One way people gauge a company"s stronghold in innovation is by the number of patents it holds. Apple and Google have been at the forefront of it with thousands of patents in their name each year.
The year 2025 brought some setbacks for these big tech companies as they were granted fewer patents in the US than in previous years. That"s according to a new report from IFI Claims Patent Services based on the data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), revealing that the growth of US patent applications has stalled for the first time in years.
Last year, the number of US patent applications filed decreased by 9% compared to 2024, reaching its lowest level since 2019. On the other hand, the number of US patents granted declined by 1% from 324,064 in 2024 to 323,272 in 2025.
Apple and Google are among the popular names that took the brunt of it. Apple was granted 2,722 patents in 2025, down from 3,082 in 2024. It"s a 12% drop that resulted in the company falling from second to sixth place in the annual ranking of the top 50 companies with the most US patent grants.
To name a few, the iPhone-maker has filed patents for flexible speakers and full-body tracking technology in the past.
Google now sits at the 14th position following a drop. The company was granted 1,782 patents in 2025, down from 2,054 in 2024, a 13% drop. Meanwhile, Samsung has retained the crown for the last three years and claimed the top spot again in 2025 with 7,054 grants (6,377 in 2024), recording a 10% increase.
This overall decline comes just a year after the US patent applications reached a record high in 2024. At the same time, the USPTO is facing a massive backlog of unexamined applications due to various reasons.
"It’s very interesting to see patent applications take such a dive after a long climb upward," said the firm"s marketing manager, Lily Iacurci. "Right now, we’re wondering if other companies are quietly adopting patent strategies similar to the one IBM announced a few years ago."
IBM, which is now out of the top 10, has the most patent grants for 29 consecutive years before Samsung replaced it three years ago. Other giants like Tesla, NVIDIA, and Meta didn"t collect enough US patent grants to make it to the top 50 list.
Looking at region-level data, the firm notes Asian companies captured 60% of all grants on the top 50 list. The US single-handedly received the most patent grants (136,131) when looking beyond the top 50.
The latest rankings highlight a strong focus on sustainability in R&D. About half of the patent areas considered as the fastest-growing technologies are related to battery tech, alongside recovery of waste materials, which is among the major trends.
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