Methodology
What is counted, how an invention is traced to a country, how it is placed in the classification and in the National Capability Framework, and what the counts leave out.
What is held
Two things. The first is bibliographic data for every patent office the source holds: about 174 million published documents, each with its dates, applicants, inventors and classification codes. Every count on the site is made from this.
The second is the fuller record, with titles and abstracts in English and Chinese, of the 79 million documents published by the United States and Chinese offices. It is not counted from yet; it is there for the work on text set out at the end of this page.
The unit: the invention
One invention is usually published several times: as an application, again when granted, and again at each office where protection is sought. All of these documents form one family. Everything on this site, the offices page apart, counts families, so an invention is counted once however often and wherever it was filed.
A family's year is the year of its earliest priority date: the first time the invention was filed anywhere. That is the date closest to the work itself. An application is published 18 months after its first filing, so the most recent year is incomplete. Charts run to it and say so; tables and growth figures compare the ten most recent full years, ending the year before.
Only patent families are counted. Families made up only of utility models or designs are left out. A utility model is a lighter form of protection, examined less closely, and about half of what is filed in China is of this kind.
Country of origin
Each family is traced to one country, in this order:
- First, the country of its applicants. Where there are several, the one named most often.
- Failing that, the country of its inventors.
- Failing that, the office where the invention was first filed.
The last step is needed because some offices publish no country for their applicants, China and Japan above all. It decides the origin of most inventions filed only at home, and of very few that are filed abroad. Where both are known, the first office and the applicant's country agree for most families, but not for countries whose firms tend to file first in the United States or at the European Patent Office.
Three counts
- All families. Every patent family, including those filed only in the applicant's own country. Offices differ greatly in what they charge, what they accept and what filing earns the applicant, and subsidies and targets have raised Chinese home filing in ways that do not reflect invention alone. This count says how much a country files. It is a poor basis for comparing countries.
- International families. Families for which protection was sought beyond one country: filed at two or more offices, at the European Patent Office, or through the international (PCT) route. Filing abroad is costly, so it marks inventions thought worth it, and it holds every country to the same test. It is the count used wherever countries are compared.
- Triadic families. Families filed at the United States, European and Japanese offices. The strictest test, and one that favours those three.
The record is fuller for some offices than others. A country whose own office is thinly covered is undercounted on all families, and much less so on international families, since its inventions filed abroad are seen at the offices they were filed at.
The classification
Each document carries one or more classification codes. Two schemes are in use: the International Patent Classification and the finer Cooperative Patent Classification. They share one ladder of section, class, subclass, main group and subgroup. Chinese and Japanese patents mostly carry International codes; American and European ones mostly Cooperative codes.
A family carries every code that any of its documents carries, at any office, in either scheme.
The crosswalk to the framework
The crosswalk works at the finest level of both sides: the 288 capabilities of the framework, and every entry of each classification.
For each capability a list of classification entries was chosen. An entry stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, less any entry named as an exclusion. From those choices a table is built for each scheme, giving for every code the capabilities it counts towards. A family counts towards a capability when any of its codes, in either scheme, is in that table. One family can count towards several capabilities, and is counted once at each higher level of the framework.
The International scheme is the coarser of the two. Some capabilities can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme, and their rows say so. For those, Chinese families that carry only International codes are missed.
Both schemes are revised every year, and a patent keeps the codes it was given. A retired code is placed under the entry that replaced it where that move is written down, and otherwise under its main group or subclass.
Each capability says what kind of match it has:
- Direct. The capability is itself a technology or a kind of physical system, and the classification names it.
- Through its tools. The classification names the equipment or technology a capability draws on, not the capability. The count says how much is being invented for it, not how well it is done.
- The whole record. For Intellectual Property & Intangible Assets every family counts.
- No match. The capability is about people, institutions or relationships.
The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed. The entries were chosen by reading the capability descriptions against the titles of the classification entries. It matches on technology, not on use. Treat every count that depends on it as an illustration of the method.
Two schemes, each down to its finest entry
| Cooperative (CPC) | International (IPC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Codes on the patents held | 277,364 | 86,234 |
| Codes that count towards a capability | 109,412 | 37,534 |
| Code and capability pairs | 140,941 | 50,218 |
| Share of all code uses that count | 51% | 48% |
| Uses of codes since retired | 1.2% | 6.3% |
| Download, code by code | cpc-to-capability.csv | ipc-to-capability.csv |
Patents keep the codes they were given. A retired code is placed under the entry that replaced it where that is known (87 such moves are written down, semiconductors from H01L to class H10 the largest), and otherwise under its main group or subclass.
The crosswalk, capability by capability
International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin; the leader in each row is in bold. China, all counts every Chinese family, including those filed only in China. Point at an entry for what it covers.
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
7 of 7 capabilities matched · Japan leads, 1.1× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Structural & Composite Materials Steel (C22C38) is left out because its volume would swamp the composites and light alloys. | Direct | C08J5/04C08J5/24B29C70/04C04B35/71D01F9/12C22C14C22C19C22C21C22C23C22C27C22C30C22C47C22C49F41H5F41H1/02 | 242 | 5,012 | 2,154 | 7,278 | 1,232 | 2,345 | 69k |
Functional Materials & Coatings No single entry names smart materials; shape-memory entries are CPC only, and chemical vapour deposition (C23C16) is counted under Semiconductor Equipment & Materials instead. | Direct | C23C14C23C4C23C28C09D5/08C09D5/16C09D5/24C09D5/32C09K9C09K5/02C09K3/18H10N30/85C22F1/006C08L2201/12 | 241 | 5,498 | 3,423 | 11,491 | 3,088 | 2,261 | 84k |
Nanomaterials & Metamaterials Metamaterials can only be separated in CPC; in IPC they sit inside general optical-element and antenna-reflector groups. | Direct | B82C01B32/15Y10S977G02B1/002H01Q15/0086 | 336 | 6,721 | 3,587 | 3,507 | 3,882 | 805 | 74k |
Superconducting, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Photonic materials are scattered; these entries cover laser, non-linear and fibre materials but not every optical material. | Direct | H01F1H01F7/02H01F6H01B12H10N60/85H10N60/01C04B35/45Y10S505G02F1/355H01S3/16C03C13/04C03B37/012C30B29/30 | 537 | 2,134 | 1,575 | 4,778 | 1,414 | 897 | 19k |
Direct | C06BC06CC06D | 159 | 166 | 59 | 41 | 29 | 59 | 4,463 | |
Additive & Precision Manufacturing General machine-tool subclasses (B23Q, B23B, B23C, B24B) are left out as too broad, so the precision side is represented only by control and non-conventional machining. | Direct | B33YB29C64B22F10B22F12B28B1/001B23K26/342B23K15G05B19/18B23HB24B13 | 366 | 12,360 | 3,185 | 9,517 | 1,495 | 6,338 | 61k |
Advanced Chemical & Process Manufacturing The scheme names reactor types, not continuous-flow or intensified processing as such; microreactors are separable only in CPC. | Through its tools | B01J19/0093B01J2219/00781B01J19/24B01J8B01J10B01J12B01J14 | 237 | 1,800 | 855 | 671 | 486 | 833 | 13k |
Energy Technologies
5 of 5 capabilities matched · Japan leads, 1.3× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batteries & Energy Storage Fuel cells are carved out of H01M and counted under Hydrogen, Ammonia & Sustainable Fuels. | Direct | H01MH01G11H01M8H01M2250 | 822 | 12,867 | 25,896 | 31,663 | 26,714 | 8,520 | 230k |
Hydrogen, Ammonia & Sustainable Fuels Electrolyser cell, electrode and operation entries (C25B9, C25B11, C25B15) also cover other electrolysis such as chlor-alkali; hydrogen storage and engine feeding are CPC only. | Direct | C25B1/04C25B9C25B11C25B15C01B3Y02E60/32C01C1/04H01M8H01M2250F02M21/0206C10G2C10G3C10L1/02C12P7/06 | 546 | 6,231 | 2,470 | 8,805 | 4,176 | 5,748 | 75k |
Next-Generation Solar & Renewables Solar entries are new (H10F); the older H01L31 is absent from the scheme, so earlier IPC-only Chinese solar patents are missed, and wind (F03D) is larger than all the solar entries together. | Direct | H10F10H10F19H10F71H10K30H10K85/50H01G9/20F03DF03B13/12 | 439 | 3,649 | 5,522 | 4,562 | 2,709 | 3,261 | 81k |
Advanced Nuclear & Fusion Alleged cold fusion (G21B3) is carved out. | Direct | G21BG21CG21DG21F9B01D59H05H1/02C01G43G21B3 | 454 | 1,350 | 770 | 609 | 623 | 271 | 15k |
Directed Energy Technologies Directed-energy weapons are separable only in CPC (in IPC F41H13/00 also holds stun guns and nets); the laser and microwave-tube entries are the underlying technology, not weapons as such. | Direct | F41H13/0043F41H13/0093H01S3/23H01J25 | 69 | 479 | 150 | 386 | 57 | 232 | 1,520 |
Semiconductors & Advanced Computing
6 of 6 capabilities matched · Japan leads, 1.8× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semiconductor Design & EDA G06F30 dates from 2020 and the earlier G06F17/50 is absent from the scheme, so older design-automation patents are missed; H10D89/10 is thin in IPC. | Direct | G06F30/30G06F2115G06F2117H10D89/10H10D84/90 | 98 | 2,117 | 1,459 | 1,123 | 1,379 | 307 | 22k |
Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication Older H01L entries are absent from the scheme, so documents carrying only H01L codes are not matched; wafer-handling apparatus and memory assemblies are carved out to sibling capabilities. | Direct | H10PH10D30/01H10D30/62H10D30/501H10D84H10D88H10BH10W10H10W20H10P72H10D84/90H10B80 | 1,005 | 23,299 | 15,776 | 44,951 | 22,064 | 3,694 | 86k |
Semiconductor Equipment & Materials Chemical vapour deposition and crystal growth also serve non-semiconductor uses; wafer inspection is CPC only. | Direct | G03FH10P72H01J37/32H01J37/30C23C16C30BC09G1/02C09K13G01N21/9501C30B29/30C30B29/36C30B29/38C30B29/40 | 1,133 | 15,529 | 8,665 | 37,853 | 13,584 | 4,429 | 88k |
Advanced Packaging & Heterogeneous Integration Coverage is mainly CPC: the package entries H10W72 and H10W90 carry almost no IPC use, and the older H01L23 and H01L25 are absent from the scheme. | Direct | H10WH10B80H10D80H10W10H10W15H10W20 | 743 | 12,420 | 9,796 | 24,716 | 15,416 | 4,692 | 48k |
Compound & Power Semiconductors Silicon carbide and diamond devices are separable only in CPC; older H01L entries are absent from the scheme, so documents carrying only H01L codes are not matched. | Direct | H10D62/85H10D62/8325H10D62/8303H10D62/82H10D30/47H10D12H10D30/64H10D8/60H10D18C30B29/36C30B29/38C30B29/40 | 83 | 2,833 | 2,353 | 7,085 | 1,705 | 970 | 19k |
High-Performance & AI Computing No entry names supercomputers; the two G06F9 entries are CPC only. | Direct | G06N3/06G06F15/76G06F15/173G06T1/20G06F9/3885G06F9/3877 | 87 | 8,142 | 3,957 | 2,347 | 2,955 | 551 | 23k |
Artificial Intelligence
3 of 3 capabilities matched · United States leads, 1.3× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Machine Learning & Foundation Models Neural-network hardware (G06N3/06) is counted under High-Performance & AI Computing; foundation models have no entry of their own. | Direct | G06N3/02G06N20G06N7/01G06N3/06 | 37 | 32,358 | 20,768 | 13,257 | 15,108 | 5,948 | 422k |
Applied AI & Advanced Analytics The older image-recognition entry G06K9 is absent from the scheme; the image-analysis and control entries are CPC only. | Direct | G06VG06F18G06F40G10L15G10L13G06N5G16H50/20G06Q10/04G06F30/27G06T2207/20081G06T2207/20084G05B13/027G06N5/045 | 690 | 52,577 | 44,684 | 37,272 | 22,879 | 11,142 | 891k |
AI Safety, Security & Evaluation The scheme has no entry for AI evaluation, robustness or alignment; explainability is the only adjacent entry, and adversarial learning (G06N3/094) was rejected as mostly generative-network training. | Through its tools | G06N5/045 | 1 | 382 | 131 | 287 | 54 | 120 | 1,075 |
Quantum Technologies
4 of 4 capabilities matched · United States leads, 2.2× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quantum Computing Semiconductor qubit devices are CPC only; Josephson devices also serve sensing. | Direct | G06N10H10D48/383H10N60/12H10N69H03K19/195 | 17 | 2,335 | 484 | 791 | 253 | 336 | 4,764 |
Quantum Communication Quantum key distribution is separable only in CPC; in IPC it sits inside H04L9/08 with all key management. | Direct | H04B10/70H04L9/0852 | 4 | 416 | 252 | 215 | 195 | 177 | 5,354 |
Quantum Sensing & Metrology The scheme has no quantum-sensing entry, so this is a thin set of device types; atomic clocks are shared with Precision Timing & Atomic Clocks. | Direct | G01R33/035G01R33/26G01R33/323G01C19/60G04F5/14H03L7/26 | 13 | 309 | 61 | 295 | 30 | 149 | 1,062 |
Post-Quantum Cryptography Only separable in CPC; in IPC these sit inside H04L9/30 with all public-key cryptography, and hash-based signatures have no entry. | DirectCPC only | H04L9/3093H04L9/304 | 2 | 86 | 22 | 46 | 98 | 30 | 105 |
Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies
5 of 5 capabilities matched · China leads, 1.2× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advanced Optical Communication & Photonics Light guides for lighting and display backlights (G02B6/0001) can be carved out only in CPC, so IPC counts for G02B6 include them. | Direct | H04B10H04J14G02B6H04Q11/0001H01S5H01S3/067H04B10/70G02B6/0001 | 1,499 | 11,398 | 9,204 | 13,338 | 2,316 | 2,973 | 74k |
Advanced Wireless Communication Self-organising networks, scatter links and wireless security are carved out to sibling capabilities. | Direct | H04WH04B7H04L5H04L27/26H04L1/18H04W84/18H04W12H04B7/22 | 1,026 | 57,368 | 82,694 | 31,448 | 30,111 | 6,213 | 282k |
Resilient & Infrastructure-Independent Networks Tactical and undersea-cable communication have no entries of their own, so this is a narrow proxy. | Direct | H04W84/18H04B13/02H04B11H04B7/22 | 6 | 2,275 | 1,526 | 1,353 | 852 | 397 | 16k |
Protective Cybersecurity Technologies H04L63 has no IPC use; IPC-only patents are reached through H04L9/40, which in IPC also includes authentication. | Direct | G06F21/50G06F21/60G06F21/70H04L63H04L9/40H04W12G06F21/6245G06F21/64H04L63/08H04W12/02H04W12/06 | 183 | 24,476 | 15,698 | 8,691 | 6,051 | 4,461 | 213k |
Privacy, Identity & Trust Technologies Personal-data protection and network authentication are CPC only; blockchain (H04L9/50) has no IPC use and is reached in IPC only through H04L9/00. | Direct | H04L9G06F21/30G06F21/6245G06F21/64H04L63/08H04W12/02H04W12/06H04L9/40 | 133 | 20,167 | 13,819 | 8,702 | 6,734 | 3,966 | 164k |
Sensing, Timing & Navigation
5 of 5 capabilities matched · Japan leads, 1.2× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Precision Timing & Atomic Clocks Network time synchronisation is CPC only; in IPC it sits inside H04J3/06 with frame synchronisation. | Direct | G04F5/14H03L7/26H01S1H04J3/0635G04G7 | 35 | 600 | 821 | 514 | 113 | 206 | 7,210 |
Resilient Positioning & Navigation Terrain matching and inertial calibration are CPC only; radio positioning (G01S5) and accelerometers (G01P15) are left out as mostly consumer uses. | Direct | G01C19G01C21/10G01C21/04G01C21/02G01C21/005G01C25/005G01S19/21 | 101 | 1,948 | 1,349 | 1,411 | 426 | 836 | 25k |
Advanced Imaging & Photonic Sensing H10F entries are new and thin in IPC, the older H01L27/146 being absent from the scheme; H10F39 includes consumer camera sensors. | Direct | G01J3G01J5G01J9G01S17G01S7/48H04N23/20H04N5/33H10F39H10F30G01D5/353G02B23/12 | 617 | 10,867 | 7,351 | 15,415 | 5,927 | 5,220 | 71k |
Direct | G01S13G01S7/02G01S3/02G01V3/12 | 361 | 5,643 | 2,886 | 4,132 | 1,890 | 3,729 | 47k | |
Acoustic & Undersea Sensing Medical ultrasound imaging is carved out, but only in CPC; IPC counts for G01S15/89 and G01S7/52 still include it. | Direct | G01S15G01S7/52G01S3/80G01S5/18H04R1/44G01H3G01V1/38B63G8/39G01S15/8906G01S7/52017 | 155 | 2,064 | 1,097 | 1,735 | 687 | 1,370 | 14k |
Robotics & Autonomous Systems
4 of 4 capabilities matched · Japan leads, 1.0× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advanced Robotics Glove boxes and hand-held manipulators are carved out; exoskeletons (B25J9/0006) are also counted under Human-Machine Interfaces. | Direct | B25JB62D57/032A61B34/30Y10S901G05B2219/39G05B2219/40B25J21B25J1 | 1,445 | 8,601 | 5,924 | 11,556 | 4,273 | 3,892 | 102k |
Autonomous Systems & Trusted Autonomy Assurance and certification of autonomy have no entry; multi-vehicle coordination is carved out to Uncrewed & Collaborative Systems. | Direct | G05D1B60W60G06V20/56G05D1/69G05D1/104G05D1/0291 | 264 | 13,144 | 8,455 | 15,331 | 5,850 | 5,859 | 82k |
Uncrewed & Collaborative Systems Aerial systems are well covered in both schemes; underwater, surface and ground uncrewed vehicles are CPC only. | Direct | B64UB64C39/02B63G8/001B63B2035/006F41H7/005G05D1/69G05D1/104G05D1/0291 | 194 | 3,995 | 3,111 | 3,332 | 1,460 | 958 | 32k |
Human-Machine Interfaces Mostly separable only in CPC; in IPC, G06F3/01 mixes these with keyboards, touch screens and graphical interfaces, so only head-mounted displays, biofeedback and prosthesis control reach IPC-only patents. | Direct | G06F3/011G06F3/016G06F3/017G02B27/01G06T19/006A61N1/0529A61B5/375A61F2/72B25J9/0006 | 71 | 14,516 | 7,249 | 9,319 | 6,474 | 2,639 | 49k |
Biotechnology & Health Technologies
5 of 5 capabilities matched · United States leads, 2.6× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genomics & Biological Data C12Q1/68 includes routine nucleic acid diagnostics as well as sequencing, which is separable only in CPC (C12Q1/6869). | Direct | C12Q1/68G16B | 80 | 17,818 | 5,444 | 3,003 | 2,851 | 1,616 | 93k |
Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering CRISPR is tagged only in CPC; the IPC entries for modified micro-organisms (C12N1/15 to 1/21) are absent from the scheme. | Direct | C12N15C12N9/22C12N2310/20C12N5/10A01K67/0275 | 205 | 31,378 | 14,103 | 6,820 | 3,970 | 2,703 | 140k |
Biomanufacturing Genetically modified cells (C12N5/10) are counted under Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering. | Direct | C12PC12MC12N5C12N7C07K1/14C12N5/10 | 582 | 25,142 | 10,048 | 9,595 | 4,747 | 3,497 | 132k |
Nuclear Medicine & Radioisotope Technologies Emission tomography is CPC only; cyclotrons and radiotherapy also serve non-isotope uses. | Direct | A61K51G21GH05H6H05H13C07B59A61N5/10G01T1/161A61B6/037G21G5 | 278 | 4,153 | 2,013 | 1,410 | 720 | 792 | 11k |
Advanced Therapeutics, Vaccines & Medical Countermeasures Antimicrobials have no clean entry: the anti-infective activity tags (A61P31) are too broad and include traditional remedies, so they are left out. | Direct | A61K39C07K16A61K48A61K40A61K35/17A61K35/28A61K35/76A61K47/68A61K31/7088 | 638 | 35,382 | 11,223 | 4,471 | 4,072 | 2,767 | 54k |
Space Technologies
3 of 3 capabilities matched · United States leads, 1.5× the next
| Entries chosen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Space Launch & Reusable Systems Launch systems are named only in CPC; rocket engines are shared with Advanced Propulsion & Hypersonic Systems. | Direct | B64G1/002B64G1/14B64G1/62B64G5F02K9 | 71 | 369 | 78 | 104 | 59 | 121 | 4,507 |
Advanced Propulsion & Hypersonic Systems Hypersonic flight has no entry of its own; conventional turbofans (F02K3) and marine propulsion are left out. | Direct | F02K9F02K7F23R7F03H1B64G1/40B64C30 | 111 | 732 | 104 | 130 | 55 | 172 | 6,285 |
Satellite & Constellation Technologies Spacecraft propulsion and re-entry are carved out to sibling capabilities; satellite communication (H04B7/185) also falls within Advanced Wireless Communication. | Direct | B64G1/10B64G1/22B64G4B64G3H04B7/185B64G1/40B64G1/62 | 151 | 2,984 | 2,248 | 933 | 508 | 404 | 24k |
What the counts do not say
- A count of families is a count of filings. It says nothing of whether a patent was granted, is still in force, was ever used or is worth anything.
- Military and other sensitive work is thinly patented and much of it is secret. Small counts under National Security are to be expected and mean little.
- Applicant names are as held in the source and are not consolidated, so a group with many subsidiaries appears smaller than it is.
Source
The patents are the published records of 107 patent offices, as compiled in “Google Patents Public Data” by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services and Google, used under CC BY 4.0. GINC has counted them into families, attributed each family to a country of origin and mapped its classifications to the National Capability Framework, as set out above; the records themselves are unchanged.
The classifications are the Cooperative Patent Classification, of the European Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the International Patent Classification, of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The capabilities are those of the National Capability Framework.
Under each chart: Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google
What comes next
- Who holds each capability. The applicants behind each capability: firms, universities and state bodies, and how concentrated each field is.
- Topics and search. Abstracts grouped by what they say, to find subjects the classification has no code for, and search by meaning across the English and Chinese abstracts.
- Where protection is sought. For each country, the offices its inventions are filed at, and how that has moved.
- Utility models against patents. Half of Chinese filings are utility models. Which capabilities lean on them.
- Nations against the Atlas. Each nation's inventions by capability set against its ratings in the Atlas.