AI patent trends signal tomorrow’s technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ultimate buzzword at the moment. But from a patent-based perspective, it is more than just the new fad: it is a pointer to technological developments and signals what consumers should expect from new products coming to the market in the near future.

For all the patent attorneys out there, it is also an indicator of the technologies we will be expected to deal with and translate into patent documents. So let’s have a look at what has been happening in the past few years.

When it all started

Publication of AI-related patents started to gain traction in 2016 (6,004 publications) and 2017 (11, 334 publications), with a consistent increase in following years (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Distribution of filings per intellectual patent office (IPO)
Source: Patentscope search conducted for IPC code G06N; data retrieved on 28-05-2025
* incomplete data

We are still to reach the peak in publications: the highest number of patents published to date was recorded last year with 16,6274 patent documents - with no sign of a slowing down in AI-related patent filings.

Where do patents come from?

The majority of publications comes from the Chinese Patent Office (CNIPA) with 49,6811 patents, representing 64.3% of all publications. Second place is the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), representing 16.9% of filings (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Distribution of filings per intellectual patent office (IPO)
Source: Patentscope, based on the search conducted for IPC code G06N; data retrieved on 28-05-2025.

Publications from the European Patent Office, German Patent and Trademark Office and UK Intellectual Property Office combined amount to 4% of all publications, behind publications from the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which correspond to 5.9% of publications. Finally, Japan (2.4%), Australia (0.6%) and Canada (0.6%) complete the list of offices with the highest number of AI-based patents published.

Who is currently filing patents on AI?

The highest number of publications coming from China is directly related to the companies filing the patents, with seven out of the top 10 companies being Asia-based companies. However, the top owner of patents for AI-based technologies is the US-based company International Business Machines (IBM) with 12,092 patents. Microsoft, with 5,968, and Google, with 5,758, complete the list of companies with main offices not based in Asia (Table 2).

Table 2: Number of patent publications per company.
Source: Patentscope search conducted for IPC code G06N; data retrieved on 28-05-2025
* incomplete data

Samsung Electronics is the first Asia-based company on the list, taking second place in the top 10 companies researching and filing patents on AI technologies followed by Tencent Tech in 5th place and Huawei in the 7th position. Surprisingly, two Chinese universities show up in the list of top patent owners in position 6 and 10, respectively.

What is China doing different?

China has been taking a series of steps in support of tech companies from government guidelines, to regulation and financial initiatives to support tech companies.

"The Chinese government supports startups through various policies, offering tax incentives to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and cultivating environments for entrepreneurship".

• Guidelines - enhancing financial services for technology companies

Central to Chinese efforts are new guidelines from several Chinese government bodies, including the National Financial Regulatory Administration, focused on enhancing financial services for technology firms. These guidelines aim to eliminate capital flow bottlenecks, allocate more financial resources for tech innovations, and prioritize early-stage investments with sustained support for small and micro-sized enterprises over a five-year period. Banks and insurers are called to align their financial services with high-priority innovation areas, offering flexible loan terms, improved insurance coverage, and actively participating in venture capital to support the technological advancement of enterprises. This comprehensive approach is part of China's ongoing financial reforms targeting technology and innovation sectors.

The guidelines set a five-year goal for banks and insurers to align financial services with high-priority innovation areas, encouraging more tech-related credit, improved insurance coverage for innovations, and greater venture capital cooperation. They also emphasize increased credit lending, flexible loan terms, extended loan periods, and expanded insurance and venture capital roles in supporting technology development. Furthermore, they call for a pilot program for intellectual property financing to incentivize the innovation ecosystem.

• Promoting start-ups

Driven by government incentives and increased venture capital (VC) investment, China has fostered one of the world's largest numbers of unicorns, second only to the U.S. These developments align with governmental goals to promote strategic and emerging industries, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and semiconductors, to promote innovation and address underemployment among young people.

China's startup ecosystems, including cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, house significant numbers of unicorn companies, particularly in sectors such as biotechnology, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Despite an overall cooling in VC investments recently, hard-tech sectors such as semiconductors remain investment priorities.

The Chinese government supports startups through various policies, offering tax incentives to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and cultivating environments for entrepreneurship. These include reduced corporate income tax rates and deductions for R&D expenses to encourage technological innovation.

• Regulatory environment

In her book High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy, Angela Zhang describes China's regulatory framework for tech firms as a "dynamic pyramid model" which helps explaining the adaptable nature of the technology ecosystem and its capacity to respond to rapid shifts in the market, influenced by centralized decision-making.

As AI is a fairly recent field, the author suggests that China's AI regulations will initially be lax until significant issues arise.

• Challenges ahead

However, China's ambition to achieve technological dominance on the global stage is not without challenges which persist due to global economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions, particularly with the U.S. introducing export controls affecting key tech sectors. Particularly in the semiconductor industry, that is intrinsically related to AI-based technologies, China’s strategy to strengthen the technology sector it is now affected by recent U.S. export policies. In response, China is focusing on enhancing domestic innovation to achieve technological self-reliance.

All in all, China’s successful strategy towards AI-based technologies is translated into the number of patent publications. To what extent the patented inventions will become critical to the marketed innovations of the future is still to be seen.

For foreign investors and ecosystem participants, understanding China's strategic priorities and adapting to these policy and market developments will be crucial for successful engagement with its tech ecosystem.

This is a co-published article originally published on World Intellectual Property Review - WIPR. 

References:

[1] https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202504/1331330.shtml

[2] https://www.techpolicy.press/how-china-regulates-tech/ 

[3] https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-startup-landscape-industries-investment-and-incentive-policies/

[4] https://itif.org/publications/2025/02/18/a-policymakers-guide-to-chinas-technology-security-strategy/