| Office Of Intellectual Property Counsel | 98 | 81.63% |
| Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie | 57 | 96.49% |
| Locke Lord | 48 | 100.00% |
| Wolf Greenfield & Sacks | 48 | 81.25% |
| Karl G Hanson | 46 | 97.83% |
| Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch Llp | 45 | 93.33% |
| James J Trussell | 44 | 86.36% |
| Terrance A Meador | 42 | 100.00% |
Personal pleasure, competitiveness, development, and survival are the four primary reasons for innovation, according to 3M. 3M’s lifeblood is new products, and the business incorporates innovation into every aspect of its operations.
3M creates new solutions by combining unique technologies from its portfolio of 55,000 items, such as dental technology used to automobile parts. The company pioneers new ways of innovating by forging these unusual connections. 3M’s plans are geared toward long-term, sustainable innovation.
3M’s plans are geared toward long-term, sustainable innovation. They are as follows:
- Taking use of open innovation
- Organizing brainstorming sessions with people from many departments.
- Providing a safe environment for team members to take chances.
- Encourage and reward creativity.
- To produce and sustain innovation, all ten imperatives in Robert’s Rules of Innovation must be implemented and nurtured.
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are 3M’s key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by 3M?
The chart below distributes patents filed by 3M in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where 3M thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How 3M search focus changed over the years?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by 3M?