IP-related statistics from the recent past
A selection of key IP facts and figures, as reported by IAM and other sources
Figure 1. ITC Section 337 complaints filed by month, 2015-2016

Figure 1 shows the monthly number of new Section 337 complaints before the International Trade Commission (ITC) over the past 20 months – 2016 is on course to be the ITC’s second-busiest year ever, after 2011.
Table 1. Enforcement measures patent owners hope to take in the future, 2011-2014
Measure |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
Administrative complaint to patent authority |
44% |
43% |
49% |
46% |
Patent office acting on its own initiative |
61% |
60% |
54% |
60% |
Negotiated settlement |
40% |
40% |
31% |
26% |
Civil court lawsuit |
19% |
16% |
22% |
24% |
Source: State IP Office
China’s State IP Office (SIPO) has conducted a survey of domestic patent owners each year since 2008, polling its customers on their current practices and future plans when it comes to patent prosecution, enforcement and utilisation. This year, SIPO decided to release the results publicly for the first time. About 9,000 respondents participated in the study each year, with upwards of 80% coming from the corporate world, and the remainder represented by universities, research organisations and inventors. Table 1 shows their responses when asked what enforcement measures they hope to take against infringers.

Tables 3a and 3b 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 July and August 2016.
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.
Table 3a. Top 30 patent assignees by number of transactions, July-August 2016
# |
Assignee entity |
Number of assignments transacted |
1 |
National Institutes Of Health (NIH), U.S. Dept. Of Health And Human Services (DHHS), U.S. Government |
290 |
2 |
Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation |
104 |
3 |
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. |
69 |
4 |
Nestec S.A. |
48 |
5 |
Dow Global Technologies LLC |
44 |
6 |
ViiV Healthcare (No. 5) Limited |
40 |
7 |
Intel Corporation |
39 |
8 |
National Science Foundation |
37 |
9 |
Cargill, Incorporated |
36 |
10 |
SolarEdge Technologies Ltd. |
33 |
11 |
The Regents Of The University Of California |
32 |
12 |
International Business Machines Corporation |
30 |
13 |
Griffin Technology, Inc |
30 |
14 |
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba |
29 |
15 |
Microsoft Corporation |
28 |
16 |
Olympus Corporation |
27 |
17 |
Energy, United States Department Of |
26 |
18 |
Novartis AG |
26 |
19 |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) |
24 |
20 |
Nokia Technologies OY |
23 |
21 |
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology |
23 |
22 |
Sony Corporation |
21 |
23 |
Google Inc. |
21 |
24 |
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft |
20 |
25 |
Nike, Inc. |
20 |
26 |
Thomson Licensing |
19 |
27 |
National Institutes Of Health - Director DEITR |
19 |
28 |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. |
19 |
29 |
NIH-DEITR |
18 |
30 |
3M Innovative Properties Company |
18 |
Source: ktMINE (www.ktmine.com)
Table 3b. Top 30 patent assignors by number of transactions, July-August 2016
# |
Assignor entity |
Number of assignments transacted |
1 |
Sony Corporation |
106 |
2 |
University Of California, San Francisco |
21 |
3 |
Dana-Farber Cancer Inst |
20 |
4 |
Cornell University |
13 |
5 |
Lai, Geoff |
11 |
6 |
Frey, George |
11 |
7 |
Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch |
10 |
8 |
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center |
10 |
9 |
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. |
9 |
10 |
Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. |
9 |
11 |
University Of Rochester |
8 |
12 |
Majors, Benjamin |
8 |
13 |
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. |
8 |
14 |
Tallmadge Spinning & Metal Company |
7 |
15 |
National Chip Implementation Center National Applied Research Laboratories |
7 |
16 |
Golub Capital Markets LLC, Formerly Known As GCI Capital Markets LLC, As Successor To Madison Capital Funding LLC, As Agent |
7 |
17 |
University Of South Florida |
6 |
18 |
Rosestreet Labs Energy, Inc. |
6 |
19 |
Case Western Reserve University |
6 |
20 |
Wells Fargo Capital Finance, LLC |
5 |
21 |
Rydin, Russ |
5 |
22 |
O'Neil, Charles |
5 |
23 |
Moran, David |
5 |
24 |
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mechatronics Systems, Ltd. |
5 |
25 |
Kimree Hi-Tech Inc. |
5 |
26 |
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. |
5 |
27 |
Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University |
5 |
28 |
Hitachi, Ltd. |
5 |
29 |
Conductive Composites Company, L.L.C. |
5 |
30 |
Bank Of America, N.A. |
5 |
Source: ktMINE (www.ktmine.com)