SoftBank Group Patents – Key Insights and Stats

SoftBank Group has a total of 3485 patents globally, out of which 2009 have been granted. Of these 3485 patents, more than 41% patents are active. United States of America is where SoftBank Group has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe and United Kingdom. Parallelly, Germany and United Kingdom seems to be the main focused R&D center and Japan is the origin country of SoftBank Group.

SoftBank Group was founded in 1981 by Masayoshi Son. SoftBank Group operates as a holding company, and through its subsidiary “SoftBank”, provides telecommunication services. The Company also offers microprocessor IP, sales of design software tools, and related technology services. SoftBank Group also operates investment businesses. As of March 2022, SoftBank Group has a market cap of $72.58 Billion.

Do read about some of the most popular patents of SoftBank Group which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find SoftBank Group patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over SoftBank Group patent portfolio.

How many patents does SoftBank Group have?

SoftBank Group has a total of 3485 patents globally. These patents belong to 1643 unique patent families. Out of 3485 patents, 1450 patents are active.

How many SoftBank Group patents are Alive/Dead?

Worldwide Patents

SoftBank Group Patents Portfolio

Patent Families

SoftBank Group Patents

How Many Patents did SoftBank Group File Every Year?

SoftBank Group Patents Filing Trend

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 GrantSoft Bank Applications FiledSoft Bank Patents Granted
2011120147
201264196
201344180
201489137
2015124110
201676111
201771110
20188296
2019113108
202038103
202115106
202210

How Many Patents did SoftBank Group File in Different Countries?

SoftBank Group Worldwide Patents

Countries in which SoftBank Group Filed Patents

CountryPatents
United States Of America834
Europe648
United Kingdom593
Germany456
Japan165
China116
Spain110
Austria78
Korea (South)55
Australia50
India21
Hong Kong (S.A.R.)20
Taiwan11
Finland8
Singapore7
Ireland5
Canada5
France3
Portugal3
South Africa2
Sweden2
Colombia1
Turkey1
Poland1
Denmark1
Chile1
New Zealand1
Peru1
Switzerland1
Russian Federation1

Where are Research Centers of SoftBank Group Patents Located?

10 Best SoftBank Group Patents

US6477562B2 is the most popular patent in the SoftBank Group portfolio. It has received 189 citations so far from companies like Mips Technologies Inc, Intel and Oracle International Corporation.

Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of SoftBank Group:

Publication NumberCitation Count
US6477562B2189
US6389449B1170
GB2457221A156
US20090217036A1145
US7020879B1143
US7177985B1141
US20070146378A1133
US6754804B1131
US7055070B1123
GB2481715B122

Which Companies are using SoftBank Group 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 SoftBank Group patent portfolio are IBM, Intel and Samsung.

List of the top forward citing Companies –

CompanyNumber of Patents
IBM84
Intel70
Samsung Electronics65
Ericsson61
Qualcomm47
Arm Holdings34
Huawei32
Microsoft28
Nvidia20
Apple16

Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on SoftBank Group Patents

Top SoftBank Group Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications

Patent NumberCount of Rejected Applications
US20120202491A121
US8064395B221
US8706148B219
US20090221307A118
US20070146378A117
US8699370B215
US8543112B215
US8106921B215
US20110263274A114
US8131941B214
US8971243B213
US8705743B213
US6651160B113
US8817758B212
US8374081B212

What Percentage of SoftBank Group US Patent Applications were Granted?

SoftBank Group (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 119 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 91 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 88.35%.

Below are the key stats of SoftBank Group patent prosecution at the USPTO.

Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for SoftBank Group?

Law FirmTotal ApplicationsSuccess Rate
Muirhead And Saturnelli Llc28100.00%
Kaplan Breyer Schwarz Llp2491.67%
William H Bollman15100.00%
Imaizumi Ip Law Pllc1136.36%
Sughrue Mion Pllc9100.00%
Dla Piper Llp8100.00%
Eric D Kirsch7100.00%
Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie Llp5100.00%
Oblon Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt450.00%
Mcdermott Will & Emery Llp30%

EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!

What are BNY SoftBank Group innovation segments?

What Technologies are Covered by SoftBank Group?

The chart below distributes patents filed by SoftBank Group in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where SoftBank Group thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.

R&D Focus: How SoftBank Group search focus changed over the years?

EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!

Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by SoftBank Group?

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Our comprehensive report provides an in-depth look into the patent portfolio. The report includes a breakdown of the patent portfolio across various technologies, listing the patent along with brief summaries of each patent's technology.