IP-related statistics from the recent past
A selection of key IP facts and figures, as reported by IAM and other sources
Table 1. Stock performance of selected publicly traded IP-centric companies, March-May 2015

Source: Google Finance
Table 2a. Top 30 patent assignees by number of transactions, March-April 2015
# |
Assignee entity |
Number of assignments transacted |
1 |
National Science Foundation |
301 |
2 |
National Institutes Of Health (NIH), U.S. Dept. Of Health And Human Services (DHHS), U.S. Government |
239 |
3 |
Japan Display Inc. |
104 |
4 |
Microsoft Corporation |
91 |
5 |
Nokia Technologies Oy |
90 |
6 |
Inventor Holdings, LLC |
90 |
7 |
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha |
87 |
8 |
Intel Corporation |
80 |
9 |
AliphCom |
79 |
10 |
International Business Machines Corporation |
73 |
11 |
Dow Global Technologies LLC |
59 |
12 |
Walker Digital, LLC |
57 |
13 |
Marvell International Ltd. |
57 |
14 |
Energy, United States Department Of |
57 |
15 |
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft |
55 |
16 |
The Regents Of The University Of California |
51 |
17 |
Sony Corporation |
51 |
18 |
Robert Bosch GmbH |
48 |
19 |
U.S. Department Of Energy |
46 |
20 |
DePuy Synthes Products, Inc. |
42 |
21 |
Qualcomm Incorporated |
40 |
22 |
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha |
39 |
23 |
Scienbizip Consulting(Shenzhen) Co.,Ltd. |
39 |
24 |
Rovi Guides, Inc. |
39 |
25 |
UV Corp. |
38 |
26 |
TV Guide, Inc. |
38 |
27 |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. |
38 |
28 |
Ji Zhun Precision Industry (Hui Zhou) Co., Ltd. |
36 |
29 |
Zhongshan Innocloud Intellectual Property Services Co.,Ltd. |
35 |
30 |
AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. |
35 |
Source: ktMINE (www.ktmine.com)
Table 2b. Top 30 patent assignors by number of transactions, March-April 2015
# |
Assignor entity |
Number of assignments transacted |
1 |
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. |
58 |
2 |
Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. |
41 |
3 |
University Of Utah |
39 |
4 |
Searete LLC |
38 |
5 |
Canon Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha |
36 |
6 |
Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc. |
30 |
7 |
Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research |
29 |
8 |
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. |
28 |
9 |
University Of Southern California |
23 |
10 |
Scienbizip Consulting (Shenzhen)Co.,Ltd. |
23 |
11 |
Donaldson, Thomas Alan |
22 |
12 |
Gormley, Eamonn |
18 |
13 |
Betts-Lacroix, Jonathan, Mr. |
17 |
14 |
Sharp Laboratories Of America Inc. |
16 |
15 |
Rubin, Kim, Mr. |
16 |
16 |
Chen & Chen, LLC |
15 |
17 |
Boston Biomedical Research Institute |
15 |
18 |
Xue, Songsheng |
14 |
19 |
University Of Minnesota |
14 |
20 |
Salk Institute For Biological Studies |
13 |
21 |
Lavelle, Richard M. |
13 |
22 |
Compuware Corporation |
13 |
23 |
Krow Innovation, LLC |
12 |
24 |
Lei, Xiaofeng |
11 |
25 |
Immendorf, Chaz |
11 |
26 |
Element Six Limited |
11 |
27 |
Deak, James Geza |
11 |
28 |
Silicon Image, Inc. |
10 |
29 |
Shen, Weifeng |
10 |
30 |
Los Alamos National Security |
10 |
Tables 2a and 2b show the entities with the highest volume of in-bound patent assignment transactions (assignee table) and out-bound patent assignment transactions (assignor table), as recorded at the US Patent and Trademark Office. These results are calculated by aggregating the number of transactions completed by an assignee/assignor in March and April 2015.
One transaction may include multiple patents, patent families and patent portfolios. Many companies create numerous holding vehicles to house their different IP portfolios; this is why similar company names may appear multiple times in the tables.
Source: ktMINE (www.ktmine.com)
Table 3. US lawsuits and inter partesreviews - involvement of global top eight automobile manufacturers
Company |
Lawsuits filed 2010-2014 in which the company is a defendant |
Lawsuits filed 2010-2014 in which the company is a plaintiff |
Inter partes reviews filed since 2012 |
Open inter partes reviews as of April 2015 |
Ford |
52 |
2 |
34 |
32 |
Toyota |
49 |
1 |
32 |
14 |
Honda |
34 |
1 |
12 |
3 |
Hyundai |
38 |
1 |
11 |
3 |
Volkswagen |
34 |
0 |
10 |
8 |
Nissan |
41 |
0 |
7 |
5 |
Fiat-Chrysler |
30 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
General Motors |
34 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Source: Lex Machina
Figure 1. Chinese patent holdings of selected major smartphone manufacturers 2015

NB: Utility model patents not included.
Sources: Tech In Asia; State IP Office of the People’s Republic of China; World IP Organisation