Samsung, Midea, Huawei, Canon and Panasonic among the highest-ranking companies on IFI’s Global 250 patent ranking; Japan notches highest number of companies

45 U.S. companies on list including IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm and RTX; Chinese companies dominate the Top 10 and claim the highest number of active inventions globally

Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 12, 2025

Chinese companies held the strongest foothold in global innovation, commanding seven of the Top 10 positions in the 2025 IFI Global 250, published today.

State Grid Corp of China controls the highest number of active families around the globe, with Chinese Academy of Sciences and Samsung coming in second and third, respectively. Two Japanese companies appear high on the list: Canon and Panasonic.

Although not one earned a Top 10 spot, 45 U.S. companies made the list placing America third behind Japan and China. U.S. firms on the list include IBM, at 20, with more than 38,000 active patent families, followed by Microsoft (32), Qualcomm (34) and RTX (37). Japanese companies hold 75 spots on the list, or 30%. China is close behind at 29% or 72 companies, which comprises the most inventions held by a single country.

“Quantifying active patent families at the highest level of ownership gives investors a better sense of the overall patent portfolio and the company’s current technological standing,” says Lily Iacurci, Head of Marketing at IFI. “The number of active patent families sheds more light on ‘intangible assets’ than the company balance sheet currently provides.”

These are some of the conclusions from the latest analysis by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, the world’s most trusted patent data provider. This analysis can be found in IFI’s Global 250 patent ranking. An overview of the Global Trends and Insights also appears on IFI’s website.

The 2025 Global 250 is a measurement of total active patent families owned by a company as of July. “Family” signifies a single invention; it is a term used to represent a set of related patent documents held around the world to protect one advancement. To compile this data, IFI looks collectively at 106 patent jurisdictions globally.

IFI’s Global 250 captures a snapshot of patents at a particular point in time to showcase the collection of active inventions in a corporate portfolio. IFI includes only active patents (patents that have not yet expired) and utilizes its proprietary Names Service and Ultimate Owner methodology of mapping patent-holding organizations to corporate owners and parent companies. As a result, the Global 250 consolidates patents from all subsidiaries of an organization into a single parent entry.

Patent activity provides valuable insight into companies’ R&D activity for researchers, analysts, and investors. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties, so examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies. It speaks to productivity, technological efficiency, and IP strategy, and frequently reveals technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses a proprietary data architecture to produce the industry’s most accurate global patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. IFI CLAIMS is part of Digital Science, a digital research technology company based in London. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com and follow IFI on LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands—Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull—we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, on X, or on LinkedIn.

Media Contacts

For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Lily Iacurci, Head of Marketing, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services: lily.iacurci@ificlaims.com

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

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