This analysis is based on the filing years of all US patents submitted by inventors from California, spanning from 2017 to 2024. We considered the addresses of these inventors, which were obtained from patent application data sourced from the USPTO database.
Between 2017 and 2024, California inventors filed a total of 417,774 patents (excluding PCTs) with the USPTO, reflecting the state’s growing innovation trend. Additionally, 109,749 PCTs were filed during this period.
Here’s some trivia for you:
California is home to Silicon Valley, where Apple revolutionized mobile tech with its iPhone and multitouch screen patents. The state is also a leader in electric vehicle innovation, with Tesla’s patents driving the shift toward sustainable transportation.
Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Illinois, Michigan and Washington are the other innovation hot spots that are spread across the country.
Do read about some interesting highlights on Illinois Patent Statistics, North Carolina Patent Statistics & Florida Patents Statistics.
If we talk about the key California Patent Inventors, Tao Luo, Xiaoxia Zhang and Peter Gaal hold the top 3 spots. Continue reading the article to learn more about which businesses are engaged in the California State, how many patents the California Inventors have filed over time, who are the top patent inventors, which companies have they been associated with, the California institutions that have filed the most patents, and more.
Type of Patent Applications
The chart below provides a breakdown of the types of patent applications filed in California between 2017 and 2024.
The utility & PCT filings represent approximately 74% & 21% respectively of the total patent filings while design patents account for 5% of the total patent filings.
How many patents did the Inventors of California 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.
Who are the key Inventors from the California State?
Inventor Tao Luo, based in San Diego, CA, is a seasoned VP of Engineering with over 4115 patents to his name, primarily focused on 4G/5G/6G system design and IPR generation. With a proven track record at Qualcomm, he has led groundbreaking work in wireless communications, including innovations in modem implementation and autonomous handover. Tao is known for his strategic leadership, problem-solving skills, and a strong growth mindset, making him a key figure in advancing wireless technology.
Dr. Xiaoxia Zhang, Senior Director of Technology at Qualcomm, is one of the company’s most prolific inventors with over 2,050 patents. After completing her PhD in electrical engineering at Ohio State University, she joined Qualcomm in 2002 and has since contributed to major advancements in 3G, 4G, and 5G systems. Dr. Zhang’s work has focused on optimizing wireless network protocols and is currently leading groundbreaking research in industrial IoT and 5G connectivity. Her innovative approach continues to shape the future of wireless communication technologies.
Peter S. Gaal, a distinguished inventor in wireless communications, holds an impressive portfolio of 1,904 patents. His contributions focus on developing innovative methods, systems, and devices to optimize wireless technologies. Notable patents include advancements in semi-persistent scheduling for New Radio and uplink control channel coexistence. Throughout his career, Gaal has worked with top companies like Qualcomm and collaborated with industry leaders such as Wanshi Chen and Tao Luo. His groundbreaking work continues to shape the future of wireless communications.
Tao Luo, Xiaoxia Zhang, and Peter S. Gaal—are contributing significantly to wireless communications, and all are affiliated with Qualcomm, a leader in the field of telecommunications and semiconductor technologies.
List of Top 50 Inventors from California
| Inventor | Gender | Patents |
| Tao Luo | Male | 4115 |
| Xiaoxia Zhang | Female | 2050 |
| Peter Gaal | Male | 1904 |
| Jing Sun | Female | 1815 |
| Wanshi Chen | Male | 1792 |
| Shan Liu | Male | 1266 |
| Yan Zhou | Male | 1215 |
| Sony Akkarakaran | Male | 1057 |
| Dawei Zhang | Male | 1017 |
| Li Zhang | Male | 985 |
| Juan Montojo | Male | 835 |
| Kai Zhang | Male | 824 |
| Wei Zeng | Male | 786 |
| Alexandros Manolakos | Male | 728 |
| Jody Akana | Female | 710 |
| Yi Huang | Male | 697 |
| Hong He | Male | 693 |
| Mostafa Khoshnevisan | Male | 685 |
| Jeremy Bataillou | Male | 684 |
| Xiang Li | Male | 639 |
| Marta Karczewicz | Female | 629 |
| Wei Yang | Female | 629 |
| Shota Aoyagi | Male | 625 |
| Huilin Xu | Female | 612 |
| Julian Hoenig | Male | 607 |
| Oghenekome Oteri | Female | 536 |
| Chunxuan Ye | Male | 524 |
| Mikael Silvanto | Male | 514 |
| Joydeep Ray | Male | 500 |
| Ozcan Ozturk | Male | 478 |
| Jie Cui | Male | 467 |
| Molly Anderson | Female | 459 |
| Altug Koker | Male | 452 |
| Gabi Sarkis | Female | 441 |
| Xin Zhao | Female | 426 |
| Imran Chaudhri | Male | 426 |
| Jing Jiang | Female | 420 |
| Jelena Damnjanovic | Female | 418 |
| Hongyuan Zhang | Male | 418 |
| Markus Diebel | Male | 415 |
| Srinivas Yerramalli | Male | 407 |
| Clement Tissandier | Male | 405 |
| Julian Jaede | Male | 390 |
| Aleksandar Damnjanovic | Male | 388 |
| Ahmed Elshafie | Male | 352 |
| Jing Lei | Male | 347 |
| George Cherian | Male | 338 |
| Prasoonkumar Surti | Male | 334 |
| Liwen Chu | Female | 292 |
| Yuchul Kim | Female | 292 |
Gender Distribution:
-In the top 50 California inventors, the 20% female contribution is helping drive innovation forward and shaping the future of technology.
