Statnano Introduces Top Assignees in Nanotechnology Granted Patents in 2014

The Statnano Database website (www.statnano.com) released statistics about the top assignees in patenting in the field of nanotechnology in 2014.

According to StatNano, the IBM published the highest number of nanotechnology-related granted patents in United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2014, and it ranks first among the assignees of nanotechnology-related granted patents. In the European Patent Office (EPO), the BASF SE published the highest number of nanotechnology-related granted patents in 2014, and it ranks first.

Based on the statistical data obtained from Orbit Databank and the number of granted patents in USPTO and EPO, a sum total of 24,090 nanotechnology-related granted patents were published in USPTO in 2014. About 2.7% of the granted patents belonged to the famous enterprise IBM. This enterprise succeeded in patenting the highest number of nanotechnology-related granted patents in USPTO in 2014, and it possesses the first rank. This enterprise is active in various fields of technology, including software and hardware, and its headquarter office is located in Armonk, the United States. Two Japanese enterprises SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY COMPANY, LTD. and CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA ranked second and third, respectively.

Table 1 lists the top 50 assignees in nanotechnology-related granted patents in USPTO. The presence of five enterprises from Japan and one American University (University of California) among the top 10 assignees in USPTO is very important. There are also one enterprise from South Korea and three other American enterprises among the top 10 assignees.


RankAssigneeShare (%)
1INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION2.70%
2SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY COMPANY, LTD.1.70%
3CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA1.20%
4KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA1.20%
53M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY1.10%
6SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY, LTD.1.10%
7THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA1.00%
8MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.0.90%
9PANASONIC CORPORATION0.90%
10FUJIFILM CORPORATION0.80%
11INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE0.80%
12TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.0.80%
13GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY0.70%
14BASF SE0.60%
15GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC0.60%
16L'OREAL0.60%
17MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY0.60%
18NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY0.60%
19QUALCOMM INCORPORATED0.60%
20APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.0.50%
21ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.0.50%
22CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY0.50%
23COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES0.50%
24LG CHEM, LTD.0.50%
25ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION0.50%
26TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED0.50%
27XEROX CORPORATION0.50%
28AT&T MOBILITY II LLC0.40%
29DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC0.40%
30E I DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY0.40%
31GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.0.40%
32HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.0.40%
33HITACHI, LTD.0.40%
34SANDIA CORPORATION0.40%
35TELA INNOVATIONS, INC.0.40%
36TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED0.40%
37THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON0.40%
38APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS, LLC0.30%
39COVIDIEN LP0.30%
40FUJI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LTD.0.30%
41FUJITSU LIMITED0.30%
42FUTUREWEI TECHNOLOGIES, INC.0.30%
43GLOBALFOUNDRIES, INC.0.30%
44HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMPANY, LTD.0.30%
45INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG0.30%
46INTEL CORPORATION0.30%
47KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION0.30%
48LG ELECTRONICS INC.0.30%
49LG INNOTEK COMPANY, LTD.0.30%
50MERCK PATENT GMBH0.30%

A sum total of 4,994 nanotechnology-related granted patents were published in EPO in 2014. Studies showed that the German enterprise BASF SE possesses the highest share of nanotechnology-related granted patents in 2014, and ranks first. This enterprise is somehow the largest chemical industry company in the world and its main office is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The second and third ranks belong to a French research institute entitled COMMISSARIAT A L’ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES and a Japanese enterprise entitled FUJIFILM CORPORATION, respectively. Table 2 presents the top 50 assignees in nanotechnology-related granted patents in EPO.


RankAssigneeShare (%)
1BASF SE2.16%
2COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES2.02%
3FUJIFILM CORPORATION1.29%
4SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.1.15%
5CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE1.01%
6DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC1.01%
7SANOFI0.86%
8THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY0.86%
93M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY0.72%
10CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA0.72%
11DEXCOM, INC.0.72%
12NOVARTIS AG0.72%
13RICOH COMPANY, LTD.0.72%
14E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY0.57%
15FEI COMPANY0.57%
16GENENTECH, INC.0.57%
17JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY0.57%
18MERCK PATENT GMBH0.57%
19OCEAN'S KING LIGHTING SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.0.57%
20SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT0.57%
21CABOT CORPORATION0.43%
22CELERA CORPORATION0.43%
23CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS)0.43%
24GALDERMA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT0.43%
25GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY0.43%
26GIESECKE & DEVRIENT GMBH0.43%
27HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.0.43%
28ISIS INNOVATION LIMITED0.43%
29KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC.0.43%
30L'OREAL0.43%
31LUBRIZOL ADVANCED MATERIALS, INC.0.43%
32MERCK SHARP & DOHME CORP.0.43%
33QUALCOMM INCORPORATED0.43%
34ROBERT BOSCH GMBH0.43%
35ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS GMBH0.43%
36SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.0.43%
37ABBVIE INC.0.28%
38AGFA GRAPHICS N.V.0.28%
39AKRON POLYMER SYSTEMS0.28%
40BRACCO IMAGING S.P.A0.28%
41BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY0.28%
42CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY0.28%
43CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS)0.28%
44CHUGAI SEIYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA0.28%
45COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN0.28%
46DANISCO US INC.0.28%
47DSM IP ASSETS B.V.0.28%
48EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY0.28%
49EKSIGENT TECHNOLOGIES, LLC0.28%
50EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY0.28%

There are three enterprises from Japan, France and the United States in the top 10 enterprises in nanotechnology-related granted patents in EPO, and there is only one enterprise from Germany. Further investigation showed that the three enterprises FUJIFILM CORPORATION, 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY, and CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA are present among the top 10 assignees both in USPTO and in EPO. This fact shows that these enterprises focus on the European and American markets at the same time.