Nike has a total of 37703 patents globally, out of which 27783 have been granted. Of these 37703 patents, more than 79% patents are active. United States of America is where Nike has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by China and Europe (EPO). Parallelly, United States of America seems to be the main focused R&D centre and also is the origin country of Nike.
Nike was founded in the year 1964. The company designs, develops, and markets athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products for men, women, and children. The Company sells its products to retail stores, through its own stores, subsidiaries, and distributors.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Nike which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Nike’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Nike’s patent portfolio.
Do read about some interesting highlights of Nike Smart Shoes, Carbon Plated Shoes patent portfolio.
Nike Innovation Prediction Roadmap: 2025–2030
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How many patents does Nike have?
Nike has a total of 35300 patents globally. These patents belong to 16186 unique patent families. Out of 35300 patents, 27727 patents are active.
Nike Patent Contributing Subsidiaries
Out of the total portfolio, 17,776 patent families are filed under Nike, Inc., making it the primary assignee. Converse Inc., a subsidiary of Nike, holds 386 patent families, while All Star accounts for 6 patent families. This breakdown shows how patent ownership is recorded across the parent company and its subsidiaries.
| Company Name | Patent Families |
| Nike | 17776 |
| Converse Inc | 386 |
| All Star | 6 |
How many Nike patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
You can also read our analysis on, how Many Patent Applications did Nike abandon Every Year?
How Many Patents did Nike File Every Year?
Nike’s patent filing activity increased consistently from 2005 onward, accelerating significantly after 2010 and reaching peak levels between 2016 and 2022. During this period, Nike regularly filed over 2,500 patents per year, demonstrating sustained innovation output. The decline observed after 2022 does not erase this long growth cycle but may reflect strategic adjustments or timing effects in the numbers. The overall trajectory clearly shows a strong expansion phase followed by recent stabilization.
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 | Nike Applications Filed | Nike Patents Granted |
| 2026 | – | 164 |
| 2025 | 345 | 2027 |
| 2024 | 1400 | 3183 |
| 2023 | 2137 | 2424 |
| 2022 | 2852 | 1959 |
| 2021 | 2538 | 2104 |
| 2020 | 2251 | 2307 |
| 2019 | 2981 | 1760 |
| 2018 | 2507 | 1915 |
| 2017 | 2873 | 2158 |
Nike’s Vs it’s competitors
The data clearly positions Nike as the dominant patent filer among the three brands. Rather than episodic spikes, Nike maintains consistently high publication volumes, signalling institutionalized IP processes and sustained R&D output.
This pattern suggests Nike leverages patents not only to protect individual products, but to build layered technological barriers across categories. In contrast, Adidas and Puma appear to adopt more concentrated filing strategies, potentially focusing on specific innovation clusters rather than broad portfolio expansion.
Who is leading patent innovation race in footwear industry?
Between 2019 and 2025, Nike has around 9,015 patent publications, which is significantly higher than any other company on the list. The next closest competitor, Adidas, has about 1,173 patents, followed by Asics with 936. The gap between Nike and the rest of the industry is substantial.
How many patent filed in footwear industry every year?
The footwear industry saw a steady rise in patent filings from 2015 to 2020. Filings increased from around 946 applications in 2015 to a peak of 12,546 applications in 2020. After a slight dip in 2021, activity remained strong through 2023, staying above 12,000 filings annually.
In 2024 and 2025, the numbers appear lower, but this is likely due to partial-year data and publication timing. Overall, the trend shows that patent activity in the footwear industry grew significantly after 2017 and remained at a high level in the following years.
Which Countries are leading the global innovation race in footwear industry?
China is leading the global innovation race in the footwear industry by a very large margin, with over 64,000 patent publications between 2019 and 2025. This makes it the most active country in footwear-related patent filings.
The United States comes next with around 12,000+ patents, followed by South Korea and Japan, each with over 4,000 filings. European countries like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom show moderate activity, while countries such as India, Canada, and Brazil also contribute steadily.
How Many Patents did Nike File in Different Countries?
Nike hold more than 35000 patents and leading the race in of patent innovation in footwear industry, The United States of America is native country of Nike and more than 37% patents of Nike portfolio belongs to the USA.
Nike has increased their patent filing in other jurisdictions that includes East Asian region majorly China, Korea (South), Taiwan and Japan, Europe (EPO) and Canada are the countries where Nike significantly filing their patents.
Countries in which Nike Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 13329 |
| China | 4845 |
| Europe (EPO) | 2454 |
| Canada | 2074 |
| Japan | 1112 |
| Taiwan | 1087 |
| South Korea | 923 |
| Viet Nam | 385 |
| Ireland | 330 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 297 |
| Europe (EPO) | 264 |
| Australia | 179 |
| Germany | 144 |
| Mexico | 114 |
| Brazil | 79 |
| India | 54 |
| South Africa | 30 |
| Argentina | 30 |
| United Kingdom | 19 |
| Spain | 16 |
| Austria | 5 |
| Russia | 4 |
| Italy | 3 |
| Israel | 2 |
| Czech Republic | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Poland | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Nike Patents Located?
