GenAI Patent Activity Nearly Triples in Two Years as Innovation Race Accelerates

By Bufete Mejía & Asociados

The patent landscape for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has reached a new stage of expansion, with the number of newly published patent families related to the technology increasing sharply in recent years, according to new data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

According to WIPO’s latest Technology SPARK analysis, published GenAI patent families increased from approximately 14,000 in 2023 to more than 37,800 in 2025. The organization reported that more than 56,000 new GenAI patent families were published during 2024 and 2025 combined, exceeding the total number published during the previous decade from 2014 to 2023.

The report measures innovation activity through patent families, a widely used indicator that groups related patent applications filed in multiple jurisdictions for the same invention. WIPO found that GenAI-related inventions represented 8.7% of all artificial intelligence patent family publications in 2025, compared with 6.1% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2017.

The data shows that generative AI patent activity is being driven by companies from different sectors, including technology, financial services, telecommunications, infrastructure and digital services. WIPO identified large multinational companies as some of the most active applicants in the field.

Japan’s SoftBank ranked as the leading GenAI patent applicant worldwide, with nearly 3,000 published patent families during 2024 and 2025. China’s Tencent Holdings, Ping An Insurance Group and Baidu also ranked among the leading applicants, together with research institutions and technology infrastructure companies. U.S.-based companies Alphabet, Microsoft and IBM were included among the top ten applicants.

China remained the largest source of GenAI patent publications by inventor location, with more than 43,000 patent families published by China-based inventors in 2024 and 2025. The country recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 64% in GenAI patent families between 2023 and 2025.

The United States recorded a 92% CAGR during the same period, as commercial developments in generative AI translated into increased patent activity. Japan recorded the highest relative growth rate among the leading inventor locations, with a 210% CAGR, moving from fourth place globally to third place.

In Europe, Germany became the leading GenAI inventor location, surpassing the United Kingdom. Germany recorded an 85% CAGR between 2023 and 2025. Canada and Switzerland also registered significant growth rates, with increases of 109% and 124% respectively during the same period.

WIPO’s analysis also identifies the main technological areas associated with GenAI patent activity, including models, neural networks, machine learning systems, natural language processing, image generation and other applications based on artificial intelligence technologies.

The report notes that seven of the world’s top ten inventor locations published more GenAI patent families during the last two years than during the entire previous decade. The data provides a global overview of patenting activity, applicants and geographic distribution in one of the fastest-growing areas of artificial intelligence development.