-Xiaoxia Zhang, with 2050 patents, stands out as the most prolific female inventor. Her contributions underscore the significant role that female inventors are playing in California’s innovation landscape, particularly in wireless communications.
Companies associated with the California Inventors
Top 50 Companies filing patents with California Inventors
| Company | Patents |
| Qualcomm | 21187 |
| Apple | 17915 |
| 10831 | |
| Intel | 8270 |
| Applied Materials Inc | 5614 |
| 4510 | |
| IBM | 4407 |
| HP | 3805 |
| Cisco Technology Inc | 3665 |
| Micron Technology Inc | 3463 |
| Amazon | 3158 |
| Samsung Electronics | 2700 |
| Salesforce Inc | 2450 |
| Microsoft | 2390 |
| Oracle | 2311 |
| VMware | 2307 |
| Snap Inc | 1884 |
| Nvidia | 1808 |
| Adobe | 1778 |
| Waymo | 1667 |
| Western Digital Technologies Inc | 1626 |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment | 1588 |
| Visa | 1523 |
| Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc | 1510 |
| Tencent America Llc | 1434 |
| Splunk Inc | 1303 |
| Sandisk Technologies Llc | 1294 |
| Wells Fargo Bank Na | 1248 |
| Genentech Inc | 1216 |
| Boeing | 1213 |
| Ebay Inc | 1179 |
| Paypal Inc | 1167 |
| Dolby | 1085 |
| Lam Research Corporation | 1013 |
| Texas Instruments Incorporated | 1000 |
| Juniper Networks Inc | 1000 |
| Edwards Lifesciences Corporation | 999 |
| Amgen Inc | 984 |
| Pure Storage Inc | 976 |
| At&T | 976 |
| X Development Llc | 959 |
| Illumina Inc | 926 |
| Baidu Usa Llc | 902 |
| Ericsson | 901 |
| Gopro Inc | 898 |
| Zoox Inc | 892 |
| Intuit Inc | 878 |
| Ford Global Technologies Llc | 861 |
| Skyworks Solutions Inc | 860 |
| Xilinx Inc | 859 |
The list reveals California’s diverse and thriving patent ecosystem, with Qualcomm, Apple, Google, and other technology giants leading the charge in telecommunications, AI, consumer electronics, and cloud computing. At the same time, we see increasing participation from healthcare, fintech, autonomous systems, and semiconductors. This diversity reflects the broad spectrum of innovation happening across industries, with California serving as a global hub for technology and intellectual property development.
Note: The companies featured in this list have affiliations with Inventors who are residents of California.
Inventor Patent Filing Ratios in the last 7 Years (2017 – 2024)
Note: The analysis of patenting by gender is based on the information available at USPTO. The gender of inventors is determined using the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) World Gender-Name Standards Dictionary (WGND) 2.0. Fractional counting of inventors is used, with the credit for each patent divided equally between the inventors.
Patent filing trend of Female Inventors of California in the last 7 years
Female inventors in California have made a significant and growing contribution to total patent filings over the years. From 2017 to 2021, their share of patent filings steadily increased, reaching a peak of 23.4% in 2021. This upward trend reflects the vital role women are playing in innovation across various fields. While recent data shows a slight decline in the percentage and total number of filings, it’s important to note that patent applications can take up to 18 months to get published. This delay in publication doesn’t suggest a decrease in patent filings but rather highlights the natural timeline of the patent process. The contributions of female inventors remain strong and continue to shape the innovation landscape in California.
