IEEE Dominates U.S. Tech Patent Citations

A new study that examined filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the 50 top-patenting companies cited IEEE nearly three times more than any other technical-literature publisher including ACM, Elsevier, and Springer.

The organizations with the highest number of patents granted—including Amazon, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, and TSMC—referenced IEEE journals, standards, and conference proceedings in their patents more than 682,000 times during the past 20 years, according to the “Analysis of Patent Referencing to IEEE Papers, Conferences, and Standards 2004–2023” report. Prepared by intellectual property evaluation company 1790 Analytics, the report was released in June.

When broken down by technical discipline, IEEE is the most-referenced publisher in the following categories: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, computer hardware, software, cybersecurity, the IoT, power systems, semiconductors, renewable energy, and telecommunications.

“Not only do IEEE publications frequently provide the science base for new inventions, inventions that build upon IEEE publications are more likely to be valuable in the future than inventions that do not build upon IEEE.”

Patenting AI and machine learning technologies has increased tenfold in the past 10 years, but IEEE has been able to keep pace, according to the study. More than 30 percent of AI-related patents reference IEEE publications.

The report notes that in emerging markets such as blockchain, cybersecurity, and virtual and augmented reality, IEEE receives the most references.

In the robotics and intelligent manufacturing category, more than 35 percent of patent references are to IEEE literature.

This chart shows that IEEE is cited nearly three times more than any other technical-literature publisher.1790 Analytics LLC

At 30 percent, the organization also leads in citations for patents on broadcasting technologies. IEEE registered more than twice the broadcasting citations of the nearest competitor.

For autonomous vehicles, IEEE is cited 10 times more than the next publisher.

Other areas where IEEE leads in citations include measuring, testing, and control as well as transmission.

The study also found that patents referencing IEEE papers are cited more often.

“This was shown to be true for each of the 20 technology categories we examined,” the report concludes. “This suggests that not only do IEEE publications frequently provide the science base for new inventions but that inventions that build upon IEEE publications are more likely to be valuable in the future than inventions that do not build upon IEEE.”

To download the full report or for more information, visit this website.