Patent Intelligence · Global IP
Which countries lead in patent filings?
Different nations dominate different technology areas. The US leads in AI; Japan leads in robotics; Korea leads in semiconductors. Country-by-country breakdown across 12 domains.
Overall Patent Volume by Country
Total patents across all domains in our database.
1
🇺🇸United States
838
Top Countries per Technology Domain
Top 5 countries by patent count within each domain. Bar = share of domain patents.
Consumer Electronics
468 total
United States
100%
Software
317 total
United States
100%
AI & Machine Learning
163 total
United States
100%
Biotechnology
139 total
United States
100%
Telecommunications
253 total
United States
100%
Semiconductors
112 total
United States
100%
Pharmaceuticals
102 total
United States
100%
E-Commerce
88 total
United States
100%
Mechanical Engineering
287 total
United States
100%
Automotive
61 total
United States
100%
Clean Energy
45 total
United States
100%
Gene Editing
11 total
United States
100%
Why the US still leads
The USPTO is the world's largest patent office. US companies file primarily in the US; international applicants also seek US market access. But China has been filing at record rates since 2015 and is closing the gap fast.
Country code = filing office
A 'US' patent means it was filed at the USPTO — it could be from a Japanese company seeking US market access. Country codes show where protection is sought, not necessarily where the inventor is located.
PCT patents (WO)
WIPO PCT (WO) filings cover up to 150+ countries in a single application. Many high-value inventions start with a PCT filing, then nationalize in the US, EU, Japan, and China. WO counts represent global-scale IP ambitions.