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The top patent earner in Kentucky last year

Tech and engineering firms were the most inventive patent winners across the U.S. last year—a year marked by growing tension with foreign nations racing to bring world-changing tech like artificial intelligence and space satellites to market.

Nearly 160,000 patents were assigned across the U.S. in 2022, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. When a patent is awarded through the USPTO, the individual or company that it’s given to has the license to a temporary monopoly on business for that specific product or service. Companies have used patent law for decades to defend their intellectual property—including designs and devices against competitors that might attempt to profit off of stolen ideas.

ClickUp used data from the Patent and Trademark Office to find the top patent earner in Kentucky based on the number of patents assigned in USPTO’s fiscal year 2022, which ran from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022. This analysis was part of a broader national report on the top patent earner in every state. The data looks at the assignees for both regular utility and design patents and was limited to assignees that received at least 10 patents within the year.

Lexmark International Inc. was the top patent-earner in Kentucky last year. It was issued 23 patents from the USPTO within the state, comprising 29.1% of all patents considered for the statewide analysis. Lexmark, a major producer of printer equipment, tops the list of patent earners in this state. The company earned patents for imaging technology and toner cartridges.

Nationally, the vast majority of top patent earners last year were private organizations. Private spending on research and development by U.S. companies has skyrocketed since the economic downturn of the late 2000s. In 2020, it was estimated to total $531 billion, according to the latest available data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. But nine colleges and universities rose to the top in their respective states for patent filing, as well.

Read on to see who else scooped up the rights to the most cutting-edge tech in Kentucky last year.

#4. Heathco LLC (tie)
– Patents issued: 11

#4. Delta T, LLC (tie)
– Patents issued: 11

#3. University of Kentucky Research Foundation
– Patents issued: 16

#2. University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.
– Patents issued: 18

#1. Lexmark International, Inc.
– Patents issued: 23