NASA, The National Aeronautics & Space Administration, has a total of 2662 patents globally, out of which 1987 have been granted. Of these 2662 patents, more than 48% patents are active. The USA is where NASA has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Japan and Germany, it has generated an annual revenue of $1.5 billion in the year 2021. Parallelly, USA seems to be the main focused R&D centre of NASA.
NASA was founded in the year 1958 by Dwight D. Eisenhower. NASA is a federal government body responsible for the civil space programme, aeronautics research, and space research in the United States.
Do you know that an ear thermometer also exists! Well, all thanks to NASA. NASA’s patent portfolio is very interesting. The patents cover areas such as Health & Medicine, Transportation, Public Safety, Recreation, Environment, Computer Technology and many more!
Do read about some of the most popular patents of NASA which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find NASA patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over NASA patent portfolio.
How many patents does the founder has?
The founder, Dwight D. Eisenhower, has 0 patents.
How many patents does NASA have?
NASA has a total of 2662 patents globally. These patents belong to 1736 unique patent families. Out of 2662 patents, 1239 patents are active.
How Many Patents did NASA 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 | NASA Applications Filed | NASA Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 140 | 122 |
| 2012 | 117 | 117 |
| 2013 | 140 | 115 |
| 2014 | 131 | 127 |
| 2015 | 127 | 130 |
| 2016 | 117 | 112 |
| 2017 | 165 | 109 |
| 2018 | 102 | 100 |
| 2019 | 68 | 122 |
| 2020 | 34 | 121 |
| 2021 | 36 | 111 |
| 2022 | – | 22 |
How many NASA patents are Alive/Dead?
How Many Patents did NASA File in Different Countries?
Countries in which NASA Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 2022 |
| Japan | 71 |
| Germany | 65 |
| Europe | 64 |
| Australia | 49 |
| Korea (South) | 35 |
| Canada | 24 |
| China | 22 |
| Brazil | 14 |
| India | 12 |
| Austria | 10 |
| Israel | 7 |
| Mexico | 5 |
| Spain | 4 |
| Singapore | 4 |
| Taiwan | 3 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 2 |
| Denmark | 2 |
| Egypt | 2 |
| Colombia | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Malaysia | 1 |
| Viet Nam | 1 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Philippines | 1 |
| Russia | 1 |
Where are Research Centres of NASA Patents Located?
Of the 1736 R&D Centres, all of them are located in the USA.
10 Best NASA Patents
US6967462B1 is the most popular patent in the NASA portfolio. It has received 779 citations so far from companies like Firefly Power Technologies, Powercast, and Sony.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of NASA:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US6967462B1 | 779 |
| US8060250B2 | 709 |
| US6501414B2 | 397 |
| US6608628B1 | 366 |
| US6721728B2 | 346 |
| US6759151B1 | 268 |
| US7378963B1 | 241 |
| US6387456B1 | 232 |
| US6720984B1 | 230 |
| US6858197B1 | 229 |
Which Companies are using NASA 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 NASA patent portfolio are Boeing, General Electric, and Honeywell.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Boeing | 61 |
| General Electric | 46 |
| Honeywell | 44 |
| Raytheon Technologies | 28 |
| Airbus | 27 |
| Hon Hai Precision Industry | 24 |
| IBM | 24 |
| Samsung | 22 |
| GM Global Technology Operations | 20 |
| Sony | 11 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on NASA Patents
Top NASA Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US6759151B1 | 20 |
| US8164485B2 | 19 |
| US7702427B1 | 16 |
| US7641949B2 | 15 |
| US7148417B1 | 15 |
| US8977482B2 | 14 |
| US9475579B2 | 13 |
| US6967462B1 | 13 |
| US10332405B2 | 13 |
| US6608628B1 | 13 |
| US7194912B2 | 13 |
| US8011229B2 | 12 |
| US7109581B2 | 11 |
| US8987632B2 | 10 |
| US6450820B1 | 10 |
NASA has filed multiple number of patents ranging from “Baby soothing devices” to Air & Space vehicles.
Baby soothing device?! Yes, that’s right. US20170348187A1 patent talks about techniques for soothing babies and, more particularly, to devices which can simulate a mother’s touch by emulating a massaging motion.
There are many such interesting patents filed by NASA, ranging from what you see in your kitchen such as precision coffee maker to landmine removal!
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are NASA’s key innovation segments?