What the explosion of invention looks like
These patent charts show the surge of new things over the decades.
Two weeks ago, I attempted to size up the scale of new things with a list of big numbers I gathered from various sources. Today, I’ll visualize the magnitude using a different source: patents.
I’ve been playing around with patent data and I thought I’d share some of it with you. What follows are a few different looks. Taken together, they show what I think we all can see and feel—a rapid increase in the sheer volume of innovations in our lives over the past few decades.
Here’s a chart of utility patents1 issued in the United States between 1840 and 2020.
As you can see, there’s gradual growth until the late 1990s when the number of patents issued begins to increase significantly. In fact, during the 100 years between 1850 and 1950, there were about 2.3 million patents issued in the U.S. But in just the 10 years between 2010 and 2020, there were 3.2 million.
Here’s a similar-looking chart. This one is design patents.2
And here’s one more. This chart shows patent applications.
Again, there was a massive spike in applications beginning in the late 1990s. From 1980 to 1999, there were about 3.1 million applications. From 2000 to 2019, there were about 9.5 million applications.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading.
Eric
PS. The first patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins in 1790 “for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer.” The second one was issued to Joseph Stacey Sampson for a method to manufacture candles. Very little is known about it though because it was destroyed in a huge fire years later.
What is a utility patent? “Issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing ++, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. Approximately 90% of the patent documents issued by the USPTO in recent years have been utility patents, also referred to as ‘patents for invention.’” This definition is via the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
What is a design patent? “Issued for a new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture, it permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design. Design patents issued from applications filed on or after May 13, 2015 shall be granted for the term of fifteen years from the date of grant. Design patents issued from applications filed before May 13, 2015 shall be granted for the term of fourteen years from the date of grant. Design patents are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.” This definition is via the United States Patent and Trademark Office.