Align Technology has a total of 2755 patents globally, out of which 1565 have been granted. Of these 2755 patents, more than 70% patents are active. United States of America is where Align Technology has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and China. Parallelly, USA seems to be the main focused R&D center and also is the origin country of Align Technology.
Align Technology was founded in 1997 by Zia Chishti and Kelsey Wirth. Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets the invisalign system, a method for treating the misalignment of teeth. The Company offers a system that corrects the misalignment using a series of clear and removable appliances that move teeth to a desired final position. Align Technology serves customers worldwide. As of May 2022, Align Technology has a market cap of $21.29 Billion.
Read about some of the most popular patents of Align Technology which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Align Technology patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Align Technology patent portfolio.
How many patents does the Founder and CEO of Align Technology have?
The Founder Zia Chishti have 423 and Kelsey Wirth has 67 patents and the CEO Joseph M. Hogan have 0 patent.
How many patents does Align Technology have?
Align Technology has a total of 2755 patents globally. These patents belong to 559 unique patent families. Out of 2755 patents, 1942 patents are active.
How Many Patents did Align Technology 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 | Align Technology Applications Filed | Align Technology Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 69 | 70 |
| 2012 | 67 | 56 |
| 2013 | 97 | 57 |
| 2014 | 78 | 58 |
| 2015 | 248 | 54 |
| 2016 | 194 | 94 |
| 2017 | 156 | 122 |
| 2018 | 181 | 102 |
| 2019 | 248 | 151 |
| 2020 | 233 | 198 |
| 2021 | 160 | 244 |
| 2022 | 14 | 77 |
How many Align Technology patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did Align Technology File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Align Technology Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 1269 |
| Europe | 295 |
| China | 203 |
| Japan | 170 |
| Germany | 139 |
| Australia | 85 |
| Spain | 75 |
| Korea (South) | 62 |
| Canada | 56 |
| Austria | 34 |
| United Kingdom | 23 |
| Denmark | 17 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 14 |
| Israel | 13 |
| Poland | 11 |
| Taiwan | 8 |
| Mexico | 6 |
| Philippines | 6 |
| Brazil | 5 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5 |
| Argentina | 3 |
| India | 3 |
| Croatia | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 |
| Colombia | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Portugal | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Align Technology Patents Located?
10 Best Align Technology Patents
US6572372B1 is the most popular patent in the Align Technology portfolio. It has received 515 citations so far from companies like 3M, uLab Systems, Inc and Bay Materials, Llc.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Align Technology:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US6572372B1 | 515 |
| US6524101B1 | 476 |
| US6705863B2 | 465 |
| US6398548B1 | 442 |
| US6554611B2 | 434 |
| US6542249B1 | 412 |
| US6450807B1 | 393 |
| US6629840B2 | 379 |
| US6722880B2 | 352 |
| US20050055118A1 | 297 |
Which Companies are using Align Technology 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 Align Technology patent portfolio are 3M, 3Shape and Sdc Us Smilepay Spv.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| 3M | 34 |
| 3Shape | 27 |
| Sdc Us Smilepay Spv | 15 |
| Ormco Corporation | 13 |
| Carestream Dental Technology Topco Limited | 12 |
| IBM | 11 |
| Dentsply Sirona | 11 |
| Dental Monitoring | 10 |
| Ivoclar Vivadent | 10 |
| Orametrix Inc | 9 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Align Technology Patents
Top Align Technology Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US8771149B2 | 27 |
| US20060275736A1 | 16 |
| US6572372B1 | 14 |
| US7698068B2 | 12 |
| US7481647B2 | 12 |
| US6542249B1 | 11 |
| US8024198B2 | 11 |
| US20060275731A1 | 10 |
| US6454565B2 | 10 |
| US7333874B2 | 10 |
| US8235713B2 | 10 |
| US8496474B2 | 10 |
| US7319529B2 | 10 |
| US7474307B2 | 9 |
| US7905725B2 | 9 |
What Percentage of Align Technology US Patent Applications were Granted?
Align Technology (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 851 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 544 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 89.6%.
Below are the key stats of Align Technology patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Align Technology?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Align Shay Glenn Llp | 241 | 99.32% |
| Align Technology Inc | 214 | 94.97% |
| Lowenstein Sandler Llp | 141 | 98.85% |
| Townsend And Townsend And Crew Llp | 56 | 91.07% |
| Nath Goldberg & Meyer | 43 | 93.02% |
| Wagner Blecher Llp | 29 | 44.83% |
| Fisherbroyles Llp | 28 | 100.00% |
| Klein O Neill & Singh Llp | 21 | 100.00% |
| Paul Hastings Llp | 18 | 0.00% |
| Polsinelli Align Technology Inc | 12 | 100.00% |
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are Align Technology key innovation segments?