List of prolific inventors

The 100 known most prolific inventors based on worldwide utility patents are shown in the following table. While in many cases this is the number of utility patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it may include utility patents granted by other countries, as noted by the source references for an inventor.

Prolific Inventors

Inventor		Pats	Fams	Fam %	Pat Yrs	Yrs	Pat /Yr	Inv /Pat	Pat Residence	Majority Assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki	[1]	6715	2964	44.1%	1972—2026	54.2	124	3.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Kia Silverbrook	[2]	4747	1311	27.6%	1994—2014	20	237	1.6	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Tao Luo	[3]	4631	3880	83.8%	2006—2026	20.1	230	5.6	USA	Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng	[4]	2863	1596	55.7%	2004—2026	21.6	133	3.9	USA	IBM
Junyi Li	[5]	2827	2399	84.9%	2002—2026	23.6	120	5.2	USA	Qualcomm
Frederick E. Shelton IV	[6]	2731	1255	46.0%	2005—2026	21	130	4.5	USA	Ethicon
Peter Gaal	[7]	2636	2039	77.4%	2002—2026	23.8	111	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Wanshi Chen	[8]	2420	1858	76.8%	2009—2026	17.1	142	5.7	USA	Qualcomm
Xiaoxia Zhang	[9]	2304	1960	85.1%	2009—2026	17.4	132	5.5	USA	Qualcomm
Esmael H. Dinan	[10]	2087	880	42.2%	2006—2026	20	104	3.6	USA	Ofinno
Lowell L. Wood, Jr.	[11]	2003	1328	66.3%	1971—2026	54.3	37	8.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu	[12]	1964	1021	52.0%	1996—2026	30	65	4.9	Taiwan	TSMC
Jing Sun	[13]	1912	1606	84.0%	2012—2026	13.5	142	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Roderick A. Hyde	[14]	1893	1252	66.1%	2001—2023	22.4	85	8.7	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hanbyul Seo	[15]	1827	1366	74.8%	2012—2026	14.1	130	3.8	South Korea	LG
Shan Liu	[16]	1775	1144	64.5%	2013—2026	12.8	139	3.4	USA	Tencent
Sarbajit K. Rakshit	[17]	1594	1366	85.7%	2013—2026	13.4	119	3.4	India	IBM
Jun Koyama	[18]	1515	619	40.9%	1991—2026	34.9	43	3.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Yunjung Yi	[19]	1446	975	67.4%	2011—2026	15.4	94	3.3	USA	LG
Gurtej Singh Sandhu	[20]	1434	584	40.7%	1991—2024	32.5	44	2.5	USA	Micron
Ruilong Xie	[21]	1333	1059	79.4%	2013—2026	13.4	99	4.2	USA	IBM
Shou-Shan Fan	[22]	1317	1102	83.7%	2006—2026	19.9	66	4.2	China	Hon Hai
Suckchel Yang	[23]	1316	862	65.5%	2013—2026	12.9	102	4.7	South Korea	LG
Alexander Reznicek	[24]	1315	807	61.4%	2006—2026	20.1	65	3.9	USA	IBM
Paul Lapstun	[25]	1306	247	18.9%	2000—2026	25.2	52	2.5	Australia	Silverbrook Research
Satoshi Seo	[26]	1293	617	47.7%	2002—2026	23.5	55	4.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Juan Montojo	[27]	1290	1050	81.4%	2004—2026	22.3	58	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Clarence T. Tegreene	[28]	1253	904	72.1%	2000—2025	24.8	51	10.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Takahiro Nishi	[29]	1242	397	32.0%	2001—2026	24.8	50	6.3	Japan	Panasonic
Yan Zhou	[30]	1224	1085	88.6%	2012—2026	13.8	89	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Jason L. Harris	[31]	1214	670	55.2%	2011—2026	15.4	79	6.0	USA	Ethicon
Marta Karczewicz	[32]	1199	990	82.6%	2000—2026	25.5	47	4.0	USA	Qualcomm
Kijun Kim	[33]	1185	824	69.5%	2013—2026	12.4	96	4.6	South Korea	LG
Joonkui Ahn	[34]	1180	767	65.0%	2013—2026	12.9	91	4.7	South Korea	LG
Tingfang Ji	[35]	1136	841	74.0%	2006—2026	19.9	57	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Seungmin Lee	[36]	1120	850	75.9%	2014—2026	11.6	97	3.5	South Korea	LG
Edward K. Y. Jung	[37]	1112	794	71.4%	1996—2022	26.1	43	8.0	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Leonard Forbes	[38]	1109	411	37.1%	1975—2019	43.3	26	2.6	USA	Micron
Hao Xu	[39]	1092	815	74.6%	2005—2026	21.2	52	4.7	China	Qualcomm
Thomas Edison	[40]	1084	NA	NA	1869—1933	63.9	17	1.0	USA	Thomas Edison
Jason K. Resch	[41]	1071	515	48.1%	2009—2026	16.7	64	4.2	USA	IBM
Rick Allen Hamilton II	[42]	1064	715	67.2%	1999—2025	26.5	40	4.2	USA	IBM
Justin T. Mason	[43]	1034	1030	99.6%	2008—2026	17.5	59	1.0	USA	MS Technologies
Ahmadreza Rofougaran	[44]	1014	487	48.0%	2002—2026	23.9	42	6.4	USA	Broadcom
Satoshi Nagata	[45]	1004	967	96.3%	2011—2026	14.7	68	4.0	Japan	NTT
Donald E. Weder	[46]	1000	395	39.5%	1978—2015	37.1	27	1.1	USA	Weder Family Trust
Michael J. Sullivan	[47]	997	534	53.6%	1989—2024	34.5	29	3.8	USA	Acushnet Holdings
George Albert Lyon	[48]	993	NA	NA	1901—1965	64.5	15	1.0	Canada	Lyon George Albert
Jordin T. Kare	[49]	993	640	64.5%	1992—2023	30.5	33	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Jay S. Walker	[50]	981	422	43.0%	1998—2024	26.3	37	5.2	USA	Walker Digital
Kyungmin Park	[51]	970	459	47.3%	2014—2026	12.1	80	5.2	USA	Ofinno
William H. Eby	[52]	967	963	99.6%	1994—2026	32.1	30	1.2	USA	Monsanto
Hajime Kimura	[53]	958	309	32.3%	2002—2026	23.5	41	2.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
John F. O'Connor	[54]	949	NA	NA	1901—1935	33.9	28	NA	USA	William H. Miner
Hua Zhou	[55]	946	497	52.5%	2012—2026	14.3	66	5.5	USA	Ofinno
David R. Hall	[56]	927	766	82.6%	1985—2026	40.7	23	3.8	USA	Hall Labs
Melvin De Groote	[57]	925	NA	NA	1924—1966	41.8	22	NA	USA	Petrolite
Hongyuan Zhang	[58]	921	502	54.5%	2009—2026	17.1	54	3.9	USA	Marvell
Nathan Myhrvold	[59]	910	614	67.5%	1994—2025	31	29	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Stuart C. Salter	[60]	909	852	93.7%	2009—2026	16.5	55	4.8	USA	Ford
Chih-Chao Yang	[61]	905	587	64.9%	2003—2026	22.5	40	3.4	USA	IBM
Francis H. Richards	[62]	894	NA	NA	1899—1930	30.8	29	NA	USA	Francis H. Richards
Mark Malamud	[63]	886	690	77.9%	1997—2022	25.1	35	7.5	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Robert W. Lord	[64]	870	683	78.5%	2003—2025	21.6	40	7.6	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hsien-Wei Chen	[65]	869	400	46.0%	2005—2026	21.2	41	3.5	Taiwan	TSMC
Youngdae Lee	[66]	862	684	79.4%	2014—2026	12.2	71	3.1	South Korea	LG
Royce A. Levien	[67]	855	666	77.9%	1997—2020	23.4	37	6.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Lee D. Whetsel	[68]	852	128	15.0%	1991—2017	26.4	32	1.1	USA	Texas Instruments
Muriel Y. Ishikawa	[69]	840	560	66.7%	2002—2023	21.2	40	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
SungDuck Chun	[70]	838	524	62.5%	2007—2026	18.4	46	3.8	South Korea	LG
Michael K. Gschwind	[71]	837	442	52.8%	2001—2021	20.6	41	2.6	USA	IBM
Clifford A. Pickover	[72]	836	548	65.6%	1992—2024	32.2	26	3.9	USA	IBM
Devendra K. Sadana	[73]	829	471	56.8%	1983—2026	43.3	19	4.3	USA	IBM
Xue Dong	[74]	812	783	96.4%	2010—2026	15.4	53	7.4	China	BOE
Frederick A. Ware	[75]	792	233	29.4%	1981—2026	44.5	18	2.8	USA	Rambus
Salman A. Akram	[76]	789	294	37.3%	1995—2026	30.7	26	2.9	USA	Micron
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur	[77]	782	639	81.7%	2006—2026	20.1	39	2.6	France	Cisco Systems
Hyoungsuk Jeon	[78]	779	375	48.1%	2009—2026	16.5	47	5.6	USA	Ofinno
Warren M. Farnworth	[79]	774	289	37.3%	1990—2014	24.4	32	2.8	USA	Micron
James A. Jorasch	[80]	774	309	39.9%	1994—2023	29	27	3.9	USA	Walker Digital
Toshiyasu Sugio	[81]	774	284	36.7%	2009—2026	16.7	46	4.9	Japan	Panasonic
Shougo Sato	[82]	770	294	38.2%	1992—2026	33.7	23	1.8	Japan	Brother
Bruce B. Doris	[83]	768	435	56.6%	1995—2025	30.3	25	4.2	USA	IBM
Ali Khakifirooz	[84]	760	415	54.6%	2011—2026	14.4	53	4.2	USA	IBM
Chung-Shi Liu	[85]	759	400	52.7%	2000—2026	26.4	29	6.1	Taiwan	TSMC
Jeyhan Karaoguz	[86]	757	371	49.0%	1996—2020	23.8	32	4.6	USA	Broadcom
Carleton Ellis	[87]	753	NA	NA	1902—1946	43.1	17	NA	USA	Ellis Foster Co
Jonghyun Park	[88]	749	533	71.2%	2013—2026	13.4	56	3.8	USA	LG
John M. Santosuosso	[89]	738	466	63.1%	2001—2022	20.7	36	3.9	USA	IBM
Hideo Ando	[90]	733	123	16.8%	1983—2020	36.7	20	3.1	Japan	Toshiba
Lisa Seacat DeLuca	[91]	727	530	72.9%	2009—2026	17.1	43	2.7	USA	IBM
Woosuk Ko	[92]	726	323	44.5%	2015—2026	11.1	65	3.4	South Korea	LG
George Spector	[93]	723	723	100%	1974—1998	24.6	29	2.1	USA	George Spector
Gregory J. Boss	[94]	722	498	69.0%	2008—2026	18.2	40	4.2	USA	IBM
Austin L. Gurney	[95]	718	182	25.3%	1999—2021	21.6	33	2.9	USA	Genentech
Xiaochuan Chen	[96]	711	688	96.8%	2014—2026	11.9	60	7.0	China	BOE
Moon-il Lee	[97]	711	388	54.6%	2010—2026	15.5	46	5.3	USA	LG
Aleksandar Damnjanovic	[98]	707	519	73.4%	2003—2026	22.9	31	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Tetsujiro Kondo	[99]	700	528	75.4%	1987—2021	34	21	3.8	Japan	Sony
Eric C. Leuthardt	[100]	697	469	67.3%	2006—2026	19.5	36	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of June 23, 2026.

