The top patent earner in Ohio last year

Tech and engineering firms were the most inventive patent winners across the U.S. last year—a year marked by growing tension with foreign nations racing to bring world-changing tech like artificial intelligence and space satellites to market.

Nearly 160,000 patents were assigned across the U.S. in 2022, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. When a patent is awarded through the USPTO, the individual or company that it's given to has the license to a temporary monopoly on business for that specific product or service. Companies have used patent law for decades to defend their intellectual property—including designs and devices against competitors that might attempt to profit off of stolen ideas.

ClickUp used data from the Patent and Trademark Office to find the top patent earner in Ohio based on the number of patents assigned in USPTO's fiscal year 2022, which ran from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022. This analysis was part of a broader national report on the top patent earner in every state. The data looks at the assignees for both regular utility and design patents and was limited to assignees that received at least 10 patents within the year.

The Procter & Gamble Co. was the top patent-earner in Ohio last year. It was issued 296 patents from the USPTO within the state, comprising 22.2% of all patents considered for the statewide analysis. Hygiene product maker Procter & Gamble patented new tech related to toilet paper products and liquid cleaning detergents.

Nationally, the vast majority of top patent earners last year were private organizations. Private spending on research and development by U.S. companies has skyrocketed since the economic downturn of the late 2000s. In 2020, it was estimated to total $531 billion, according to the latest available data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. But nine colleges and universities rose to the top in their respective states for patent filing, as well.

Read on to see who else scooped up the rights to the most cutting-edge tech in Ohio last year.

#38. The University of Toledo (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#38. Ohio University (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#38. Marathon Petroleum Co. LP (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#35. Mtd Products, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 11

#35. Erico International Corp. (tie)
- Patents issued: 11

#35. Crown Equipment Corp. (tie)
- Patents issued: 11

#32. Woodpeckers, LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 12

#32. Nordson Corp. (tie)
- Patents issued: 12

#32. Devicor Medical Products, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 12

#30. Swimc LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 13

#30. Spectrum Diversified Designs, LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 13

#29. Saint-Gobain
- Patents issued: 14

#26. University of Cincinnati (tie)
- Patents issued: 15

#26. Owens-Brockway Glass Container, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 15

#26. Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 15

#25. Children's Hospital Medical Center
- Patents issued: 16

#24. Locus Solutions Ipco, LLC
- Patents issued: 17

#23. Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC
- Patents issued: 18

#22. The University of Akron
- Patents issued: 20

#20. The Lubrizol Corp. (tie)
- Patents issued: 21

#20. Parker Intangibles, LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 21

#18. The Noco Co. (tie)
- Patents issued: 22

#18. Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 22

#17. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Patents issued: 25

#14. InterDesign, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 26

#14. Gojo Industries, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 26

#14. Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 26

#13. Battelle Memorial Institute
- Patents issued: 32

#12. Parker-Hannifin Corp.
- Patents issued: 33

#10. PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 39

#10. Global Graphene Group, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 39

#9. Worldpay, LLC
- Patents issued: 40

#7. U.S. Air Force (tie)
- Patents issued: 46

#7. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (tie)
- Patents issued: 46

#6. Ohio State Innovation Foundation
- Patents issued: 51

#5. Coulter Ventures, LLC
- Patents issued: 57

#4. Dana, Inc.
- Patents issued: 64

#3. Case Western Reserve University
- Patents issued: 68

#2. Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
- Patents issued: 79

#1. The Procter & Gamble Co.
- Patents issued: 296