10,000,000th United States Patent has Issued

Takeaway: Innovation in the United States is moving at a faster pace than ever before.  The USPTO has issued 1,000,000 Patents within the last three years and two months, reaching a landmark number of 10,000,000 Patents issued as of earlier this month.

Earlier this month the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued its 10,000,000th patent.  The rate at which people are applying for and receiving patent grants in the United States is increasing every year.  This increased rate of patent issuances likely shows that innovation in our country is stronger than ever.

In the USPTO’s public release of the news about the 10,000,000th patent they quoted Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who stated, “our patent system’s importance to the daily lives of every American has never been greater. Given the rapid pace of change, we know that it will not take another 228 years to achieve the next 10-million-patent milestone.”

United States Patent No. 10,000,000 was granted to inventor Joseph Marron and assigned to Raytheon Company for a coherent “LADAR” (laser detection and ranging) using intra-pixel quadrature detection.

To find out more about the history of patents leading up to the 10,000,000th  patent, check out the USPTO’s dedicated page at
https://10millionpatents.uspto.gov/. The USPTO’s dedicated page details a history of United States patent innovations.