List of prolific inventors

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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

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Inventor Pats Fams Fam % Pat Yrs Yrs Pat /Yr Inv /Pat Pat Residence Majority Assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki [1] 6631 2914 43.9% 1972—2025 53.6 124 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] 4323 3598 83.2% 2006—2025 19.5 222 5.6 USA Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng [4] 2832 1572 55.5% 2004—2025 21 135 3.9 USA IBM
Junyi Li [5] 2676 2256 84.3% 2002—2025 23 116 5.2 USA Qualcomm
Frederick E. Shelton IV [6] 2646 1212 45.8% 2005—2025 20.4 130 4.5 USA Ethicon
Peter Gaal [7] 2509 1930 76.9% 2002—2025 23.2 108 5.9 USA Qualcomm
Wanshi Chen [8] 2313 1777 76.8% 2009—2025 16.5 140 5.7 USA Qualcomm
Xiaoxia Zhang [9] 2103 1782 84.7% 2009—2025 16.8 125 5.5 USA Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr. [10] 1998 1326 66.4% 1971—2025 53.4 37 8.8 USA Intellectual Ventures
Esmael H. Dinan [11] 1932 764 39.5% 2006—2025 19.4 100 3.6 USA Ofinno
Chen-Hua Yu [12] 1900 985 51.8% 1996—2025 29.4 65 4.9 Taiwan TSMC
Roderick A. Hyde [13] 1892 1252 66.2% 2001—2023 22.4 84 8.7 USA Intellectual Ventures
Hanbyul Seo [14] 1788 1331 74.4% 2012—2025 13.5 132 3.8 South Korea LG
Jing Sun [15] 1747 1461 83.6% 2012—2025 12.9 135 5.9 USA Qualcomm
Shan Liu [16] 1599 1014 63.4% 2013—2025 12.2 131 3.4 USA Tencent
Jun Koyama [17] 1512 618 40.9% 1991—2022 30.8 49 3.1 Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Sarbajit K. Rakshit [18] 1489 1262 84.8% 2013—2025 12.8 116 3.4 India IBM
Gurtej Singh Sandhu [19] 1432 584 40.8% 1991—2024 32.5 44 2.5 USA Micron
Yunjung Yi [20] 1389 934 67.2% 2011—2025 14.8 94 3.3 USA LG
Shou-Shan Fan [21] 1312 1097 83.6% 2006—2025 19.1 69 4.2 China Hon Hai
Paul Lapstun [22] 1305 246 18.9% 2000—2022 21.4 61 2.5 Australia Silverbrook Research
Alexander Reznicek [23] 1284 777 60.5% 2006—2025 19.6 66 3.9 USA IBM
Suckchel Yang [24] 1270 820 64.6% 2013—2025 12.3 103 4.7 South Korea LG
Satoshi Seo [25] 1252 594 47.4% 2002—2025 22.9 55 4.1 Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Clarence T. Tegreene [26] 1251 904 72.3% 2000—2025 24.8 50 10.1 USA Intellectual Ventures
Juan Montojo [27] 1237 1001 80.9% 2004—2025 21.7 57 6.9 USA Qualcomm
Kijun Kim [28] 1178 817 69.4% 2013—2025 11.8 100 4.6 South Korea LG
Takahiro Nishi [29] 1176 387 32.9% 2001—2025 24.2 49 6.3 Japan Panasonic
Jason L. Harris [30] 1172 652 55.6% 2011—2025 14.8 79 6.0 USA Ethicon
Joonkui Ahn [31] 1169 759 64.9% 2013—2025 12.3 95 4.7 South Korea LG
Ruilong Xie [32] 1168 896 76.7% 2013—2025 12.8 91 4.2 USA IBM
Marta Karczewicz [33] 1149 943 82.1% 2000—2025 24.9 46 4.0 USA Qualcomm
Edward K. Y. Jung [34] 1111 794 71.5% 1996—2022 26.1 43 8.0 USA Intellectual Ventures
Leonard Forbes [35] 1109 411 37.1% 1975—2019 43.3 26 2.6 USA Micron
Tingfang Ji [36] 1098 811 73.9% 2006—2025 19.3 57 6.9 USA Qualcomm
Thomas Edison [37] 1084 NA NA 1869—1933 63.9 17 1.0 USA Thomas Edison
Yan Zhou [38] 1065 933 87.6% 2012—2025 13.2 81 4.4 USA Qualcomm
Rick Allen Hamilton II [39] 1064 715 67.2% 1999—2025 26.5 40 4.2 USA IBM
Seungmin Lee [40] 1064 798 75.0% 2014—2025 11.1 96 3.5 South Korea LG
Jason K. Resch [41] 1056 513 48.6% 2009—2025 15.7 67 4.2 USA IBM
Hao Xu [42] 1013 740 73.1% 2005—2025 20.6 49 4.7 China Qualcomm
Donald E. Weder [43] 1000 395 39.5% 1978—2015 37.1 27 1.1 USA Weder Family Trust
Michael J. Sullivan [44] 997 534 53.6% 1989—2024 34.5 29 3.8 USA Acushnet Holdings
Ahmadreza Rofougaran [45] 997 479 48.0% 2002—2025 23.4 43 6.4 USA Broadcom
George Albert Lyon [46] 993 NA NA 1901—1965 64.5 15 1.0 Canada Lyon George Albert
Jordin T. Kare [47] 993 640 64.5% 1992—2023 30.5 33 9.1 USA Intellectual Ventures
Jay S. Walker [48] 980 422 43.1% 1998—2024 26.3 37 5.2 USA Walker Digital
John F. O'Connor [49] 949 NA NA 1901—1935 33.9 28 NA USA William H. Miner
Hajime Kimura [50] 940 301 32.0% 2002—2025 23 41 2.6 Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
William H. Eby [51] 932 928 99.6% 1994—2025 31.5 30 1.2 USA Monsanto
Melvin De Groote [52] 925 NA NA 1924—1966 41.8 22 NA USA Petrolite
David R. Hall [53] 923 764 82.8% 1985—2025 40.2 23 3.8 USA Hall Labs
Kyungmin Park [54] 913 425 46.5% 2014—2025 11.5 79 5.2 USA Ofinno
Nathan Myhrvold [55] 908 614 67.6% 1994—2025 31 29 11.1 USA Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang [56] 904 488 54.0% 2009—2025 16.5 55 3.9 USA Marvell
Satoshi Nagata [57] 901 864 95.9% 2011—2025 14.1 64 4.0 Japan NTT
Francis H. Richards [58] 894 NA NA 1899—1930 30.8 29 NA USA Francis H. Richards
Justin T. Mason [59] 894 890 99.6% 2008—2025 17 53 1.0 USA MS Technologies
Mark Malamud [60] 886 690 77.9% 1997—2022 25.1 35 7.5 USA Intellectual Ventures
Chih-Chao Yang [61] 876 559 63.8% 2003—2025 21.9 40 3.4 USA IBM
Stuart C. Salter [62] 870 817 93.9% 2009—2025 15.9 55 4.8 USA Ford
Robert W. Lord [63] 869 683 78.6% 2003—2025 21.6 40 7.6 USA Intellectual Ventures
Hua Zhou [64] 864 440 50.9% 2012—2025 13.7 63 5.5 USA Ofinno
Royce A. Levien [65] 855 666 77.9% 1997—2020 23.4 37 6.8 USA Intellectual Ventures
Hsien-Wei Chen [66] 852 394 46.2% 2005—2025 20.7 41 3.5 Taiwan TSMC
Lee D. Whetsel [67] 849 128 15.1% 1991—2017 26.4 32 1.1 USA Texas Instruments
Muriel Y. Ishikawa [68] 840 560 66.7% 2002—2023 21.2 40 11.1 USA Intellectual Ventures
Youngdae Lee [69] 839 662 78.9% 2014—2025 11.5 73 3.1 South Korea LG
Michael K. Gschwind [70] 836 442 52.9% 2001—2021 20.6 41 2.6 USA IBM
Clifford A. Pickover [71] 836 548 65.6% 1992—2024 32.2 26 3.9 USA IBM
Devendra K. Sadana [72] 827 470 56.8% 1983—2025 42.6 19 4.3 USA IBM
SungDuck Chun [73] 822 508 61.8% 2007—2025 17.8 46 3.8 South Korea LG
Xue Dong [74] 792 766 96.7% 2010—2025 14.9 53 7.4 China BOE
Salman Akram [75] 788 293 37.2% 1995—2025 30.3 26 2.9 USA Micron
Warren M. Farnworth [76] 774 289 37.3% 1990—2014 24.4 32 2.8 USA Micron
Frederick A. Ware [77] 774 232 30.0% 1981—2025 43.9 18 2.8 USA Rambus
James A. Jorasch [78] 774 309 39.9% 1994—2023 29 27 3.9 USA Walker Digital
Bruce B. Doris [79] 767 435 56.7% 1995—2025 30.3 25 4.2 USA IBM
Shougo Sato [80] 762 292 38.3% 1992—2025 33 23 1.8 Japan Brother
Jeyhan Karaoguz [81] 757 371 49.0% 1996—2020 23.8 32 4.6 USA Broadcom
Ali Khakifirooz [82] 757 413 54.6% 2011—2025 13.9 54 4.2 USA IBM
Carleton Ellis [83] 753 NA NA 1902—1946 43.1 17 NA USA Ellis Foster Co
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur [84] 752 609 81.0% 2006—2025 19.5 39 2.6 France Cisco Systems
Toshiyasu Sugio [85] 749 275 36.7% 2009—2025 16.1 47 4.9 Japan Panasonic
Chung-Shi Liu [86] 744 394 53.0% 2000—2025 25.8 29 6.1 Taiwan TSMC
John M. Santosuosso [87] 738 466 63.1% 2001—2022 20.7 36 3.9 USA IBM
Hideo Ando [88] 733 123 16.8% 1983—2020 36.7 20 3.1 Japan Toshiba
Jonghyun Park [89] 731 519 71.0% 2013—2025 12.8 57 3.8 USA LG
George Spector [90] 723 723 100% 1974—1998 24.6 29 2.1 USA George Spector
Lisa Seacat DeLuca [91] 721 525 72.8% 2009—2025 16.7 43 2.7 USA IBM
Austin L. Gurney [92] 718 182 25.3% 1999—2021 21.6 33 2.9 USA Genentech
Gregory J. Boss [93] 718 495 68.9% 2008—2025 17.6 41 4.2 USA IBM
Woosuk Ko [94] 711 308 43.3% 2015—2025 10.5 68 3.4 South Korea LG
Tetsujiro Kondo [95] 700 528 75.4% 1987—2021 34 21 3.8 Japan Sony
Xiaochuan Chen [96] 697 675 96.8% 2014—2025 11.3 62 7.0 China BOE
Elihu Thomson [97] 696 NA NA 1899—1935 35.9 19 NA USA GE
Hyoungsuk Jeon [98] 695 312 44.9% 2009—2025 15.9 44 5.6 USA Ofinno
Eric C. Leuthardt [99] 686 463 67.5% 2006—2025 19 36 9.1 USA Intellectual Ventures
Aleksandar Damnjanovic [100] 684 499 73.0% 2003—2025 22.2 31 4.4 USA Qualcomm

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of November 18, 2025.

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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "USPTO publication: Prolific Inventors Receiving Utility Patents 1988–1997" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2011-07-12.

References of Inventors' Patents

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  1. ^ Shunpei Yamazaki
  2. ^ Kia Silverbrook
  3. ^ Tao Luo
  4. ^ Kangguo Cheng
  5. ^ Junyi Li
  6. ^ Frederick E. Shelton IV
  7. ^ Peter Gaal
  8. ^ Wanshi Chen
  9. ^ Xiaoxia Zhang
  10. ^ Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
  11. ^ Esmael H. Dinan
  12. ^ Chen-Hua Yu
  13. ^ Roderick A. Hyde
  14. ^ Hanbyul Seo
  15. ^ Jing Sun
  16. ^ Shan Liu
  17. ^ Jun Koyama
  18. ^ Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  19. ^ Gurtej Singh Sandhu
  20. ^ Yunjung Yi
  21. ^ Shou-Shan Fan
  22. ^ Paul Lapstun
  23. ^ Alexander Reznicek
  24. ^ Suckchel Yang
  25. ^ Satoshi Seo
  26. ^ Clarence T. Tegreene
  27. ^ Juan Montojo
  28. ^ Kijun Kim
  29. ^ Takahiro Nishi
  30. ^ Jason L. Harris
  31. ^ Joonkui Ahn
  32. ^ Ruilong Xie
  33. ^ Marta Karczewicz
  34. ^ Edward K. Y. Jung
  35. ^ Leonard Forbes
  36. ^ Tingfang Ji
  37. ^ Thomas Edison
  38. ^ Yan Zhou
  39. ^ Rick Allen Hamilton II
  40. ^ Seungmin Lee
  41. ^ Jason K. Resch
  42. ^ Hao Xu
  43. ^ Donald E. Weder
  44. ^ Michael J. Sullivan
  45. ^ Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  46. ^ George Albert Lyon
  47. ^ Jordin T. Kare
  48. ^ Jay S. Walker
  49. ^ John F. O'Connor
  50. ^ Hajime Kimura
  51. ^ William H. Eby
  52. ^ Melvin De Groote
  53. ^ David R. Hall
  54. ^ Kyungmin Park
  55. ^ Nathan Myhrvold
  56. ^ Hongyuan Zhang
  57. ^ Satoshi Nagata
  58. ^ Francis H. Richards
  59. ^ Justin T. Mason
  60. ^ Mark Malamud
  61. ^ Chih-Chao Yang
  62. ^ Stuart C. Salter
  63. ^ Robert W. Lord
  64. ^ Hua Zhou
  65. ^ Royce A. Levien
  66. ^ Hsien-Wei Chen
  67. ^ Lee D. Whetsel
  68. ^ Muriel Y. Ishikawa
  69. ^ Youngdae Lee
  70. ^ Michael K. Gschwind
  71. ^ Clifford A. Pickover
  72. ^ Devendra K. Sadana
  73. ^ SungDuck Chun
  74. ^ Xue Dong
  75. ^ Salman Akram
  76. ^ Warren M. Farnworth
  77. ^ Frederick A. Ware
  78. ^ James A. Jorasch
  79. ^ Bruce B. Doris
  80. ^ Shougo Sato
  81. ^ Jeyhan Karaoguz
  82. ^ Ali Khakifirooz
  83. ^ Carleton Ellis
  84. ^ Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur
  85. ^ Toshiyasu Sugio
  86. ^ Chung-Shi Liu
  87. ^ John M. Santosuosso
  88. ^ Hideo Ando
  89. ^ Jonghyun Park
  90. ^ George Spector
  91. ^ Lisa Seacat DeLuca
  92. ^ Austin L. Gurney
  93. ^ Gregory J. Boss
  94. ^ Woosuk Ko
  95. ^ Tetsujiro Kondo
  96. ^ Xiaochuan Chen
  97. ^ Elihu Thomson
  98. ^ Hyoungsuk Jeon
  99. ^ Eric C. Leuthardt
  100. ^ Aleksandar Damnjanovic