Nintendo has a total of 8505 patents globally, out of which 6980 have been granted. Of these 8505 patents, more than 69% patents are active. Japan is where Nintendo has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by the USA and Europe. Parallelly, Japan seems to be the main focused R&D center and also is the origin country of Nintendo.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a Nintendo Karuta by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Nintendo develops, manufactures, and sells household leisure equipment. The Company produces home use video game hardware and software products. As of July 2022, Nintendo has a market cap of $52 Billion.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Nintendo which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Nintendo patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Nintendo patent portfolio.
How many patents does the Founder and CEO of Nintendo have?
The Founder Fusajiro Yamauchi has 0 patents and the CEO Shuntaro Furukawa have 0 patents.
How many patents does Nintendo have?
Nintendo has a total of 8505 patents globally. These patents belong to 3354 unique patent families. Out of 8505 patents, 5907 patents are active.
How Many Patents did Nintendo 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 | Nintendo Applications Filed | Nintendo Patents Granted |
| 2011 | 760 | 400 |
| 2012 | 666 | 444 |
| 2013 | 473 | 545 |
| 2014 | 310 | 523 |
| 2015 | 290 | 429 |
| 2016 | 335 | 437 |
| 2017 | 422 | 452 |
| 2018 | 245 | 385 |
| 2019 | 235 | 415 |
| 2020 | 197 | 409 |
| 2021 | 120 | 316 |
| 2022 | 9 | 126 |
How many Nintendo patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
How Many Patents did Nintendo File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Nintendo Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| Japan | 2895 |
| United States Of America | 2761 |
| Europe | 901 |
| Germany | 466 |
| China | 295 |
| Australia | 165 |
| Korea (South) | 144 |
| United Kingdom | 144 |
| Taiwan | 130 |
| Canada | 89 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 88 |
| Mexico | 57 |
| Singapore | 49 |
| Brazil | 45 |
| Spain | 44 |
| Argentina | 35 |
| Austria | 17 |
| France | 17 |
| Malaysia | 15 |
| Sweden | 8 |
| Brunei | 7 |
| Italy | 7 |
| India | 6 |
| Finland | 4 |
| Ireland | 4 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 |
| Portugal | 1 |
| Bulgaria | 1 |
| Norway | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Philippines | 1 |
| Denmark | 1 |
| Poland | 1 |
| Israel | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Nintendo Patents Located?
10 Best Nintendo Patents
US6375572B1 is the most popular patent in the Nintendo portfolio. It has received 520 citations so far from companies like Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, Huawei Technologies and Microsoft.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Nintendo:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US6375572B1 | 520 |
| US6699127B1 | 413 |
| US7774155B2 | 401 |
| US7056217B1 | 358 |
| US6716103B1 | 348 |
| USD625323S1 | 292 |
| US6468160B2 | 289 |
| US6599194B1 | 279 |
| US6609977B1 | 265 |
| US6544126B2 | 248 |
Which Companies are using Nintendo 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 Nintendo patent portfolio are Sony Corporation, Samsung Electronics and Microsoft.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Sony Corporation | 264 |
| Samsung Electronics | 162 |
| Microsoft | 111 |
| Konami Digital Entertainment | 54 |
| Canon | 54 |
| IBM | 52 |
| Apple | 46 |
| Lg Electronics | 38 |
| Intel | 32 |
| 32 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Nintendo Patents
Top Nintendo Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US8412590B2 | 35 |
| US6699127B1 | 30 |
| US7927216B2 | 24 |
| US7864159B2 | 22 |
| US9116721B2 | 19 |
| US8277316B2 | 19 |
| US8033914B2 | 18 |
| US9931571B2 | 17 |
| US20070198948A1 | 17 |
| US8696464B2 | 16 |
| US8384770B2 | 16 |
| US7942745B2 | 16 |
| US8698902B2 | 15 |
| US6884171B2 | 15 |
| US9286725B2 | 14 |
What Percentage of Nintendo US Patent Applications were Granted?
Nintendo (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 1942 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 1613 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 88.6%.
Below are the key stats of Nintendo patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Nintendo?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Nixon & Vanderhye Pc | 1811 | 88.24% |
| Scully Scott Murphy & Presser Pc | 22 | 100.00% |
| Xsensus Llp | 16 | 100.00% |
| Robert W Faris | 15 | 100.00% |
| Miles & Stockbridge Pc | 11 | 100.00% |
| Michael J Shea | 6 | 0% |
| Oblon Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt Llp | 6 | 100.00% |
| Oliff Plc | 6 | 100.00% |
| Holtz Holtz & Volek Pc | 4 | 100.00% |
| Lee & Hayes Pc | 4 | 75.00% |
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