How many U.S patents were issued in 40 years? Nikola Tesla was an inventor who obtained around 300 patents worldwide for his inventions.Some of Tesla's patents are not accounted for, and various sources have discovered some that have lain hidden in patent archives. 1836 – Patent Office 1836 fire; 1839 – Patent Law was amended to provide a grace period of two years to use the patent. Through mid-2010 there have been approximately:7.7 M (million) utility patents issued, 0.6 M design patents issued and 0.02 M plant patents issued. While in many cases this is the number of utility patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it may include utility patents granted by other countries, as noted by the source references for an inventor. Worldwide utility patents. Patents are the proof of "ownership" of an invention and only the inventor(s) can apply for a patent. Patents issued in that ere were only good for 14 years, with a 7-year extension allowed for patents issued after 1836. Patents that were rejected by the Patent Office could appeal to the Chief Justice in D.C. The first Patent Act of the U.S. Congress was passed on April 10, 1790, titled "An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts". 1,093 of Edison's patents were in the United States, but other patents were approved in … In the past, women were not allowed equal rights of property ownership (patents are a form of intellectual property) and many women patented their inventions under their husband's or father's names. PATENTS Highlights More than 3 million patent applications were filed worldwide in 2016 – a record number For the first time, more than 3 million patent applica - tions were filed worldwide in a single year, up 8.3% from 2015 (figure 1). It got off to a slow start—only three patents were granted that year. A detailed Patent Technology Monitoring Team report, titled Issue Dates and Patent Numbers Since 1836, which contains first patent numbers and the day of issue for patents issued since 1963, also may be of interest. Therefore, the number of patents granted during a year cannot be determined by simply subtracting the number of the first patent issued in one year from the number of the first patent issued in the next year. Payments are due at years 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 after the patent’s grant date. Around 1.24 million patents were granted worldwide in 2015, up 5.2% on 2014 and the fastest growth rate since 2012. This was due mainly to an increase of grants in China, which issued 359,316 patents in 2015 to surpass the U.S. (298,407) as the largest patent issuing office. In each renewal tranche, the maintenance fees about double.