FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, was founded in 1971, by Frederick W. Smith and is doing business in transportation, e-commerce and business services. As of September 2021, FedEx has a market cap of $60.94 Billion.
FedEx has a total of 951 patents globally, out of which 564 have been granted and more than 72% of patents are active. USA is where FedEx has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and Japan and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for FedEx in the United States and it also generated $84 billion revenue in 2021. Parallelly, United States seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of FedEx.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of FedEx which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find FedEx’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over FedEx’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does FedEx have?
FedEx has a total of 951 patents globally. These patents belong to 200 unique patent families. Out of 951 patents, 685 patents are active.
How many FedEx patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did FedEx 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 | FedEx Applications Filed | FedEx Patents Granted |
| 2021 | 6 | 60 |
| 2020 | 51 | 86 |
| 2019 | 83 | 64 |
| 2018 | 32 | 71 |
| 2017 | 66 | 48 |
| 2016 | 85 | 53 |
| 2015 | 86 | 46 |
| 2014 | 87 | 17 |
| 2013 | 53 | 14 |
| 2012 | 78 | 18 |
| 2011 | 18 | 21 |
How Many Patents did FedEx File in Different Countries?
Countries in which FedEx Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 413 |
| Europe | 86 |
| Japan | 66 |
| China | 55 |
| Canada | 51 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 36 |
| Spain | 23 |
| Mexico | 18 |
| Singapore | 17 |
| Netherlands | 17 |
| Germany | 16 |
| India | 14 |
| Australia | 12 |
| Brazil | 5 |
| Argentina | 5 |
| Austria | 5 |
| Korea (South) | 5 |
| Taiwan | 3 |
| South Africa | 3 |
| New Zealand | 3 |
| Colombia | 2 |
| Israel | 2 |
| Denmark | 2 |
| Philippines | 2 |
| Panama | 1 |
| Lithuania | 1 |
| France | 1 |
| Cyprus | 1 |
| Norway | 1 |
| Portugal | 1 |
| United Kingdom | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 |
| Poland | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of FedEx Patents Located?
10 Best FedEx Patents
US8989053B1 is the most popular patent in the FedEx portfolio. It has received 547 citations so far from companies like Energous, IBM, Boeing, People.ai and Amazon. The patent’s geographical coverage is in major countries like United States, China Europe, Japan and Canada.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of FedEx:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US8989053B1 | 547 |
| US6332098B2 | 217 |
| US20040253923A1 | 181 |
| US6094642A | 167 |
| USD436591S1 | 139 |
| US9183100B2 | 111 |
| US7623033B2 | 93 |
| US20050017396A1 | 89 |
| US6778683B1 | 88 |
| US8239169B2 | 87 |
Which Companies are using FedEx 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 companies in the FedEx patent portfolio are IBM, Amazon and United Parcel Service Of America Inc.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| IBM | 21 |
| Amazon | 15 |
| United Parcel Service Of America | 9 |
| State Bank Trust | 8 |
| Walmart Apollo | 8 |
| Blackberry | 7 |
| Boeing | 7 |
| Deutsche Post | 6 |
| Paypal | 6 |
| Samsung | 5 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on FedEx Patents
Top FedEx Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US9571211B2 | 18 |
| US10984368B2 | 16 |
| US8898083B2 | 14 |
| US10453023B2 | 12 |
| US8989053B1 | 12 |
| US9095001B2 | 12 |
| US20160239802A1 | 11 |
| US8299920B2 | 11 |
| US8239169B2 | 9 |
| US9696429B2 | 9 |
| US7810577B2 | 8 |
| US7623033B2 | 8 |
| US10169858B2 | 7 |
| US8810460B2 | 7 |
| US10069843B2 | 7 |
| US9400314B2 | 6 |
| US9490920B2 | 6 |
| US20050008735A1 | 6 |
| US10783481B2 | 6 |
| US6778683B1 | 6 |
What Percentage of FedEx US Patent Applications were Granted?
FedEx (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 273 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 196 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 85.96%.
Below are the key stats of FedEx patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for FedEx?
| Law Firm | Total Application | Success Rate |
| Withers & Keys Llc | 109 | 94.59% |
| Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner | 59 | 96.08% |
| Mcguirewoods Llp | 55 | 90.91% |
| Amin Turocy & Watson | 25 | 28.00% |
| Ballard Spahr Llp | 5 | 100.00% |
| Honeywell Perkowski | 1 | 100.00% |
| Perkins Coie Llp | 1 | 0.00% |
| Phillips Lytle Llp | 1 | 100.00% |
FedEx’s founder, Fred Smith: “If you are not operating at the edge of new technologies, you will surely be disrupted. We also embrace risk-taking innovation when the potential reward outweighs the risk.”
To provide time-definite service to customers, FedEx is continually developing innovative technologies. By implementing technologies, FedEx looks towards an intelligent future of logistics while providing with customer-oriented innovations. From using chatbots, virtual assistants to using robots oriented warehouse management techniques, FedEx has shown the world, and how serious they are in terms of adapting and experimenting with new technological solutions.
Next time you get a parcel delivered by FedEx, do appreciate their innovation which has helped them to put a smile on millions of people while delivering your goods in the right place as fast as possible.
Do you want to know about FedEx’s key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by Fedex Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by FedEx in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where FedEx thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Fedex Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
Are you curious to know about the development areas of FedEx innovation through the years?