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.
| Rank | Assignee | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION | 2.70% |
| 2 | SEMICONDUCTOR ENERGY LABORATORY COMPANY, LTD. | 1.70% |
| 3 | CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA | 1.20% |
| 4 | KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA | 1.20% |
| 5 | 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY | 1.10% |
| 6 | SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY, LTD. | 1.10% |
| 7 | THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA | 1.00% |
| 8 | MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. | 0.90% |
| 9 | PANASONIC CORPORATION | 0.90% |
| 10 | FUJIFILM CORPORATION | 0.80% |
| 11 | INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE | 0.80% |
| 12 | TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD. | 0.80% |
| 13 | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY | 0.70% |
| 14 | BASF SE | 0.60% |
| 15 | GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC | 0.60% |
| 16 | L'OREAL | 0.60% |
| 17 | MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 0.60% |
| 18 | NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY | 0.60% |
| 19 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 0.60% |
| 20 | APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. | 0.50% |
| 21 | ASML NETHERLANDS B.V. | 0.50% |
| 22 | CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 0.50% |
| 23 | COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES | 0.50% |
| 24 | LG CHEM, LTD. | 0.50% |
| 25 | ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION | 0.50% |
| 26 | TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED | 0.50% |
| 27 | XEROX CORPORATION | 0.50% |
| 28 | AT&T MOBILITY II LLC | 0.40% |
| 29 | DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC | 0.40% |
| 30 | E I DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY | 0.40% |
| 31 | GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC. | 0.40% |
| 32 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. | 0.40% |
| 33 | HITACHI, LTD. | 0.40% |
| 34 | SANDIA CORPORATION | 0.40% |
| 35 | TELA INNOVATIONS, INC. | 0.40% |
| 36 | TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED | 0.40% |
| 37 | THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON | 0.40% |
| 38 | APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS, LLC | 0.30% |
| 39 | COVIDIEN LP | 0.30% |
| 40 | FUJI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LTD. | 0.30% |
| 41 | FUJITSU LIMITED | 0.30% |
| 42 | FUTUREWEI TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 0.30% |
| 43 | GLOBALFOUNDRIES, INC. | 0.30% |
| 44 | HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMPANY, LTD. | 0.30% |
| 45 | INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG | 0.30% |
| 46 | INTEL CORPORATION | 0.30% |
| 47 | KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION | 0.30% |
| 48 | LG ELECTRONICS INC. | 0.30% |
| 49 | LG INNOTEK COMPANY, LTD. | 0.30% |
| 50 | MERCK PATENT GMBH | 0.30% |
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.
| Rank | Assignee | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BASF SE | 2.16% |
| 2 | COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES | 2.02% |
| 3 | FUJIFILM CORPORATION | 1.29% |
| 4 | SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD. | 1.15% |
| 5 | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE | 1.01% |
| 6 | DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC | 1.01% |
| 7 | SANOFI | 0.86% |
| 8 | THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY | 0.86% |
| 9 | 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY | 0.72% |
| 10 | CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA | 0.72% |
| 11 | DEXCOM, INC. | 0.72% |
| 12 | NOVARTIS AG | 0.72% |
| 13 | RICOH COMPANY, LTD. | 0.72% |
| 14 | E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY | 0.57% |
| 15 | FEI COMPANY | 0.57% |
| 16 | GENENTECH, INC. | 0.57% |
| 17 | JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY | 0.57% |
| 18 | MERCK PATENT GMBH | 0.57% |
| 19 | OCEAN'S KING LIGHTING SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. | 0.57% |
| 20 | SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT | 0.57% |
| 21 | CABOT CORPORATION | 0.43% |
| 22 | CELERA CORPORATION | 0.43% |
| 23 | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) | 0.43% |
| 24 | GALDERMA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT | 0.43% |
| 25 | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY | 0.43% |
| 26 | GIESECKE & DEVRIENT GMBH | 0.43% |
| 27 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. | 0.43% |
| 28 | ISIS INNOVATION LIMITED | 0.43% |
| 29 | KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC. | 0.43% |
| 30 | L'OREAL | 0.43% |
| 31 | LUBRIZOL ADVANCED MATERIALS, INC. | 0.43% |
| 32 | MERCK SHARP & DOHME CORP. | 0.43% |
| 33 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 0.43% |
| 34 | ROBERT BOSCH GMBH | 0.43% |
| 35 | ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS GMBH | 0.43% |
| 36 | SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. | 0.43% |
| 37 | ABBVIE INC. | 0.28% |
| 38 | AGFA GRAPHICS N.V. | 0.28% |
| 39 | AKRON POLYMER SYSTEMS | 0.28% |
| 40 | BRACCO IMAGING S.P.A | 0.28% |
| 41 | BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB COMPANY | 0.28% |
| 42 | CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | 0.28% |
| 43 | CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) | 0.28% |
| 44 | CHUGAI SEIYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA | 0.28% |
| 45 | COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN | 0.28% |
| 46 | DANISCO US INC. | 0.28% |
| 47 | DSM IP ASSETS B.V. | 0.28% |
| 48 | EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY | 0.28% |
| 49 | EKSIGENT TECHNOLOGIES, LLC | 0.28% |
| 50 | EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY | 0.28% |
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.
