IFI CLAIMS Announces Fastest Growing Technologies Based on Patent Growth

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, provider of a leading global patent data platform, today released an analysis of the 10 fastest growing technologies as determined by patent application growth in 2018. IFI found that Genomics Testing saw the greatest growth with 2.5 times as many patents as the prior year. The analysis looks at year-over-year percentage growth of pre-grant patent publications issued by the USPTO in 2018.

IFI also posted an interactive chart including more than 2,500 CPC groups, a patent classification system utilized by the USPTO. The plot depicts CPC outliers with the greatest percentage gains. These are not necessarily generating the most patents or even the largest number of patents over the previous year, but indicate those with the most rapid growth.

Among the fastest growing technologies identified:

• Genomics Testing (Involving Modified Oligonucleotides) – An increase in patent applications of 249% over 2017 with 10X Genomics leading the way.
   
• Medical Imaging – 186% more patent applications were submitted with Siemens Healthcare taking the number one spot.
   
• Machine Learning – Computer systems based on biological models generated 2,498 patents in 2018 up 116% and with IBM the leading contributor.
   
• Healthcare Sensing & Tracking – This healthcare informatics class, which includes software to monitor patient compliance, is up by 115% and also led by IBM.
   
• Warehouse Storage – Storage and transport devices for warehousing is up 79% and led by Intel. Walmart and Amazon are also active in this category.
   
• Computers – Internal Transfer of Information – This digital data processing class which includes memory sharing for applications is up 64% and is also led by Intel.
   
• Other top 10 CPC classes named in the report include Rubber Polymers and Co-Polymers, Protective Circuits, Macromolecular Compounds, and Textiles.

“We are always interested in discovering which technologies are experiencing rapid growth and analyzing patent applications is a good way to do that,” said Larry Cady, Senior Analyst, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. “Using this approach, we were able to see the smaller classes, such as Genomics Testing, Medical Imaging and Machine Learning based on biological models, that are making great strides with rapid growth.”

In addition to the fastest growing technologies, IFI also identified the three largest CPC groups in 2018:

• Input and Output of Arrangements for Transferring Data (G06F 3/), such as image acquisition, had 20,703 published applications
• Digital Computing or Data Processing (G06F 17/), including database structures and information retrieval, with 18,318 patent applications
• Communications Systems Supporting Networked Applications (H04L 67/), such as real-time multimedia communication, had 12,522 applications

All of these categories had a decline in patent applications compared to 2017, but were still the largest.

In January, IFI released the 2018 Top 50 Patent Recipients, the most trusted ranking of U.S. patent assignees. Also available is the IFI CLAIMS Top 1,000, a free, interactive analysis of the global assignees that received the most U.S. utility grants.

One of the oldest and most trusted patent information firms, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services is known throughout the world as a gold standard for ranking and analyzing U.S. and global patents. For more than 60 years, clients have turned to IFI for the support of essential business functions. The company standardizes, aggregates, and enriches patent data from more than 90 countries.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services/Fairview Research
IFI CLAIMS Patent Services enables clients to integrate patent information into their applications and analysis. IFI curates a global patent database that is trusted by a wide range of partners including IP service firms, life sciences platforms, financial institutions, and information publishers. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is a division of Fairview Research. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/217014a1-5403-4bfd-b81e-cab82d5ab4e2.