The Top Patent Earner in Wisconsin Last Year

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This story originally appeared on ClickUp and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

The top patent earner in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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.

Johnson Controls was the top patent-earner in Wisconsin last year. It was issued 265 patents from the USPTO within the state, comprising 23.7% of all patents considered for the statewide analysis. Johnson Controls is a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and cooling systems for commercial and residential customers. In 2022, the company patented tech for air ducts.

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 Wisconsin last year.

#17. Paper Converting Machine Co. (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#17. Modine Manufacturing Co. (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#17. MCP IP, LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#17. Broan-NuTone LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 10

#16. Promega Corp.
- Patents issued: 11

#13. S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 13

#13. Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. (tie)
- Patents issued: 13

#13. Briggs & Stratton, LLC (tie)
- Patents issued: 13

#12. Regal Beloit America, Inc.
- Patents issued: 16

#11. Bradley Fixtures Corp.
- Patents issued: 17

#10. Bradford Co.
- Patents issued: 18