One thing that comes with every tech wave of course is new intellectual property. And patents. This AI Tech Wave is no different. And some of the numbers are now coming in.
“More than 100,000 AI-related patents were issued for the first time in 2025, including a significant jump in patent filings related to agents, according to new data compiled by IFI Claims and shared first with Axios.”
“Why it matters: Patent filings offer an indication of where companies are targeting their research efforts.”
Notable too are the breakdown numbers by AI categories.
“By the numbers: Worldwide AI patent grants reached 107,279, up 83% from three years ago, per IFI Claims, with filings related to agents and generative AI seeing significant growth.”
“Generative AI accounted for 16% of patents globally, with agentic AI now comprising 15%, up from just 7% in its previous analysis.”
“In the U.S., agentic patent applications were up 40% last year and are up 62% over the past two years.”
Agentic AI at 15% of all AI patents globally, up from 7%, is the fastest mover on that list.
And software agents are not a new idea. They were being patented in the early nineties, well before anyone called any of this a Tech Wave.
General Magic filed on them, and took the idea of AI Agents public in 1995. The company did not make it. The patents outlived it, went to auction, and most of them ended up with Paul Allen of Microsoft co-founder fame.
“What they’re saying: “GenAI and agentic AI patent applications in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2025, potentially a clue worth keeping an eye on,” IFI Claims Patent Services senior marketing manager Lily Iacurci said in a statement to Axios.”
It’s notable that Samsung led on a global company basis. With Google and Microsoft leading in the US.
“Zoom in: On a company-by-company basis, Samsung applied for the most AI patents worldwide in 2025, followed by Huawei and then Google.”
“In the U.S., Samsung also had the most filings at 682, followed by Google with 671 and Microsoft at 585.”
“Nvidia had the most agentic patent applications in the U.S., followed by Microsoft and Google.”
Some were notable by their absence in the higher levels of the list. Applicable up and down the AI Tech Stack.
“Yes, but: Not all companies are rushing to file patents.”
“OpenAI filed just 27 U.S. patent applications in 2025, while Anthropic sought only seven. Neither DeepSeek nor SpaceX’s xAI filed for AI-related patents last year, IFI Claims said.”
“Given the nature of AI’s rapid evolution, some companies’ approach to protecting their AI inventions vary from a robust patent portfolio to a few defensive patents to leaning more heavily on trade secrets,” Iacurci said.”
“The intrigue: While global AI patents remain on the rise, fresh grants in the U.S. have started to level off.”
It’s all interesting in these early days of this AI Tech Wave.
And a lot to parse as innovations accelerate. Especially further up and all the way to the Applications layer of the AI Tech Stack above.
A wise man, John Lennon sang“Life is what happens while making plans”.
As the General Magic story illustrates above, startup lives happen while making Patent plans. Along with all their dreams and aspirations.
They’re an important part of the machinery of innovation and wealth.
It’s all just beginning for AI this time around. Stay tuned.
(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)
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