Patent Filing Patterns for Women Inventors in California
Key Female Inventors from California
| Inventors | Patents | Currently Associated |
| Xiaoxia Zhang | 2031 | Qualcomm |
| Jing Sun | 1807 | Qualcomm |
| Jody Akana | 694 | Apple |
| Marta Karczewicz | 629 | Qualcomm |
| Huilin Xu | 601 | Qualcomm |
| Oghenekome Oteri | 546 | Apple |
| Daniele Deiuliis | 472 | Occuity |
| Molly Anderson | 441 | Apple |
| Gabi Sarkis | 439 | Qualcomm |
| Xin Zhao | 436 | Tencent |
| Jelena Damnjanovic | 420 | Qualcomm |
| Jing Jiang | 409 | Qualcomm |
| Marine C Bataille | 371 | Apple |
| Ye Kui Wang | 365 | ByteDance |
| Jing Lei | 347 | Qualcomm |
| Liwen Chu | 289 | NXP |
| Lou Huiling | 248 | NXP |
| Jennifer Doudna | 198 | University Of California |
| GE Ning | 176 | Tetramem |
| Duan Weimin | 165 | Qualcomm |
| Freier Susan M | 164 | Ionis Pharmaceuticals |
| Raghavan Manasa | 162 | Apple |
| He Yuwen | 158 | ByteDance |
| Xiu Xiaoyu | 143 | InterDigital |
| Namgoong June | 126 | Qualcomm |
| Wan Wan Si | 125 | LoveFrom |
| Paladugu Karthika | 125 | Qualcomm |
| Sun Jennifer Y | 124 | Applied Materials |
| Lee Jungwon | 124 | Samsung |
| Jiang Jinjing | 124 | Apple |
| Chen Yi Wen | 123 | MediaTek |
| Awoniyi Oteri Olufunmilola Omolade | 123 | Qualcomm |
| Tran Ha | 119 | Genentech |
| Courtaigne Clara Geneviève Marine | 111 | Apple |
| Wang Xin | 110 | Fortinet |
| Zhao Lihua | 109 | Meta |
| Li Hui | 109 | Autodesk |
| Huang Ye | 107 | Verizon |
| Vimercati Daniele | 106 | Micron |
| Richman Jessica | 106 | uBiome |
| Merlin Simone | 106 | Qualcomm |
| Sun Li Hsiang | 104 | InterDigital |
| Chen Xi | 104 | Amazon |
| Sun Yanjun | 99 | Apple |
| Olsson Maj Isabelle | 95 |
Universities filing patents with the Inventors from California
University of California, Stanford University and California Institute of Technology are leading the charge in innovation, collectively filing 10,650 patents over the past seven years (2017-2024).
The University of California’s 7035 patents far exceed those of Stanford (2397) and Caltech (1218), underscoring its dominant role in patent filing with a much broader research scope.
University of California leads the state with 7035 patents, reflecting its extensive research output across multiple campuses (such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC San Francisco).
Stanford University has filed several high-impact patents, including the foundational patent for Google’s search algorithm by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It has also made significant contributions to stem cell research, with patents licensed to biotech companies for treating diseases like Alzheimer’s. Stanford played a key role in developing CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technologies and holds patents in energy-efficient innovations, including solar cells and battery storage, positioning itself as a leader in green tech.
Caltech’s patents often focus on space technology, aeronautics, and advanced engineering. This is largely driven by its work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is affiliated with Caltech. Patents in rocket propulsion, satellite technology, and space exploration are key areas.
Note: These are the institutions wherein the key innovators from California filed the majority of their patents.
Top Companies/Universities filing PCT Applications with the Inventors from California
| Top PCT Filers | Patents | Entity |
| Qualcomm | 20729 | Company |
| 3996 | Company | |
| Apple | 3783 | Company |
| Applied Materials | 3466 | Company |
| University Of California | 3282 | University |
| Intel | 1887 | Company |
| Samsung | 1577 | Company |
| Bytedance Inc | 1446 | Company |
| Hewlett Packard | 1424 | Company |
| Meta Platforms | 1313 | Company |
| Douyin Vision Co Ltd | 1255 | Company |
| Tencent | 1030 | Company |
| Lam Research | 955 | Company |
| Sony | 927 | Company |
| Roche | 895 | Company |
| Leland Stanford Junior University | 891 | University |
| Snap | 861 | Company |
| IBM | 815 | Company |
| Ericsson | 715 | Company |
| Kla Corp | 622 | Company |
| Huawei | 618 | Company |
| Dolby | 613 | Company |
| Oracle | 567 | Company |
| Visa | 566 | Company |
| Micron | 543 | Company |
| ASML Netherlands | 506 | Company |
| Intuitive Surgical | 506 | Company |
| Sandisk | 488 | Company |
| Illumina | 484 | Company |
| Western Digital | 480 | Company |