U.S. patent filings declined sharply in 2025, marking the first year-over-year drop since 2017 and ending a seven-year growth streak, according to a new IFI Claims Patent Services report. Published U.S. patent applications fell 9% to 393,344, the lowest level since 2019, while issued patents also slipped slightly to 323,272, a decline that may be linked in part to a record application backlog at the USPTO earlier in the year. IFI Claims suggested the downturn could reflect lingering pandemic effects due to the long lag between research, filing, and publication, as well as shifting corporate strategies that emphasize more selective patenting or reliance on trade secrets, particularly in fast-moving areas such as artificial intelligence.

Despite the overall decline, Samsung retained its position as the top recipient of U.S. patents, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Qualcomm, while companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon saw decreases and automakers including Toyota, Honda, Kia, and Hyundai posted notable gains. The report also found that the fastest-growing patented technologies were not AI-related but instead focused on energy diversification and waste reduction, and that nearly half of U.S. patents were granted to foreign companies, with Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean firms accounting for a significant share.

This trend may also be the result of more and more innovations occuring in the AI and digital domain space which may be more suitable for trade secret protection than patent protection. These innovations can be kept in a “black box” online, which users can access without disclosure of the innovation. Contact us to help you develop your trade secret protection program.