Patent Leaderboard
USPTO Patent Rankings Data through Dec 31, 2025
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Clocks and watches Patent Leaders in 2020 2020

Primary CPC class G04 · Section G

Rankings count each patent once by its primary Cooperative Patent Classification. All-time pages aggregate the full database; year pages use patent grant year.

Recent years: 2016201720182019202020212022202320242025

Patents per Year

Patents granted per year, 1996 to 2025Bar chart with a peak of 342 patents in 2016.peak 3421996: 102 patents19961997: 135 patents1998: 163 patents1999: 151 patents19992000: 149 patents2001: 189 patents2002: 176 patents20022003: 181 patents2004: 175 patents2005: 129 patents20052006: 185 patents2007: 175 patents2008: 199 patents20082009: 167 patents2010: 177 patents2011: 186 patents20112012: 219 patents2013: 266 patents2014: 295 patents20142015: 304 patents2016: 342 patents2017: 301 patents20172018: 277 patents2019: 291 patents2020: 259 patents20202021: 249 patents2022: 309 patents2023: 317 patents20232024: 336 patents2025: 283 patents2025

Top Inventors

Rank ↑ Inventor ↕ Patents ↕ Primary Company ↕
1 Colin M. Ely 6 Apple
2 Kosuke Hasegawa 6 Casio Computer Co.
3 Fletcher R. Rothkopf 5 Apple
#4 Pascal Lagorgette 5 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#5 Argyrios Dellis 4 Texas Instruments
#6 Christian Charbon 4 Nivarox-Far S.A.
#7 Jonathan P. Ive 4 Apple
#8 Juan Alejandro Herbsommer 4 Texas Instruments
#9 Julian Hoenig 4 Apple
#10 Rico Zörkendörfer 4 Apple
#11 Adam Joseph Fruehling 3 Texas Instruments
#12 Cedric Nicolas 3 Swatch Group Research And Development
#13 Edmond Capt 3 Blancpain Sa
#14 Jean Baebler 3 Meco Sa
#15 Munehiro Shibuya 3 Seiko Epson
#16 Pierre Podvin 3 Omega Sa
#17 Raphael Balmer 3 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#18 Takeo Funakawa 3 Seiko Epson
#19 Adam F. Gross 2 Hrl Laboratories
#20 Alexandre Oliveira 2 Rolex Sa
#21 Andrey Abramov 2 Sling Media L.L.C.
#22 Aryeh Farber 2 Intel
#23 Beat Gilomen 2 Swatch Group Research And Development
#24 Bernat Monferrer 2 Blancpain Sa
#25 Bichoy Bahr 2 Texas Instruments
#26 Christian Mautner 2 Ams Ag
#27 Christian Olvaszto 2 Meco Sa
#28 Christopher S. Roper 2 Hrl Laboratories
#29 David Hurni 2 Montres Jaquet Droz Sa
#30 Daisuke Iri 2 Citizen Watch Co.
#31 Danny Kim 2 Fullarmor
#32 Daisuke MATSUOH 2 Citizen Watch Co.
#33 Damien Schmutz 2 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#34 Dilshan Thilina Modaragamage 2 Wearatec
#35 Dominique Lechot 2 Swatch Group Research And Development
#36 Eiji Kinoshita 2 Seiko Epson
#37 Elan Banin 2 Intel
#38 Evgeny Shumaker 2 Intel
#39 Friedrich Bahnmueller 2 Ams Ag
#40 Gil Horovitz 2 Intel
#41 Gregory Kissling 2 Omega Sa
#42 Hirohisa Maruyama 2 Casio Computer Co.
#43 Hirofumi Nagareda 2 Casio Computer Co.
#44 Jason A. Graetz 2 Hrl Laboratories
#45 Jean-Luc Helfer 2 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#46 John J. Vajo 2 Hrl Laboratories
#47 Jumin Chi 2 LG
#48 Julien Peter 2 Blancpain Sa
#49 Kazumasa Yokoo 2 Casio Computer Co.
#50 Keiichi Imamura 2 Casio Computer Co.
#51 Koji CHINDO 2 Seiko Epson
#52 Logan D. Sorenson 2 Hrl Laboratories
#53 Matthew T. Rakher 2 Hrl Laboratories
#54 Makoto Sawada 2 Casio Computer Co.
#55 Marc Stranczl 2 Nivarox-Far S.A.
#56 Michael S. Larsen 2 —
#57 Mitsuaki Matsuo 2 Casio Computer Co.
#58 Muhammad Taher Abuelma'atti 2 KFUPM
#59 Nicolas Francois 2 Swatch Group Research And Development
#60 Nobuhito HAYASHI 2 Seiko Epson
#61 Ofir Degani 2 Intel
#62 Pascal Winkler 2 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#63 Philippe Dubois 2 Nivarox-Far S.A.
#64 Pierre Cusin 2 Nivarox-Far S.A.
#65 Pierpasquale Tortora 2 Swatch Group Research And Development
#66 Pierry VUILLE 2 Swatch Group Research And Development
#67 Reed E. Olsen 2 Apple
#68 Russell Patrick Mott 2 The Boeing
#69 Sebastian Alagon Carrillo 2 Montres Breguet S.A.
#70 Shimpei Matsuda 2 Hitachi
#71 Sung-Eun Park 2 Samsung
#72 Tatsumi ICHIMURA 2 Casio Computer Co.
#73 Tadashi Kojima 2 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
#74 Teruhiko Fujisawa 2 Seiko Epson
#75 Thad G. Walker 2 —
#76 Toshiaki Fukushima 2 Japan Display
#77 Toshinari Maeda 2 Citizen Watch Co.
#78 Vittorio Zanesco 2 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
#79 Yasuhiro MOMOSE 2 Seiko Epson
#80 Yuta Saito 2 Casio Computer Co.
#81 Yu Takyoh 2 Citizen Watch Co.
#82 Benjamin K. Stuhl 1 The Government Of The United States Of America As Represent By The Secretary Of The Air Force
#83 Aaron B. Weast 1 Nike
#84 Aaron Wierenga 1 Griffin Technology
#85 Adrien Nicolet 1 Rolex Sa
#86 Akihiro KUROHA 1 Casio Computer Co.
#87 Akihito Okumura 1 Seiko Instruments
#88 Akihide Sai 1 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
#89 Akihiro Sawada 1 Seiko Epson
#90 Akio Tsutsumi 1 Seiko Epson
#91 Alexandre Fussinger 1 Nivarox-Far S.A.
#92 Alessio GIOVANELLI 1 The Procter & Gamble
#93 Alain Hamm 1 Em Microelectronic-Marin Sa
#94 Alex Olwal 1 Google
#95 Alisa Zhou 1 —
#96 Amin M. Younes 1 Apple
#97 Antoine Dubois 1 Kinestral Technologies
#98 Ann Gabrys 1 Texas Instruments
#99 Antony Noirot 1 Rolex Sa
#100 Andreas E. Schobel 1 Apple

