General Motors has a total of 72642 patents globally, out of which 42044 have been granted. Of these 72642 patents, more than 54% patents are active. United States of America is where General Motors has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Germany and China and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for General Motors is USA & China. Parallelly, USA seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of General Motors.
General Motors was founded in 1908 by Frederic L. Smith, William C. Durant and Charles Stewart Mott. The company doing business in Automotive Industry. The Company offers a range of services in Automobiles, Automobile parts and Commercial vehicles. As of December 2021, General Motors has a market cap of $89.33 Billion.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of General Motors which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find General Motors patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over General Motors patent portfolio.
How many patents does General Motors have?
General Motors has a total of 72642 patents globally. These patents belong to 30544 unique patent families. Out of 72642 patents, 39650 patents are active.
How many General Motors patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did General Motors 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 | General Motors Applications Filed | General Motors Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 5578 | 2410 |
| 2012 | 4912 | 3026 |
| 2013 | 4485 | 3591 |
| 2014 | 3810 | 3366 |
| 2015 | 3580 | 3704 |
| 2016 | 3975 | 3513 |
| 2017 | 4526 | 3228 |
| 2018 | 4176 | 2843 |
| 2019 | 3478 | 3064 |
| 2020 | 1537 | 1955 |
| 2021 | 341 | 2167 |
How Many Patents did General Motors File in Different Countries?
Countries in which General Motors Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 25316 |
| Germany | 21014 |
| China | 15642 |
| India | 1746 |
| United Kingdom | 1463 |
| Europe | 1354 |
| Australia | 1014 |
| Korea (South) | 937 |
| Japan | 825 |
| Canada | 459 |
| Brazil | 402 |
| Russian Federation | 391 |
| Austria | 271 |
| Spain | 57 |
| Mexico | 48 |
| Poland | 32 |
| Taiwan | 26 |
| France | 25 |
| Sweden | 22 |
| Italy | 13 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 12 |
| Portugal | 12 |
| South Africa | 12 |
| Uruguay | 12 |
| Czech Republic | 8 |
| Chile | 7 |
| Thailand | 6 |
| Denmark | 5 |
| Turkey | 5 |
| Israel | 5 |
| Hungary | 4 |
| Eurasian Patent Organization | 3 |
| Cyprus | 3 |
| Norway | 3 |
| New Zealand | 3 |
| Croatia | 2 |
| Slovenia | 2 |
| Argentina | 2 |
| Luxembourg | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 |
| Ukraine | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Bulgaria | 1 |
| Estonia | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Ecuador | 1 |
| Serbia | 1 |
| African Regional Industrial Property Organization | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| Montenegro | 1 |
| Morocco | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of General Motors Patents Located?
10 Best General Motors Patents
USD609608S1 is the most popular patent in the General Motors portfolio. It has received 813 citations so far from companies like Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of General Motors:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| USD609608S1 | 813 |
| USD608691S1 | 813 |
| USD603755S1 | 813 |
| USD605083S1 | 808 |
| USD644567S1 | 806 |
| USD605978S1 | 805 |
| USD608690S1 | 804 |
| USD615458S1 | 801 |
| USD659053S1 | 800 |
| USD597447S1 | 799 |
Which Companies are using General Motors 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 General Motors patent portfolio are Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Ford | 4066 |
| Toyota | 2192 |
| Hyundai | 1637 |
| Robert Bosch | 995 |
| Honda Motor | 981 |
| Samsung | 846 |
| Kia Motors | 709 |
| Denso | 615 |
| IBM | 599 |
| Audi | 492 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on General Motors Patents
Top General Motors Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US8352111B2 | 110 |
| US9782229B2 | 50 |
| US8977489B2 | 49 |
| US8078794B2 | 45 |
| US20110190972A1 | 45 |
| US8341332B2 | 38 |
| US8352112B2 | 37 |
| US8959280B2 | 34 |
| US8229663B2 | 34 |
| US7834778B2 | 30 |
| US8676466B2 | 29 |
| US9008917B2 | 28 |
| US8091280B2 | 28 |
| US7589643B2 | 28 |
| US8629784B2 | 27 |
What Percentage of General Motors US Patent Applications were Granted?
General Motors (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 9128 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 8331 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 91.54%.
Below are the key stats of General Motors patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for General Motors?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| General Motors | 1430 | 88.39% |
| Kathryn A Marra | 668 | 92.35% |
| Christopher Devries | 378 | 89.95% |
| Patrick M Griffin | 329 | 98.48% |
| Donald F Scherer | 316 | 98.10% |
| Leslie C Hodges | 281 | 92.17% |
| Laura C Hargitt | 273 | 93.04% |
| Charles E Leahy | 270 | 97.04% |
| Cary W Brooks | 264 | 83.33% |
| Saul Schwartz | 238 | 97.03% |
Research and innovation have propelled humanity forward in surprising ways throughout history, helping General Motors to address some of the world’s most difficult problems while also fulfilling human curiosity. General Motors is driven by the joy of discovery and innovation, not simply because it wants to be “the first” or “the only,” but also because it knows that technology must evolve in order to better individual lives.
Its R&D team has maintained committed to its goal over the years, delivering transformational advanced vehicle technology for our clients. On compatible highways, Super Cruise allowed drivers to experience genuine hands-free driving. The CarbonPro composite pickup bed supplied truck enthusiasts with a compartment that was dent, scratch, and corrosion resistant to the extreme.
Furthermore, OnStar Proactive Alerts gave customers advance notification of potential car problems, transforming an unexpected and costly repair into normal maintenance.
R&D at General Motors is still focused on getting ready for the next century of innovation. It obviously sees the company and the industry moving toward an all-electric future. Its team’s ground-breaking work on a 450-volt silver-zinc battery pack for the 1966 Electrovair II paved the way for the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Bolt EV, and, soon, the GMC HUMMER EV pickup2 and SUV, Cadillac LYRIQ, and Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup truck.
GM envisions a cleaner, more sustainable world as a result of electrification. It believes that advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning will lead to the development of self-driving automobiles around the world. And imagine a safer world for everyone, thanks to its ability to scale up its inventions.
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON
What are General Motors key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by General Motors?
The chart below distributes patents filed by General Motors in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where General Motors thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions
R&D Focus: How General Motors search focus changed over the years?
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by General Motors?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON