List of prolific inventors

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.

Inventor		Pats	Fams	Fam %	Pat Yrs	Yrs	Pat /Yr	Inv /Pat	Pat Residence	Majority Assignment
Shunpei Yamazaki	[1]	6587	2895	44.0%	1972—2025	53.3	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]	4116	3423	83.2%	2006—2025	19.2	214	5.6	USA	Qualcomm
Kangguo Cheng	[4]	2808	1552	55.3%	2004—2025	20.7	136	3.9	USA	IBM
Frederick E. Shelton IV	[5]	2590	1196	46.2%	2005—2025	20.1	129	4.5	USA	Ethicon
Junyi Li	[6]	2580	2171	84.1%	2002—2025	22.7	114	5.2	USA	Qualcomm
Peter Gaal	[7]	2441	1879	77.0%	2002—2025	22.9	107	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Wanshi Chen	[8]	2255	1735	76.9%	2009—2025	16.2	139	5.7	USA	Qualcomm
Lowell L. Wood, Jr.	[9]	1998	1326	66.4%	1971—2025	53.4	37	8.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Xiaoxia Zhang	[10]	1993	1687	84.6%	2009—2025	16.5	121	5.5	USA	Qualcomm
Roderick A. Hyde	[11]	1892	1252	66.2%	2001—2023	22.4	84	8.7	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Chen-Hua Yu	[12]	1866	974	52.2%	1996—2025	29.2	64	4.9	Taiwan	TSMC
Esmael H. Dinan	[13]	1846	750	40.6%	2006—2025	19.1	97	3.6	USA	Ofinno
Hanbyul Seo	[14]	1769	1315	74.3%	2012—2025	13.3	133	3.8	South Korea	LG
Jing Sun	[15]	1655	1378	83.3%	2012—2025	12.6	131	5.9	USA	Qualcomm
Jun Koyama	[16]	1505	618	41.1%	1991—2022	30.8	49	3.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Shan Liu	[17]	1464	929	63.5%	2013—2025	11.9	123	3.4	USA	Tencent
Sarbajit K. Rakshit	[18]	1436	1211	84.3%	2013—2025	12.5	115	3.4	India	IBM
Gurtej Singh Sandhu	[19]	1432	584	40.8%	1991—2024	32.5	44	2.5	USA	Micron
Yunjung Yi	[20]	1351	924	68.4%	2011—2025	14.5	93	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]	1274	769	60.4%	2006—2025	19.3	66	3.9	USA	IBM
Clarence T. Tegreene	[24]	1250	903	72.2%	2000—2024	23.5	53	10.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Suckchel Yang	[25]	1248	808	64.7%	2013—2025	12.1	103	4.7	South Korea	LG
Satoshi Seo	[26]	1235	587	47.5%	2002—2025	22.6	55	4.1	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
Juan Montojo	[27]	1206	978	81.1%	2004—2025	21.4	56	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Kijun Kim	[28]	1172	815	69.5%	2013—2025	11.6	101	4.6	South Korea	LG
Joonkui Ahn	[29]	1164	760	65.3%	2013—2025	12.1	96	4.7	South Korea	LG
Takahiro Nishi	[30]	1145	377	32.9%	2001—2025	23.9	48	6.3	Japan	Panasonic
Jason L. Harris	[31]	1144	646	56.5%	2011—2025	14.5	79	6.0	USA	Ethicon
Marta Karczewicz	[32]	1118	917	82.0%	2000—2025	24.6	45	4.0	USA	Qualcomm
Edward K. Y. Jung	[33]	1111	794	71.5%	1996—2022	26.1	43	8.0	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Leonard Forbes	[34]	1109	411	37.1%	1975—2019	43.3	26	2.6	USA	Micron
Ruilong Xie	[35]	1106	839	75.9%	2013—2025	12.5	88	4.2	USA	IBM
Thomas Edison	[36]	1084	NA	NA	1869—1933	63.9	17	1.0	USA	Thomas Edison
Tingfang Ji	[37]	1078	798	74.0%	2006—2025	19	57	6.9	USA	Qualcomm
Rick Allen Hamilton II	[38]	1063	714	67.2%	1999—2024	25	43	4.2	USA	IBM
Jason K. Resch	[39]	1044	513	49.1%	2009—2025	15.7	66	4.2	USA	IBM
Seungmin Lee	[40]	1042	778	74.7%	2014—2025	10.8	96	3.5	South Korea	LG
Donald E. Weder	[41]	1000	395	39.5%	1978—2015	37.1	27	1.1	USA	Weder Family Trust
Michael J. Sullivan	[42]	997	534	53.6%	1989—2024	34.5	29	3.8	USA	Acushnet Holdings
George Albert Lyon	[43]	993	NA	NA	1901—1965	64.5	15	1.0	Canada	Lyon George Albert
Jordin T. Kare	[44]	992	640	64.5%	1992—2023	30.5	33	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Ahmadreza Rofougaran	[45]	986	473	48.0%	2002—2025	23.1	43	6.4	USA	Broadcom
Jay S. Walker	[46]	980	422	43.1%	1998—2024	26.3	37	5.2	USA	Walker Digital
Yan Zhou	[47]	972	854	87.9%	2012—2025	12.9	75	4.4	USA	Qualcomm
Hao Xu	[48]	971	704	72.5%	2005—2025	20.3	48	4.7	China	Qualcomm
John F. O'Connor	[49]	949	NA	NA	1901—1935	33.9	28	NA	USA	William H. Miner
William H. Eby	[50]	928	924	99.6%	1994—2025	31.1	30	1.2	USA	Monsanto
Melvin De Groote	[51]	925	NA	NA	1924—1966	41.8	22	NA	USA	Petrolite
Hajime Kimura	[52]	925	293	31.7%	2002—2025	22.6	41	2.6	Japan	Semiconductor Energy Laboratory
David R. Hall	[53]	922	763	82.8%	1985—2025	40	23	3.8	USA	Hall Labs
Nathan Myhrvold	[54]	907	613	67.6%	1994—2024	29.7	31	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hongyuan Zhang	[55]	901	486	53.9%	2009—2025	16.2	56	3.9	USA	Marvell
Francis H. Richards	[56]	894	NA	NA	1899—1930	30.8	29	NA	USA	Francis H. Richards
Mark Malamud	[57]	886	690	77.9%	1997—2022	25.1	35	7.5	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Justin T. Mason	[58]	879	875	99.5%	2008—2025	16.6	53	1.0	USA	MS Technologies
Robert W. Lord	[59]	868	682	78.6%	2003—2024	20.4	43	7.6	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Kyungmin Park	[60]	866	420	48.5%	2014—2025	11.3	77	5.2	USA	Ofinno
Satoshi Nagata	[61]	860	823	95.7%	2011—2025	13.8	62	4.0	Japan	NTT
Chih-Chao Yang	[62]	860	543	63.1%	2003—2025	21.6	40	3.4	USA	IBM
Stuart C. Salter	[63]	858	805	93.8%	2009—2025	15.6	55	4.8	USA	Ford
Royce A. Levien	[64]	855	666	77.9%	1997—2020	23.4	37	6.8	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Lee D. Whetsel	[65]	846	128	15.1%	1991—2017	26.4	32	1.1	USA	Texas Instruments
Muriel Y. Ishikawa	[66]	840	560	66.7%	2002—2023	21.2	40	11.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Hsien-Wei Chen	[67]	838	389	46.4%	2005—2025	20.4	41	3.5	Taiwan	TSMC
