US patents hit record 333,530 granted in 2019; IBM, Samsung (not the FAANGs) lead the pack

New article from Techcrunch that has valueble patent stats and who is creating the most pattents. Talks about Market since and recent stats too for 2019. 

"We may have moved on from a nearly-daily cycle of news involving tech giants sparring in courts over intellectual property infringement, but patents continue to be a major cornerstone of how companies and people measure their progress and create moats around the work that they have done in hopes of building that into profitable enterprises in the future. IFI Claims, a company that tracks patent activity in the US, released its annual tally of IP work today underscoring that theme: it noted that 2019 saw a new high-watermark of 333,530 patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office."

Keep reading the article here at TechCrunch. 

Interesting notes from this article include the huge jump in parents by Kia (the Auto maker). Its noted that it may relate to their pursuit of "...how cars are the next “hardware” and that we are entering a pretty exciting phase of connected vehicles, self-driving and alternative energy to propel them."

Some of the patent trends identified by IFI Claims are "over a period of five years, where there is now a strong current of medical and biotechnology innovation running through the list right now, with hybrid plant creation topping the list of trending technology, followed by CRISPR gene-editing technology, and then medicinal preparations (led by cancer therapies). “Tech” in the computer processor sense only starts at number-four with dashboards and other car-related tech; with quantum computing, 3-D printing and flying vehicle tech all also featuring."

Keeping informed of these trends is crucial is important Now, riding these waves of innovation if even more important. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you would already know most of these trends. This patent report just help confirm the noise we hear and provides a sense of reassurance that money IS really going to these areas as patent registration is a great way to protect R&D and to create moats for mostly established startups. 

On a separate topic about this article. Knowing that over 300,000 patents were filed in the US last year also tells you there is a booming business sector here. Filing patents is a costly and time-consuming process, two great pain points to address.