Chetan Sharma Consulting has analyzed more than 7 million patents to create an in-depth look at the mobile patent landscape. The firm analyzed patent filings and granted patents in the U.S. and Europe for the years 1991 – 2014, and looked specifically at mobile patents. Through 1997, the number of mobile-related patents was very similar for the two regions, but then the U.S. started to pull ahead. By 2013, U.S. companies had more than 70,000 mobile patents, while European companies had roughly 25,000.
25% of the patents granted in the U.S. last year were related to mobile technology. Roughly 10% of those granted in Europe were mobile-related.
Of course not all patents filed in the U.S. are filed by U.S. companies. In 2013 Samsung had more U.S. mobile patent grants than any company except IBM and Microsoft. In Europe it had more than any other company.
Sharma also found that Samsung also holds more mobile patents than any other company in the world, followed by IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm, RIM (now BlackBerry), Intel, Apple, Oracle, Google and Amazon.
Apple’s eighth place showing is perhaps a testament to the efficiency of its intellectual property efforts. The company seems to hold far fewer patents than many of its rivals, but it may well earn more revenue per patent than any other company on the list.
Apple is, of course, in the midst of a major legal battle with Samsung over intellectual property related to smartphones. Google is also a big part of the fight; this week in court a Google lawyer testified that Google has offered Samsung financial assistance as the Korean company defends its use of certain technologies. The two patent defenses for which Google is offering Samsung financial assistance involve background synchronization and universal search.
Among wireless carriers, AT&T holds the most patents, followed by NTT DoCoMo, Sprint, Verizon and Telecom Italia. AT&T ranks far ahead of its rivals in terms of granted patents and pending patents.
Among all participants in the mobile ecosystem, the three companies with the highest number of pending mobile patents are the same three that have the largest number granted to date: Samsung, IBM and Microsoft.
