Apple is founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and operates as a consumer electronics company. Find Apple patents information, top technological areas of Apple, worldwide patent filing of Apple and patent filing trend over the years and find so many other stats over the Apple patents portfolio. Do read about some interesting highlights of the Apple Smart Ring, Apple Foldable Phone and Apple Facial Recognition portfolio:
What is Apple doing in AI?
Do you know in July 2024, Apple made notable progress in AI, focusing on improving gesture recognition on wearables, better understanding user behavior, and enhancing handwriting recognition on touchscreens. These advancements aim to make Apple devices more intuitive and user-friendly. Apple’s AI patents have been cited by companies like Tencent, Baidu, and Taco Bell, as well as by nine universities, showing their wide-reaching impact.
Where is Apple’s focused in this quarter?
| Category | Focus Area | Publication Number |
| Personalized User Experience | Developing Scalable Neural Processor Circuits For Efficient AI Computations. | CN118072908A, CN112088386B |
| AI and Neural Processing | Developing Scalable Neural Processor Circuits For Efficient AI Computations. | CN112055862B |
| Storage Management | Managing Available Storage Space In Computing Devices Efficiently. | CN112119384B |
Check out Apple’s AI patents filed in July 2024:
How many patents does Apple have?
Apple has a total of 95500 patents globally. These patents belong to 34137 unique patent families. Out of 95500 patents, 78104 patents are active.
How many Apple patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did Apple 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 | Apple Applications Filed | Apple Patents Granted |
| 2023 | 218 | 1237 |
| 2022 | 4122 | 5744 |
| 2021 | 6157 | 4961 |
| 2020 | 9494 | 4717 |
| 2019 | 7220 | 4451 |
| 2018 | 6893 | 3917 |
| 2017 | 5698 | 4370 |
| 2016 | 6547 | 4653 |
| 2015 | 6687 | 4324 |
| 2014 | 5873 | 3791 |
| 2013 | 6340 | 2907 |
| 2012 | 6541 | 1954 |
| 2011 | 4595 | 1226 |
How Many Patents did Apple File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Apple Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 45439 |
| China | 10930 |
| Europe | 6435 |
| Korea (South) | 5289 |
| Japan | 4277 |
| Australia | 4077 |
| Taiwan | 2204 |
| Germany | 1946 |
| India | 1549 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 1542 |
| Canada | 1138 |
| United Kingdom | 1115 |
| Brazil | 618 |
| Denmark | 440 |
| Mexico | 326 |
| Russia | 152 |
| Singapore | 148 |
| Netherlands | 110 |
| Spain | 80 |
| Austria | 79 |
| Chile | 61 |
| Viet Nam | 60 |
| New Zealand | 37 |
| South Africa | 35 |
| France | 31 |
| Uruguay | 30 |
| Israel | 30 |
| Argentina | 24 |
| Norway | 22 |
| Finland | 22 |
| Indonesia | 20 |
| Philippines | 19 |
| Sweden | 18 |
| Colombia | 17 |
| Poland | 17 |
| Turkey | 16 |
| Malaysia | 14 |
| United Arab Emirates | 12 |
| Switzerland | 7 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6 |
| Portugal | 5 |
| Ecuador | 5 |
| Guatemala | 4 |
| Italy | 3 |
| Thailand | 2 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 |
| Montenegro | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 |
Top Patents Contributing subsidiaries of Apple?
What Technologies are Covered by Apple Patents?
Do read our analysis on Apple Facial Recognition!
The chart below distributes patents filed by Apple in different countries based on the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Apple thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
Where are Research Centers of Apple Located?
R&D Focus: How Apple Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
10 Best Apple Patents
US6323846B1 is the most popular patent in the Apple portfolio. It has received 4018 citations so far from companies like HTC, Microsoft, Huawei, and Motorola.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Apple:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US6323846B1 | 4018 |
| US20060197753A1 | 3072 |
| US6570557B1 | 2025 |
| US6677932B1 | 1813 |
| US8479122B2 | 1411 |
| US7657849B2 | 1233 |
| US7046230B2 | 1196 |
| US7653883B2 | 1027 |
| US20060033724A1 | 1019 |
| US6579231B1 | 929 |
Which Companies are using Apple 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-cited technologies in the Apple patent portfolio are Software & Services, Telecom & User Interface. Samsung, Microsoft, and Qualcomm as the top forward citing assignees.
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Samsung | 5016 |
| Microsoft | 2573 |
| Qualcomm | 2034 |
| 1824 | |
| Sony | 1556 |
| LG | 1492 |
| IBM | 1483 |
| Intel | 1309 |
| Blackberry | 872 |
| Nokia | 819 |
| Huawei | 770 |
| Canon | 574 |
| Amazon | 469 |
| BOE | 450 |
| 422 |
How many inventions of other companies were rejected due to Apple patents?
The statistics below share strategic R&D insights. It tells the companies that were trying to protect inventions similar to Apple. They couldn’t because Apple had protected those before them.
Examiners at the USPTO used 16073 Apple patents in 147239 rejections (35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 types). Below is the distribution of the number of blocked patent applications vs the technology cluster of Apple patents.
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Apple Patents
Top Apple Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US7663607C1 | 233 |
| US8564544B2 | 212 |
| US7479949C2 | 204 |
| US9318108B2 | 151 |
| US7657849B2 | 143 |
| US7956847B2 | 131 |
| US8479122B2 | 129 |
| US8957835B2 | 127 |
| US8239784B2 | 126 |
| US9292111B2 | 125 |
| US7656393B2 | 125 |
| US7800592B2 | 119 |
| US20060197753A1 | 109 |
| US7877707B2 | 106 |
| US7653883B2 | 105 |
| US7812827B2 | 85 |
| US8243027B2 | 81 |
| US8654083B2 | 79 |
| US8686952B2 | 76 |
What Percentage of Apple US Patent Applications were Granted?
Apple (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 31052 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 25267 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 89.0%.
Below are the key stats of Apple patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Apple?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Kowert Hood Munyon Rankin & Goetzel | 5542 | 93.38% |
| Womble Bond Dickinson Us Llp | 2272 | 89.78% |
| Treyz Law Group | 2009 | 88.14% |
| Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp | 1647 | 85.51% |
| Dickinson Wright Rllp | 1431 | 86.83% |
| Blank Rome | 1268 | 83.59% |
| Fish & Richardson | 1268 | 87.20% |
| Brownstein | 1044 | 87.77% |
| Dentons Us Llp | 955 | 92.35% |
One more thing, We have converted this entire analysis in PDF form that you can download and save for later reading (or sharing with your friends). You can download it using the form below: