Patent Intelligence · Innovation Velocity
Where is innovation accelerating?
Patent filing rates reveal where investment and research effort is compounding. 2019–2024 CAGR across 12 technology domains — which areas went from hundreds to thousands of annual filings.
Fastest growing
Semiconductors
Overall trend
Slowing
Total filings change
108 → 47
Patent Filing Growth — 2019 to 2024
CAGR = compound annual growth rate. Sparkbars show filing volume per year (each bar width = filings ÷ cross-domain max).
Semiconductors
Slowing2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
AI & Machine Learning
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Clean Energy
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Telecommunications
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Software
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Automotive
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Mechanical Engineering
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Biotechnology
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Consumer Electronics
Declining2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Tier definitions
CAGR = (2024 filings ÷ 2019 filings)1/5 − 1. Note: 2024 data may be incomplete for late-filed patents not yet published.
What acceleration signals
Rapid filing growth often precedes commercial waves by 3-7 years. AI/ML patent filing surged in 2017-2020; commercial AI products followed in 2022-2024. Gene editing showed explosive growth before CRISPR became a household term.
Why slow growth isn't bad
Established fields like mechanical engineering have stable, high-volume filing — slow CAGR on a large base still means thousands of new patents per year. Context matters: look at absolute counts, not just growth rate.
Filing lag caveat
Patents are published 18 months after filing. 2024 filings may be underrepresented if they haven't yet published. The 2019-2023 comparison is more reliable than 2019-2024 for the most recent cohort.