You can also read our analysis on Converse Patents – Key Insights and Stats
10 Best Nike Patents
US6882955B1 is the most popular patent in the Nike portfolio. It has received 831 citations so far from companies like Adidias, Apple and Fitbit, Inc.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Nike:
Nike’s most cited patents shows that the company’s strongest innovations go beyond traditional shoe design. Many of these highly referenced patents focus on monitoring and tracking systems, advanced knitting technology, and data processing methods. This indicates that Nike has consistently invested in combining footwear with performance technology rather than limiting itself to materials and construction alone.
The prominence of tracking and digital-related patents suggests that Nike helped shift footwear from a passive product to a performance-enhancing platform. At the same time, its engineered knitting innovations changed how shoes are manufactured, improving fit, reducing waste, and enabling lightweight designs. Together, these technologies reflect Nike’s role in moving the footwear industry toward smarter, more integrated, and technology-driven products.
| Publication Number | Citation Count | Technology Area |
| US6882955B1 | 831 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US6876947B1 | 766 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US7347011B2 | 739 | Knitting Technology |
| US6898550B1 | 725 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US20070006489A1 | 720 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US6931762B1 | 671 | Knitting Technology |
| US7254516B2 | 602 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US8088044B2 | 559 | Data Processing & Mapping |
| US7771320B2 | 518 | Monitoring & Tracking |
| US6910288B2 | 501 | Footwear |
What Percentage of Nike US Patent Applications were Granted?
Nike (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 7022 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 5619 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 90.05%.
Below are the key stats of Nike patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Nike?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Banner & Witcoff Ltd | 2539 | 91.43% |
| Shook Hardy & Bacon Llp | 1773 | 88.18% |
| Honigman Llp | 742 | 86.28% |
| Quinn Ip Law | 707 | 91.28% |
| Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner | 341 | 91.39% |
| Plumsea Law Group Llc | 249 | 91.16% |
| Klarquist Sparkman Llp | 200 | 97.14% |
| Bookoff Mcandrews Pllc | 160 | 97.37% |
| Smart & Biggar Lp | 22 | 86.36% |
| Wissing Miller Llp | 20 | 95.00% |
Nike transformed the athletic shoe industry with technological innovations, but today many people know the company by its flashy ads and sports celebrities.
Nike creates and adopts a wide range of technological innovations, the one thing that continually sets them apart and ensures they are always innovative is their product and approach. Technology has allowed Nike to personalize, on-demand service that gives each customer a unique experience.
Among the patents which were filed in 2021, the areas of technology that have been covered by Nike are mostly related to Footwear, Apparel, Manufacturing and Lacing & Attachment.
Patents filed in the Footwear category mainly consists of cleat structures, specific sole structures of shoes that can be used in shoes, which also provides structure, support and comfort with variable size adjustment options.
Patents related to Apparel points to breathable and lightweight apparel and also improving range of motion in an apparel thus improving the overall comfort level in an apparel.
Nike’s unique Manufacturing related patents denotes particular processes of using adhesive in the manufacturing of footwear and using image recognition technique for measuring real size of on-line object in real time.
Lacing & attachment patents indicates footwears with a strap to provide support and cable locking/fastening system which can be used to move between a relaxed and a restricted position.
Nike’s most cited patent US6018705A-Measuring foot contact time and foot loft time of a person in locomotion relates to the measurement of foot contact time, foot loft time, speed, and/or tempo of a person in movement, as well as the monitoring of a person’s orthopedic motion.
During our research we were surprised to note that Nike was not only filing patents related to Footwear and Apparel as these were the most sought after products of Nike, but also it is working on the plan to enter and create a virtual world. Patents related to these inferences were:
| Patent Number | Title |
| US10083393B2 | Interactive avatar for social network services |
| US10369474B2 | Virtual performance system |
| US10022631B2 | System and method for creating an avatar |
| US10726435B2 | Apparatus, system, and method for target search and using geocaching |
| US9384578B2 | Augmented reality design system |
| US10505726B1 | System and method for providing cryptographically secured digital assets |
These patents indicate that Nike is ready to enter the world of Metaverse as these patents relate to creating and interacting with virtual world around us, adding to the domain of augmented reality and mixed reality.
Adding to these insights, it was also interesting to note that Nike’s patents US20150183161A1, US9005710B2, and, US9004675B2 indicates the use of 3D printing technology in the manufacturing process of apparel and footwear.
What Technologies are Covered by Nike Patents?
Note: The technology analysis has been done considering the patent data of Nike published till 2021)
The chart below distributes patents filed by Nike in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Nike thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Nike Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
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