Which nation files the most patents

You know, I copywrite all material that appears in the Report, especially that which I lift from other organizations. I wonder if I could patent it?

Where the Most AI Patents Are Filed

A closer look at the global race in artificial intelligence.

Patents are one of the clearest records of where new technology is being invented, and artificial intelligence is now one of the busiest fields of all.

The counts show that one country has pulled far ahead, while others are growing faster from smaller bases.

1. 🤖 The Leaders in Generative AI Patents

Start with the newest and fastest-moving corner of the field.

🏆 China leads the world in generative AI patent inventions, with about 38,210 between 2014 and 2023, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The United States follows with about 6,276, South Korea with 4,155, and Japan with 3,409. India stands at 1,350.

The figures count inventions by the location of the inventor. China’s total is more than six times the American one, and more than the other four countries on the list combined.

The top five are all in Asia or North America, and four of them are in Asia, which shows how concentrated the field has become.

📌 Key point: China’s total is about 6.1 times the United States’ (Derived).

2. 🌍 Who Holds the Largest Share

Look beyond generative AI, and the pattern is the same.

📊 China accounted for about 69.7 percent of global AI patents in 2023, compared with 14.2 percent for the United States.

The rest of Asia, including Japan, South Korea, and India, accounted for 13.1 percent. Europe stood at 2.8 percent, and the rest of the world at 0.3.

China and the United States together hold about 84 percent of the world total, and the gap between them is large. China’s share is about 5 times the American one.

The remaining regions are far behind, with Europe’s share less than one fifth of the United States’.

🔍 Look at the gap: China’s share is about 4.9 times the United States’ (Derived).

3. 📈 China’s Rise

The change over time is as striking as the total.

🚀 China’s share of global AI patents grew from 13.4 percent in 2010 to 25.8 in 2015, 50.2 in 2020, and 69.7 in 2023.

That is a gain of about 56 points in 13 years. China’s share in 2023 was about five times what it was in 2010.

The biggest jump came between 2015 and 2020, when the share almost doubled, and the pace continued in the following three years.

Stanford’s AI Index, drawing on data from Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, reported the same story for granted patents: China held 62 percent of AI patents granted between 2010 and 2022, compared with 21 percent for the United States.

🎯 Take note: China’s share rose by about 56 percentage points between 2010 and 2023 (Derived).

4. 🇺🇸 The United States: From the Front to Second Place

The American share has moved in the opposite direction.

📉 The United States held 40.0 percent of global AI patents in 2010, rising to 42.8 percent in 2015 before falling to 26.5 percent in 2020 and 14.2 percent in 2023.

The United States was the clear leader until the middle of the last decade. By 2023 its share was about 36 percent of what it had been in 2010.

A falling share does not by itself mean fewer American patents. It reflects, in large part, how fast filings elsewhere have grown.

🧭 Context check: The United States’ share in 2023 was about 36 percent of its 2010 level (Derived).

5. 🇪🇺 Europe: A Shrinking Slice

Europe has been squeezed from both sides.

🌐 Europe’s share of global AI patents fell from 8.6 percent in 2010 to 6.4 in 2015, 4.1 in 2020, and 2.8 in 2023.

The 2023 figure is about one third of the 2010 level. Stanford’s AI Index reported that the European Union and the United Kingdom together held about 2 percent of AI patents granted between 2010 and 2022.

The decline in share took place even as AI became a larger part of the global economy, which shows that Europe’s patenting did not keep pace with Asia’s growth.

Europe’s share fell in every period shown, and it is now smaller than the share held by the rest of Asia.

🔄 Seen another way: Europe’s share in 2023 was about one third of its 2010 level (Derived).

6. 🇨🇳 The Pace of Chinese Filings

The share is a result of a very large volume of applications.

📑 China’s annual AI patent filings rose from about 59,054 in 2019 to about 188,757 in 2024, according to a GreyB analysis.

That is more than a threefold increase in five years. The same pattern shows up in the share figures, where China’s rise between 2019 and 2023 runs alongside this surge in filings.

🔢 By the numbers: China’s annual AI filings in 2024 were about 3.2 times the 2019 level (Derived).

7. ⚡ Who Is Growing Fastest

The newest numbers show who is catching up in generative AI.

🌱 Japan’s generative AI patent families grew about 210 percent a year between 2023 and 2025, followed by Canada at 109, the United States at 92, Germany at 85, and China at 64.

China has the largest total but one of the slower growth rates in the group, since it is growing from a much bigger base. Worldwide, published generative AI patent families rose from about 14,000 in 2023 to more than 37,800 in 2025.

WIPO’s 2025 ranking of generative AI patenting economies is led by China and the United States, followed by Japan, South Korea, India, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Switzerland.

Japan’s growth rate is about 3.3 times China’s.

💡 Why it matters: Patents show where companies and governments expect new technology to pay off, so the countries that file the most are likely to shape how AI is built and used.

The story of AI patents isn’t really about paperwork. It’s about where the future of a technology is being claimed, and about how quickly that can change.