Whether or not their brand value has increased, many global businesses, especially those in the technology space, are adding more patents at a record pace.
Four of the top five brands, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon increased in value from 17% to 40%. The fifth most valuable brand, Facebook, declined 21%.
Other decliners among the top 15 most valuable brands – Samsung, AT&T and Toyota – declined 5%, 7% and 10% respectively. All have substantial patent portfolios and received more patents in 2019 than they did in 2018.
Despite declining brand value, Samsung received 8735 patents in 2019, up 9% over 2018. Only IBM received more U.S. patents in 2019. Google parent Alphabet, was granted 2621 U.S. patents, no increase over 2018, but was up 24% in brand value; and Apple at 2512 grants, up 15%, is accord to Forbes the world’s most highly valued brand, up 17%.
The third most valuable brand, Microsoft, increased 30% in value and received 32% more U.S. patents in 2019. This was despite increased sales in cloud services and further expansion of open innovation.
Fourth leading brand, Amazon, up 40%, was the 15th highest patent grantee, up 18% over the previous year. Facebook, still the fifth most valuable brand despite a dramatic drop, received 78% more patents than it did in 2018, good for 34th on the grantee list.
The full 100 most valuable brands list is here.
Go here for IP0 300 top U.S. patent recipients for 2019.
Image source: forbes.com; ipo.org
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