Patent Statistics
- Introduction
- What are U.S. patent statistics?
- How are these statistics useful?
- Pre-existing Patent Reports
- Make your own report
- Patent applications
- What patent statistics do not show you
- Further assistance
Pre-existing patent reports
Patent reports or PTMD reports are divided into several different categories. Some particularly useful categories are geographic origin, patent technology, and patenting organization.
Some facts about the PTMD reports:
- Depending on the report, you will find that the range of dates vary. Some reports begin in 1977 while others begin in 1999. Most reports provide data up to two years prior to the current year (e.g., as of March 2012, most reports contain data from 2010).
- If you have researched companies or industries in other databases, you may have noticed that you can often search by Standard Classification Code (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). When researching patent data, however, you cannot use these codes. In addition, you cannot search by zip code, geographic region or multiple regions.
- Custom reports prepared by the PTMD are available for a fee.
- "Patent Profile" reports exist for specific industries of interest for the government, such as genetic engineering and nuclear energy.
To find PTMD patent statistic reports:
- From the USPTO homepage, click on the Products & Services link.
- Scroll all the way down to the bottom and click on the patent statistical reports link.
Types of Reports
Reports are broken down by such categories as:
- geography - the patent's assignee was located in a particular state when the application was filed
- organization - the patent application was filed by a company rather than an inventor
- technology - the patent is grouped by technology class
- inventor - the patent was filed by an independent inventor
In addition, there are reports looking at patenting trends that are considered important by the government.
Some of the most interesting reports are the "drill-down" reports which combine these categories. Choose one of the categories and scroll down the page to find some of these "drill-down" reports.
Drill-Down Reports
Drill-down reports combine categories such as patenting organization and geographic region, allowing you to see, for example, how many patents were issued for IBM in the state of Vermont.
While these reports can provide unique information, it may not be exactly what you are looking for. To find specific information that cannot be found in the PTMD reports, let's see how you can make your own report.
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