Cardiol Res

Cardiology Research, ISSN 1923-2829 print, 1923-2837 online, Open Access

Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, Cardiol Res and Elmer Press Inc

Journal website https://www.cardiologyres.org

Original Article

Volume 14, Number 5, October 2023, pages 334-341

Temporal Trends in the United States Patent Landscape: Innovation in Cardiology Across Industry and Academia

Figure 1. Cardiology-related patents issued between 2005 and 2020 as a percentage of all patents granted. Only patents issued within the United States are included in calculations. Horizontal axis: year in which a patent was issued; vertical axis: percent of issued patents that were related to cardiology.

Figure 2. Stratified temporal trends of the number of cardiology-related patents issued annually. Horizontal axis: year in which a patent was issued; vertical axis: number of patents issued in a year within the corresponding subgroup.

Figure 3. Distribution of patent assignees, inventors, and references. For all panels, a right-skewed histogram is visualized using a logarithmic scale for the vertical axis. In the upper panel, the histogram visualizes the number of patents per assignee; the central panel visualizes the number of patents per inventor; and the lower panel visualizes the number of citations received by each patent that was cited at least once.

Figure 4. Stratified temporal lag between patent submission and issuance. Boxplots of time (years) elapsed between the date a patent was submitted to the USPTO and the date it was issued. Left panel visualizes all patents; right panel excludes outliers and allows clearer comparison between subgroups.

**Table 1.** Number of Patents Related to Cardiology That Were Issued Annually Between 2005 and 2020, Inclusive
Year	Patent count
2005	1,047
2006	1,210
2007	1,159
2008	1,000
2009	1,155
2010	1,697
2011	1,760
2012	2,079
2013	2,378
2014	2,563
2015	2,272
2016	2,305
2017	2,538
2018	2,283
2019	2,833
2020	2,769

Table 1. Number of Patents Related to Cardiology That Were Issued Annually Between 2005 and 2020, Inclusive

Year

Patent count

2005

1,047

2006

1,210

2007

1,159

2008

1,000

2009

1,155

2010

1,697

2011

1,760

2012

2,079

2013

2,378

2014

2,563

2015

2,272

2016

2,305

2017

2,538

2018

2,283

2019

2,833

2020

2,769

**Table 2.** Temporal Trends for Growth in Number of Patents Issued Annually Within Each Subgroup in Cardiology
Subgroup	Total patents	Trend direction	Z test statistic	P value
The second column lists the total number of patents issued within each subgroup between 2005 and 2020, inclusive.
Aortic	2,786	Upward	4.28	< 0.001
Electrophysiology	5,034	Upward	3.38	0.001
Heart failure	3,122	Upward	3.11	0.002
Imaging	3,480	Upward	3.88	< 0.001
Infectious	1,932	Upward	3.79	< 0.001
Interventional	3,588	Upward	4.42	< 0.001
Oncology	1,814	Upward	4.19	< 0.001
Valvular	4,866	Upward	5.00	< 0.001
Vascular	10,373	Upward	3.70	< 0.001

Table 2. Temporal Trends for Growth in Number of Patents Issued Annually Within Each Subgroup in Cardiology

Subgroup

Total patents

Trend direction

Z test statistic

P value

The second column lists the total number of patents issued within each subgroup between 2005 and 2020, inclusive.

Aortic

2,786

Upward

4.28

< 0.001

Electrophysiology

5,034

Upward

3.38

0.001

Heart failure

3,122

Upward

3.11

0.002

Imaging

3,480

Upward

3.88

< 0.001

Infectious

1,932

Upward

3.79

< 0.001

Interventional

3,588

Upward

4.42

< 0.001

Oncology

1,814

Upward

4.19

< 0.001

Valvular

4,866

Upward

5.00

< 0.001

Vascular

10,373

Upward

3.70

< 0.001

**Table 3.** Institutions Assigned the Most Cardiology Patents Between 2005 and 2020
	Corporation	Patent count	Academic institution	Patent count
Both, corporate and academic, institutions are considered.
1	Cardiac Pacemakers	2,054	St. Jude Medical	494
2	Medtronic	1,997	University of California	264
3	Pacesetter	949	Johns Hopkins University	128
4	Siemens	658	University of Texas	127
5	Philips	499	Cleveland Clinic	115
6	Edwards Lifesciences	409	Stanford University	98
7	General Electric	373	Brigham & Women’s Hospital	89
8	Toshiba	335	Massachusetts General Hospital	87
9	Zoll Medical	272	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	76
10	Boston Scientific Scimed	238	Mayo Clinic	75

Table 3. Institutions Assigned the Most Cardiology Patents Between 2005 and 2020

Corporation

Patent count

Academic institution

Patent count

Both, corporate and academic, institutions are considered.

Cardiac Pacemakers

2,054

St. Jude Medical

494

Medtronic

1,997

University of California

264

Pacesetter

949

Johns Hopkins University

128

Siemens

658

University of Texas

127

Philips

499

Cleveland Clinic

115

Edwards Lifesciences

409

Stanford University

General Electric

373

Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Toshiba

335

Massachusetts General Hospital

Zoll Medical

272

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Boston Scientific Scimed

238

Mayo Clinic

**Table 4.** The Patents Most Cited By Cardiology-Related Patents Issued Between 2005 and 2020
	Patent number	Patent title	Issue year	Times cited
Note that the listed patents may not be directly related to cardiology, but only citations by cardiology-related patents are included in the listed counts.
1	5411552	Valve prothesis for implantation in the body and a catheter for implanting such valve prothesis	1995	765
2	6730118	Implantable prosthetic valve	2004	723
3	6458153	Endoluminal cardiac and venous valve prostheses and methods of manufacture and delivery thereof	2002	684
4	5855601	Artificial heart valve and method and device for implanting the same	1999	683
5	5332402	Percutaneously-inserted cardiac valve	1994	650
6	5331966	Subcutaneous multi-electrode sensing system, method and pacer	1994	647
7	6425916	Methods and devices for implanting cardiac valves	2002	644
8	6893460	Implantable prosthetic valve	2005	639
9	5840081	System and method for implanting cardiac valves	1998	638
10	5957949	Percutaneous placement valve stent	1999	634

Table 4. The Patents Most Cited By Cardiology-Related Patents Issued Between 2005 and 2020

Patent number

Patent title

Issue year

Times cited

Note that the listed patents may not be directly related to cardiology, but only citations by cardiology-related patents are included in the listed counts.

5411552

Valve prothesis for implantation in the body and a catheter for implanting such valve prothesis

1995

765

6730118

Implantable prosthetic valve

2004

723

6458153

Endoluminal cardiac and venous valve prostheses and methods of manufacture and delivery thereof

2002

684

5855601

Artificial heart valve and method and device for implanting the same

1999

683

5332402

Percutaneously-inserted cardiac valve

1994

650

5331966

Subcutaneous multi-electrode sensing system, method and pacer

1994

647

6425916

Methods and devices for implanting cardiac valves

2002

644

6893460

Implantable prosthetic valve

2005

639

5840081

System and method for implanting cardiac valves

1998

638

5957949

Percutaneous placement valve stent

1999

634