The columns are defined as follows:

• Inventor: The name of the inventor.
• Pats: The number of utility patents that have been issued. Only utility patents (or the international equivalent) are listed, as a utility patent is a patent for an invention. Not all patents are for inventions. Other patent types include: design patents for the ornamental design of an object; plant patents for plant varieties; and reissue patents, where a correction is made to an already granted patent. This list does not include patent applications (patents pending) as there is no guarantee that a patent application actually describes a novel invention until the patent is granted.
• Fams: The number of patent families, which in USPTO data includes an original or continuation-in-part patent by itself or with one or more continuation or divisional patents based on the original or continuation-in-part patent. This is different than global patent families that represent a patent filed in more than one jurisdiction. "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
• Fam %: The percentage of original and continuation-in-part patents that are in the inventor's patent portfolio [Fams column divided by Pats column, rounded to first decimal as a percentage]. "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
• Pat Yrs: The first and last year in which an inventor received a patent issuance.
• Yrs: The number of years from first issuance to most recent issuance, rounded to first decimal based on dates.
• Pats /Yr: The average number of patents received per year [Pats column divided by Yrs column, rounded].
• Inv / Pat: The average number of inventors listed on the inventor's most recent 50 patents as of September 7, 2021 or on the date the inventor was added to the table if later. "NA" signifies the inventor was active prior to digital records.
• Pat Residence: The country of inventor's residence listed in their most recent patent issuance.
• Majority Assignment: The entity that has the most patents assigned from an inventor's portfolio. This is current and not original assignment. It is usually, but not always an indication of which company the inventor worked at for the majority of their patent activity.

Significance of inventions

This table is a sortable list of the most prolific inventors as measured by utility patents granted. It does not include other types of invention, such as inventions that were never applied for nor granted, for which there is no known source. Nor does the table attempt to measure the significance of an inventor and their inventions. The significance of inventions is often not apparent until many decades after the invention has been made. For recent inventors, it is not yet possible to determine their place in history.

Various published lists

Rankings of prolific inventors have been published at various times. However, until the patent records were digitized, these lists were very tedious to prepare, as many thousands of patent records had to be checked manually. Even after digitization, it is still not a simple process. While the USPTO keeps statistics for annual rankings of inventions assigned to companies, it no longer publishes rankings of individual inventors. The last such list was published by the USPTO in 1998.^{[Info 1]} Also, patents predating 1976 have not yet been digitized in the USPTO records. This means that patents before 1976 will not be included in a USPTO search by inventor name, and the number of patents granted before 1976 must be added to current searches.

A more extensive list of prolific inventors with additional information and ability to filter on country, gender, time period, patent type, and Nobel laureate title can be found at idiyas.com/top/inventors. There are some discrepancies with this article due to different inventor queries that attempt to account for data issues such as typos and multiple inventors with the same name.

See also

• Timeline of historic inventions
• List of inventors

References

References of Inventors' Patents