Top Companies

Rank ↑ Company ↕ Patents ↕
1 Seiko Epson 25
2 Casio Computer Co. 21
3 Apple 15
#4 Swatch Group Research And Development 14
#5 Samsung 11
#6 Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogère Suisse 9
#7 Seiko Instruments 9
#8 Nivarox-Far S.A. 7
#9 Omega Sa 7
#10 LG 7
#11 Texas Instruments 6
#12 Rolex Sa 5
#13 Citizen Watch Co. 4
#14 Montres Breguet S.A. 4
#15 Montres Jaquet Droz Sa 4
#16 Intel 4
#17 Ams Ag 3
#18 Blancpain Sa 3
#19 Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (Epfl) 2
#20 Hrl Laboratories 2
#21 KFUPM 2
#22 Lvmh Swiss Manufactures Sa 2
#23 Meco Sa 2
#24 Northrop Grumman 2
#25 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha 2
#26 Wearatec 2
#27 Disney 2
#28 Google 2
#29 Sony 2
#30 Arizona Board Of Regents For And On Behalf Of Arizona State University 1
#31 Bae Systems Information And Electronic Systems Integration 1
#32 BMW 1
#33 Bulgari Horlogerie Sa 1
#34 CNRS 1
#35 Chengdu Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co. 1
#36 Dayton Technologies Limited 1
#37 Eta Sa Manufacturing Horlogere Suisse 1
#38 Finewell Co. 1
#39 Griffin Technology 1
#40 Hi 1
#41 Huizhou Tcl Mobile Communication Co. 1
#42 Infinidat 1
#43 Integrated Device Technology 1
#44 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba 1
#45 Lenovo (Beijing) Limited 1
#46 Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. 1
#47 Lutron Technology Company 1
#48 MIT 1
#49 Nemoto & Co. 1
#50 Nxp B.V. 1
#51 Nxp Usa 1
#52 Preciflex Sa 1
#53 Quantum Valley Ideas Laboratories 1
#54 Quickstep Technologies 1
#55 Richemont International Sa 1
#56 Semiconductor Energy Laboratory 1
#57 Sequans Communications Sa 1
#58 Silicon Laboratories 1
#59 Stmicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited 1
#60 Stryker 1
#61 TSMC 1
#62 Technische Universität Wien 1
#63 The Government Of The United States Of America As Represent By The Secretary Of The Air Force 1
#64 The Mitre 1
#65 University of California 1
#66 Princeton University 1
#67 Timex Group Usa 1
#68 Tsuen Jer Enterprise Co. 1
#69 Txs Industrial Design 1
#70 Universite De Franche-Comte 1
#71 University Of Alaska Anchorage 1
#72 Unknown 1
#73 Zobele Holding Spa 1
#74 BOE 1
#75 Caterpillar 1
#76 Danaher 1
#77 Ford 1
#78 IBM 1
#79 Nike 1
#80 PayPal 1