Olympus has a total of 41386 patents globally, out of which 21599 have been granted. Of these 41386 patents, more than 46% patents are active. Japan is where Olympus has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by United States of America and China. Parallelly, Japan seems to be the main focused R&D centre and also is the origin country of Olympus.
Olympus was founded in the year 1919. The company’s line of business includes the wholesale distribution of surgical and other medical instruments, apparatus and equipment.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Olympus which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Olympus patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Olympus patent portfolio.
How many patents does the founder and the CEO of Olympus have?
The founder Takeshi Yamashita has 0 patent and CEO Kevin M. Stein has 6 patents.
How many patents does Olympus have?
Olympus has a total of 41386 patents globally. These patents belong to 17291 unique patent families. Out of 41386 patents, 19435 patents are active.
How Many Patents did Olympus 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 | Olympus Applications Filed | Olympus Patents Granted |
| 2023 | 255 | 682 |
| 2022 | 928 | 1114 |
| 2021 | 1176 | 1245 |
| 2020 | 1521 | 1396 |
| 2019 | 1907 | 2000 |
| 2018 | 2846 | 2315 |
| 2017 | 3356 | 2828 |
| 2016 | 4730 | 2933 |
| 2015 | 5364 | 2172 |
| 2014 | 4171 | 2315 |
| 2013 | 3545 | 2599 |
How many Olympus patents are Alive/Dead?
How Many Patents did Olympus File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Olympus Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| Japan | 12150 |
| United States Of America | 8521 |
| China | 4861 |
| Europe | 3908 |
| Germany | 2942 |
| Austria | 1386 |
| United Kingdom | 217 |
| India | 100 |
| Korea (South) | 74 |
| Australia | 55 |
| Spain | 54 |
| Italy | 48 |
| Taiwan | 40 |
| Canada | 30 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 19 |
| France | 12 |
| Mexico | 12 |
| Denmark | 10 |
| Singapore | 9 |
| Brazil | 8 |
| Netherlands | 7 |
| Israel | 6 |
| Philippines | 5 |
| Norway | 5 |
| Malaysia | 4 |
| Russia | 4 |
| Poland | 4 |
| Dominican Republic | 3 |
| Slovenia | 3 |
| Portugal | 3 |
| Costa Rica | 3 |
| Viet Nam | 3 |
| Croatia | 3 |
| New Zealand | 3 |
| Indonesia | 3 |
| Cyprus | 2 |
| Malta | 2 |
| South Africa | 2 |
| Hungary | 2 |
| Albania | 2 |
| Slovakia | 2 |
| Serbia | 2 |
| Eurasia | 1 |
| Macao | 1 |
| Lithuania | 1 |
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 1 |
| San Marino | 1 |
| Estonia | 1 |
Where are Research Centres of Olympus Patents Located?
10 Best Olympus Patents
US8632563B2 is the most popular patent in the Olympus portfolio. It has received 1268 citations so far from companies like Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., Nuvasive Specialized Orthopedics, Inc. and Ceterix Orthopaedics, Inc.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Olympus:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US8632563B2 | 1268 |
| US8409079B2 | 1194 |
| US9039690B2 | 1131 |
| US9131957B2 | 986 |
| US20150150620A1 | 868 |
| US8784304B2 | 856 |
| US8550984B2 | 850 |
| US8454640B2 | 825 |
| US8820608B2 | 813 |
| US20130006227A1 | 808 |
How many inventions of other companies were rejected due to Olympus patents?
The statistics below share strategic R&D insights. It tells the companies that were trying to protect inventions similar to Olympus invention. They couldn’t because Olympus had protected those before them.
Examiners at the USPTO referred 2158 Olympus patents in 7031 rejections (35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 types).
The top citing companies in the Olympus patent portfolio are Fujifilm Corporation, Canon Kabushiki Kaisha and Covidien.
List of the Companies whose Patents were rejected citing Olympus –
| Company | Number of Patent Applications that faced Rejection Citing Olympus Patents | Number of Rejections (102 & 103) |
| Fujifilm Corporation | 214 | 478 |
| Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | 176 | 304 |
| Covidien | 149 | 386 |
| Sony Corporation | 123 | 290 |
| Boston Scientific Scimed | 118 | 264 |
| Cilag Gmbh International | 96 | 214 |
| Samsung Electronics | 91 | 196 |
| Intuitive Surgical Operations | 59 | 119 |
| Evident Corporation | 52 | 88 |
| Hoya Corporation | 42 | 99 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Olympus Patents
Top Olympus Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US9138165B2 | 36 |
| US8550984B2 | 25 |
| US9257468B2 | 15 |
| US20150305612A1 | 14 |
| US8702702B1 | 13 |
| US8439826B2 | 13 |
| US8565861B2 | 12 |
| US10288888B2 | 12 |
| US8449455B2 | 11 |
| US20150305650A1 | 11 |
| US10165928B2 | 11 |
| US8532420B2 | 10 |
| US8994611B2 | 10 |
| US8690765B2 | 10 |
| US10321081B2 | 10 |
What Percentage of Olympus US Patent Applications were Granted?
Olympus (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 13394 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 9623 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 77.13%.
Below are the key stats of Olympus patent prosecution at the USPTO.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Olympus?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Scully Scott Murphy & Presser | 5215 | 70.61% |
| Holtz Holtz & Volek | 2043 | 79.73% |
| Olympus | 882 | 91.23% |
| Oliff Plc | 831 | 75.84% |
| Whda Llp | 756 | 77.34% |
| Hunton Andrews Kurth Llp Hak Ny | 579 | 91.88% |
| Ostrolenk Faber | 496 | 78.43% |
| Volpe Koenig | 465 | 77.75% |
| Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman | 321 | 88.47% |
| Thomas Spinelli | 202 | 68.81% |
What are Olympus key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by Olympus?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Olympus