Orange County is a hotbed of innovation, especially considering its size. For 2017, Orange County companies were granted 1,619 patents, whereas Los Angeles companies were granted 1,731 patents. Considering the relative populations of Orange County (3.19 million) and Los Angeles County (10.4 million), the intensity of innovation at companies based in Orange County is high. Per capita, Orange County is three times (3) more innovative than our Los Angeles neighbor.
The rapid pace of innovation in Orange County seems to be accelerating. The number of patents granted to Orange County companies from December 2017 to May 2018 exceeded the number granted in all of 2017 – both in terms of total patents granted, and in terms of the rate at which those patents were granted. As mentioned above, 1,619 patents were granted to Orange County companies in the year 2017. In the following six months, as of May 28, 2018, 2,083 patents were granted to Orange County companies. That is an increase in the rate of patent grants by 28%.
Top cities with companies focused on patenting their ideas
Which Orange County cities have the most companies focused on patenting their ideas?
| City | Company with most granted patents (Number of patents assigned to Company) | Total Number of Granted Patents (Utility and Design) per City for the past 1 year | Total Number of Design Patents per City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irvine | Allergan, Inc. (83 Patents) | 883 | 93 |
| Santa Ana | Universal Electronics Inc. (39 Patents) | 183 | 15 |
| Aliso Viejo | Microsemi Corp.i Corp. (37 Patents) | 153 | 1 |
| Lake Forest | Oakley, Inc.y, Inc. (31 Patents) | 116 | 27 |
| Newport Beach | Newport Fab, LLC (12 Patents) | 109 | 12 |
| San Clemente | ICU Medical, Inc.l, Inc. (26 Patents) | 81 | 10 |
| Huntington Beach | C&D Zodiac, Inc. Inc. (11 Patents) | 63 | 21 |
| Anaheim | Hestan Commercial Corporation (12 Patents) | 61 | 14 |
| Rancho Santa Margarita | Applied Medical Resources Corporation (25 Patents) | 59 | 2 |
| Costa Mesa | CONSUMERINFO.COM, INC. (11 Patents) | 55 | 14 |
| Fountain Valley | Kingston Digital, Inc. (21 Patents) | 48 | 21 |
| Yorba Linda | Vyaire Medical Capital LLC (8 Patents) | 33 | 4 |
| Brea | Beckman Coulter, Inc. (17 Patents) | 31 | 8 |
| Buena Park | ALMEX USA INC. (6 Patents) Orora Packaging Solutions (6 Patents) | 23 | 11 |
| Tustin | Dynalloy, Inc (3 Patents) | 22 | 2 |
| Cypress | Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. (13 patents) | 21 | 2 |
| Laguna Niguel | Urban Armor Gear LLC (8 Patents) | 18 | 7 |
| Orange | Kerr Corporation (4 Patents) | 18 | 0 |
| Laguna Hills | LINQ3 Technologies LLC (5 Patents) | 17 | 0 |
| Garden Grove | Allied Wheel Components (9 Patents) | 16 | 11 |
| Mission Viejo | UBRANDS, LLC (7 Patents) | 14 | 2 |
| Fullerton | Raytheon Command and Control Solutions LLC (3 Patents) | 13 | 2 |
| San Juan Capistrano | Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (3 Patents) | 9 | 1 |
| Dana Point | Atlantis Technologies (2 Patents) | 7 | 1 |
| BCAT, LLC (2 Patents) | |||
| Laguna Beach | Tropare, INC. (3 Patents) | 7 | 1 |
| Ladera Ranch | EmiSense Technologies, LLC (4 Patents) | 5 | 0 |
| Westminster | SYPHERMEDIA INTERNATIONAL, INC. (3 Patents) | 5 | 1 |
| Los Alamitos | Cleland Sales Corporation (2 Patents) | 4 | 0 |
| La Palma | HydroNovation, Inc. (3 Patents) | 3 | 0 |
| Placentia | 2 | 0 | |
| Seal Beach | Cosmodyne, LLC (1 Patent) | 2 | 0 |
| La Habra | EYES4LIVES, INC. (1 Patent) | 1 | 0 |
| Villa Park | MotorMood, LLC (1 Patent) | 1 | 1 |
Top technologies being patented in Orange County
Based on the categories defined by the Cooperative Patent Classification system, the top 3 industries in Orange County, California with respect to the number of patents granted are:
- “Medical” (CPC Section A61: Medical or Veterinary Science; Hygiene)
- “Computers” (CPC Section G06: Computing; Calculating; Counting)
- “Communications” (CPC Section H04: Electric Communication Technique)
Side Note: The CPC is a classification system similar to the Dewey Decimal Classification. Every patent document (i.e., granted patent and pre-grant publication) is categorized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under a system referred to as the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). The classification is managed by the USPTO and the European Patent Office. The patent offices around the world have a common interest in working together to ensure that only new and nonobvious inventions are protected by a patent. By harmonizing the databases at the various patent offices, examiners have more information at their fingertips when examining an application for a patent.
Top companies innovating in the top technologies
Twenty-six (26) % of the total number of patents are for medical-related inventions. Companies that invent in that area include:
- Abbot
- Allergan
- AMO Development, LLC
- Applied Medical Resources Corp.
- Biosense Webster, Inc.
- Edwards Lifesciences
- ICU Medical, Inc.
Fifteen (15) % of the total number of patents are related to computers. Companies in that area of technology include:
- Consumerinfo.com, Inc.
- Cylance Inc.
- Dell Software Inc.
- Microsemi Solutions, Inc.
- Kofax, Inc.
- Quest Software, Inc.
- Security First Corp.
- Ten-X LLC
- Universal Electronics Inc.,
10% of the total number of patents were related to communications. Companies in that space include:
- MBIT Wireless, Inc.
- Newracom, Inc.
- Quest Software, Inc.,
Top 10 companies granted a patent
The 10 highest-patenting companies – as defined by a number of patents granted – in Orange County, California are:
| Company | Number of Patents past 1 year |
|---|---|
| Allergan, Inc. | 83 |
| Abbott Medical Optics Inc. | 26 |
| Applied Medical Resources Corporation | 25 |
| BSH Home Appliances Corporation | 43 |
| Edwards Lifesciences Corporation | 65 |
| ICU Medical, Inc. | 26 |
| MBIT WIRELESS, INC. | 28 |
| NEWRACOM, INC. | 52 |
| Oakley, Inc. | 31 |
| Quest Software, Inc. | 31 |
| Universal Electronics Inc. | 43 |
An Orange County patent attorney’s summary: the non-legalese version
Orange County has an unusual depth of innovation. The number of patents per capita is 3 times greater compared to Los Angeles which is remarkable. The breadth of technological innovation is equally impressive: Orange County companies are not focused only on software or computer technology as in other areas of California such as Silicon Valley. The numbers from the Patent Office (USPTO) suggest that Orange County can look forward to more innovation, expansion, and growth.
Should you have any questions or want more data, please do not hesitate to contact me at (949) 433-0900.