Michael K. Gschwind	[68]	836	442	52.9%	2001—2021	20.6	41	2.6	USA	IBM
Clifford A. Pickover	[69]	836	548	65.6%	1992—2024	32.2	26	3.9	USA	IBM
Youngdae Lee	[70]	827	650	78.6%	2014—2025	11.3	73	3.1	South Korea	LG
Devendra K. Sadana	[71]	825	468	56.7%	1983—2025	42.4	19	4.3	USA	IBM
Hua Zhou	[72]	818	435	53.2%	2012—2025	13.4	61	5.5	USA	Ofinno
SungDuck Chun	[73]	817	505	61.8%	2007—2025	17.6	46	3.8	South Korea	LG
Salman Akram	[74]	786	291	37.0%	1995—2024	29.4	27	2.9	USA	Micron
Xue Dong	[75]	784	758	96.7%	2010—2025	14.5	54	7.4	China	BOE
Warren M. Farnworth	[76]	774	289	37.3%	1990—2014	24.4	32	2.8	USA	Micron
James A. Jorasch	[77]	773	309	40.0%	1994—2023	29	27	3.9	USA	Walker Digital
Frederick A. Ware	[78]	767	229	29.9%	1981—2025	43.4	18	2.8	USA	Rambus
Bruce B. Doris	[79]	766	435	56.8%	1995—2025	30.3	25	4.2	USA	IBM
Jeyhan Karaoguz	[80]	757	371	49.0%	1996—2020	23.8	32	4.6	USA	Broadcom
Ali Khakifirooz	[81]	757	413	54.6%	2011—2025	13.9	54	4.2	USA	IBM
Shougo Sato	[82]	756	290	38.4%	1992—2025	32.8	23	1.8	Japan	Brother
Carleton Ellis	[83]	753	NA	NA	1902—1946	43.1	17	NA	USA	Ellis Foster Co
Jean-Philippe M. Vasseur	[84]	741	600	81.0%	2006—2025	19.2	39	2.6	France	Cisco Systems
John M. Santosuosso	[85]	738	466	63.1%	2001—2022	20.7	36	3.9	USA	IBM
Hideo Ando	[86]	733	123	16.8%	1983—2020	36.7	20	3.1	Japan	Toshiba
Chung-Shi Liu	[87]	732	389	53.1%	2000—2025	25.5	29	6.1	Taiwan	TSMC
Toshiyasu Sugio	[88]	725	263	36.3%	2009—2025	15.9	46	4.9	Japan	Panasonic
George Spector	[89]	723	723	100%	1974—1998	24.6	29	2.1	USA	George Spector
Lisa Seacat DeLuca	[90]	720	524	72.8%	2009—2025	16.4	44	2.7	USA	IBM
Austin L. Gurney	[91]	718	182	25.3%	1999—2021	21.6	33	2.9	USA	Genentech
Gregory J. Boss	[92]	716	493	68.9%	2008—2025	17.3	41	4.2	USA	IBM
Jonghyun Park	[93]	715	514	71.9%	2013—2025	12.5	57	3.8	USA	LG
Woosuk Ko	[94]	704	301	42.8%	2015—2025	10.3	68	3.4	South Korea	LG
Tetsujiro Kondo	[95]	700	528	75.4%	1987—2021	34	21	3.8	Japan	Sony
Elihu Thomson	[96]	696	NA	NA	1899—1935	35.9	19	NA	USA	GE
Xiaochuan Chen	[97]	686	664	96.8%	2014—2025	10.9	63	7.0	China	BOE
Eric C. Leuthardt	[98]	685	462	67.4%	2006—2025	18.8	36	9.1	USA	Intellectual Ventures
Irwin Gerszberg	[99]	682	312	45.7%	1994—2023	29.2	23	6.8	USA	AT&T
Aleksandar Damnjanovic	[100]	677	494	73.0%	2003—2025	22	31	4.4	USA	Qualcomm

This table is usually updated every Tuesday, and is current as of August 5, 2025^[update].

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^[update] 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.

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.

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.

• Timeline of historic inventions
• List of inventors