Smartphone technology has become a sizeable source for new patents, making up about 16% of active US patents. That's about 1 in 6 of all active US patents, or about 250,000 patents out of 1.5 million. This is slightly more than 3.5 times the number of patents that were related to mobile phones in 2000.
More about smartphones and patents:
- There are five main types of patents in the US: utility, design, plant, reissue, and Statutory Invention Registration (SIR).
- As of 2012, about 50.4% of American mobile subscribers owned a smartphone, with more than two-thirds of Americans age 25 to 34 owning one.
- Despite the great number of patents, smartphone handset sales account for less than 1% of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP).