Harley-Davidson has a total of 720 patents globally, out of which 507 have been granted. Of these 720 patents, more than 44% patents are active. The United States of America is where Harley-Davidson has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Japan and Germany. Parallelly, United States of America seems to be the main focused R&D center and also is the origin country of Harley-Davidson.
Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903. Harley-Davidson, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells motorcycles. The Company’s products include heavyweight touring, custom, and performance motorcycles, as well as a line of motorcycle parts, accessories, and general merchandise. As of September 2022, Harley-Davidson has a market cap of $5.65 Billion.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Harley-Davidson which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Harley-Davidson patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Harley-Davidson patent portfolio.
How many patents does the Founder and CEO of Harley-Davidson have?
The Founder William S. Harley has 81, Walter Davidson has 11 patents, Arthur Davidson has 28 and the CEO Jochen Zeitz have 0 patents.
How many patents does Harley-Davidson have?
Harley-Davidson has a total of 720 patents globally. These patents belong to 342 unique patent families. Out of 720 patents, 320 patents are active.
How Many Patents did Harley-Davidson 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 | Harley-Davidson Applications Filed | Harley-Davidson Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 7 | 15 |
| 2012 | 5 | 8 |
| 2013 | 16 | 14 |
| 2014 | 49 | 24 |
| 2015 | 18 | 30 |
| 2016 | 12 | 18 |
| 2017 | 39 | 16 |
| 2018 | 46 | 23 |
| 2019 | 96 | 56 |
| 2020 | 20 | 57 |
| 2021 | 7 | 37 |
| 2022 | 2 | 14 |
How many Harley-Davidson patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did Harley-Davidson File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Harley-Davidson Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 323 |
| Japan | 163 |
| Germany | 99 |
| Europe | 29 |
| China | 26 |
| Australia | 16 |
| Italy | 11 |
| United Kingdom | 11 |
| Singapore | 8 |
| Brazil | 3 |
| India | 3 |
| Spain | 2 |
| Austria | 2 |
| New Zealand | 2 |
| South Africa | 2 |
| Korea (South) | 2 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 1 |
| Taiwan | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Harley-Davidson Patents Located?
10 Best Harley-Davidson Patents
US7591337B2 is the most popular patent in the Harley-Davidson portfolio. It has received 109 citations so far from companies like Honda Motor, Ford and Yamaha.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Harley-Davidson:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US7591337B2 | 109 |
| US7509753B2 | 88 |
| US6520275B2 | 75 |
| US20090158506A1 | 73 |
| US7171695B2 | 71 |
| US20050150921A1 | 68 |
| US6443344B1 | 64 |
| USD560610S1 | 60 |
| US6792621B2 | 59 |
| US7111328B2 | 54 |
Which Companies are using Harley-Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson patent portfolio are Honda Motor, Kawasaki and Yamaha.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Honda Motor | 22 |
| Kawasaki Heavy Industries | 6 |
| Yamaha | 5 |
| Robert Bosch Gmbh | 4 |
| Polaris Industries | 4 |
| Gm Global Technology Operations Llc | 4 |
| Piaggio | 3 |
| Toyota | 3 |
| Milsco Llc | 2 |
| Blackbird Dynamics Llc | 2 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Harley-Davidson Patents
Top Harley-Davidson Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US6792621B2 | 5 |
| US7347045B2 | 5 |
| US7284282B2 | 5 |
| US20050150921A1 | 5 |
| US20180208189A1 | 5 |
| US6520275B2 | 5 |
| US9067465B2 | 4 |
| US7424931B2 | 4 |
| US7111328B2 | 4 |
| US7997604B2 | 3 |
| US7591337B2 | 3 |
| US8224519B2 | 3 |
| US6729515B2 | 3 |
| US7665742B2 | 3 |
| US6840344B2 | 3 |
What Percentage of Harley-Davidson US Patent Applications were Granted?
Harley-Davidson (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 184 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 142 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 80.2%.
Below are the key stats of Harley-Davidson’s patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Harley-Davidson?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Michael Best & Friedrich Llp | 169 | 79.14% |
| Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear Llp | 7 | 85.71% |
| Aptiv Technologies Limited | 3 | 100.00% |
| Kevin P Moran | 2 | 100.00% |
| Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath Llp | 1 | 100.00% |
| Foley & Lardner Llp | 1 | 0% |
| Leason Ellis Llp | 1 | 100.00% |