This indicator represents state and county patent activity normalized by the number of residents. The Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent records provide industry, technology areas, and geographical inventor information for all patents registered in the United States, including patents granted to individuals and foreign entities.

Although USPTO grants several types of patents, this indicator covers only utility patents, commonly known as patents for inventions. Utility patents can be granted for any new, nonobvious, useful, or improved method, process, machine, device, manufactured item, or chemical compound and represent a key measure of intellectual property. Patents were fractionally allocated among states and counties based on the proportion of residences of all named inventors.

Estimates of the population are provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis based on the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program and are reported by the state and county of residence. Each year, the Census Bureau utilizes current data on births, deaths, and migration to calculate population change since the most recent decennial census and produces time series estimates of population. Estimates for regions with smaller populations are generally less precise than estimates for regions with larger populations.

Since 2000, the geographic boundaries of several counties and county equivalents have changed. The State Indicators data tool displays present-day county boundaries as used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. For additional information, please see the Technical Notes.

Data sources: Science-Metrix, special tabulation from Patent and Trademark Office data in PatentsView; Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts population data based on Census Bureau midyear population estimates.