Patents issued in state increase in 2010

A total of 1,140 patents were issued in Missouri during 2010, a 30 percent increase compared to 877 patents in 2009.

More than 85 percent of the patents were utility patents, issued for inventions or improvements. Another roughly 7 percent were design patents, according to a news release from the Missouri Economic Research & Information Center, which cited data released by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues patents in five categories - utility, design, plant, reissue and statutory invention registrations.

Missouri ranked No. 25 nationally in the number of patents issued in 2010 and second among its neighboring states, falling behind Illinois, which had 4,374 patents, the release said. Nationwide, 121,164 patents were issued during the year, meaning Missouri's patents made up roughly 1.1 percent.

Missouri's patents were largely made in the bioscience and medical fields, though business-related patents were noted.

The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, part of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, gave patent numbers from 2001-2010 for comparison. In 2010, the state was issued the most patents in the entire sample, with the next highest year in 2001, when the state was issued 966 patents.[[In-content Ad]]