Best Buy Co., Inc. was founded in 1966 by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler and is doing business in providing consumer technology products and services. The Company offers a range of merchandise and services to its customers, including consumer electronics, appliances, computing devices, mobile phones, entertainment, and other products. As of September 2021, Best Buy has a market cap of $27.1 Billion.
Best Buy has a total of 498 patents globally, out of which 254 have been granted. Of these 498 patents, more than 48% patents are active. USA is where Best Buy has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Canada and Europe and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for Best Buy in the United States, in which it generated $43.3 billion revenue in 2021. Parallelly, United States seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of Best Buy, where it is the largest specialty retailer in consumer electronics retail industry.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Best Buy which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Best Buy’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Best Buy’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does Best Buy have?
Best Buy has a total of 498 patents globally. These patents belong to 259 unique patent families. Out of 498 patents, 244 patents are active.
How many Best Buy Patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Best Buy Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Best Buy 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 | Best Buy Applications Filed | Best Buy Patents Granted |
| 2021 | 2 | 11 |
| 2020 | 14 | 17 |
| 2019 | 25 | 18 |
| 2018 | 20 | 21 |
| 2017 | 16 | 24 |
| 2016 | 31 | 26 |
| 2015 | 27 | 32 |
| 2014 | 39 | 26 |
| 2013 | 40 | 19 |
| 2012 | 36 | 21 |
| 2011 | 36 | 5 |
How Many Patents did Best Buy File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Best Buy Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 336 |
| Canada | 27 |
| Europe | 22 |
| China | 20 |
| Australia | 18 |
| Taiwan | 7 |
| Mexico | 6 |
| Korea (South) | 3 |
| Singapore | 2 |
| Russian Federation | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 |
| Austria | 2 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 2 |
| Japan | 2 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Best Buy Patents Located?
10 Best Best Buy Patents
US20030182652A1 is the most popular patent in the Best Buy portfolio. It has received 188 citations so far from companies like IBM, Palantir, VersionOne and Apple. The patent’s geographical coverage is in major countries like United States and Canada.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Best Buy:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US20030182652A1 | 188 |
| US8206325B1 | 187 |
| US20120329529A1 | 171 |
| US20020099678A1 | 157 |
| US20140365334A1 | 153 |
| US20020080753A1 | 149 |
| US7778792B2 | 133 |
| US7396331B2 | 97 |
| US20140363059A1 | 90 |
| US8781502B1 | 87 |
Which Companies are using Best Buy 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 of the Best Buy patent portfolio are IBM, Samsung and Sony.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| IBM | 29 |
| Samsung | 19 |
| Sony | 14 |
| Philips | 12 |
| Microsoft | 12 |
| Walmart Apollo | 11 |
| Amazon | 10 |
| LG | 9 |
| 9 | |
| Intel | 9 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Best Buy Patents
Top Best Buy Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US7396331B2 | 33 |
| US20140365334A1 | 33 |
| US20140363059A1 | 21 |
| US20030182652A1 | 18 |
| US20120204201A1 | 16 |
| US10083409B2 | 16 |
| US9654589B2 | 14 |
| US8206325B1 | 13 |
| US8521857B2 | 12 |
| US9100615B2 | 10 |
| US8553157B2 | 10 |
| US20030093388A1 | 10 |
| US7778792B2 | 10 |
| US7876288B1 | 10 |
| US20090002333A1 | 9 |
What Percentage of Best Buy US Patent Applications were Granted?
Best Buy (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 99 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 67 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 69.07%.
Below are the key stats of Best Buy patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Best Buy?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton | 36 | 100.00% |
| Forsgren Fisher Mccalmont Demarea Tysver | 19 | 55.56% |
| Beck & Tysver | 16 | 6.25% |
| Brooks Cameron & Huebsch | 16 | 100.00% |
| Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner | 7 | 66.67% |
| Fish Ip | 2 | 0.00% |
| Stephanie J Smith | 2 | 0.00% |
| Haley Guiliano Llp | 1 | 0.00% |
In 2012, electronics retailer Best Buy was on the brink of losing the market. Brick-and-mortar technology stores were losing market to Amazon and other e-commerce retailers as customers were attracted towards the convenience and low prices. Even the online part of Best Buy was struggling as it simply could not compete with these giants’ selling power.
However, today Best Buy is not only surviving, it is thriving, with a growing domestic online revenue.
Best Buy has always embraced technology. “We know Best Buy is one of the best places to work, and the culture of innovation we’ve built here is a big reason why,” said Brian Tilzer, chief digital and technology officer. So, next time you want to shop don’t forget to check out Best Buy and its innovations in the area of the consumer electronics retail industry.
Do you want to know about the areas of Innovation, Best Buy is currently working on?
What Technologies are Covered by Best Buy Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Best Buy in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Best Buy thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Best Buy Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
Are you curious to know about the areas of Best Buy’s innovation through the years?