Toyota Remains R&D Patent Leader Among Automakers

February 5, 2021 by Toyota

The company received over 2800 patents in 2020

The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Toyota more patents than any other automaker in 2020, according to an annual ranking by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). Toyota's engineers and scientists were granted a total of 2,819 patents in 2020, up 4 percent from 2019 and far outpacing any other automaker in the United States.

'We are pleased to have expanded our patents across a wide range of advanced technology fields over the last year and especially proud of the incredible accomplishments of our team members,' said Frederick Mau, Intellectual Property Counsel and Director of Patent Licensing for Toyota Motor North America. 'Innovation across Toyota is driving our transition to a mobility company, and Toyota's leading patent portfolio is one important measure of that progress along with our investments in research, collaboration and partnerships.'

Toyota continues to invest heavily in its robust research and development pipeline and has received more than 1,400 patents related to autonomous vehicle technology since 2003. Every hour, Toyota invests over $1 million in emerging technology globally, and has invested over $1 billion in R&D related to automated vehicles and robotics since 2017.