What does the WIPO report cover?

The report analyzes global patenting activity in Generative Artificial Intelligence from 2014 through 2025, with particular emphasis on developments during 2024 and 2025.

Which AI technology has experienced the fastest patent growth?

According to WIPO, Large Language Models (LLMs) have become the fastest-growing category of Generative AI patents, surpassing Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).

Which country leads Generative AI patent filings?

China remains the leading jurisdiction for Generative AI patent families, although significant growth has also been observed in the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland.

Which company owns the largest Generative AI patent portfolio?

Based on the report, SoftBank has become the world’s largest owner of published Generative AI patent families.

Why is this report important for businesses?

The report demonstrates the rapidly increasing importance of patent protection in the AI sector. Companies developing AI technologies should adopt comprehensive intellectual property strategies to secure competitive advantages and minimize legal risks.

News & Updates

WIPO Report Highlights Record Growth in Generative AI Patenting

Oktay Simsek August 8, 2026 3 min read

Patents

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published its latest Technology SPARK Report – Patent Trends Update in GenAI, providing a comprehensive overview of global patent activity in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) through the end of 2025.

The report demonstrates that innovation in Generative AI continues to accelerate rapidly, with patent filings reaching unprecedented levels and Large Language Models (LLMs) becoming the leading area of technological development.

Historic Increase in Patent Filings

According to the report, more than 56,000 new Generative AI patent families were published during 2024 and 2025, exceeding the total number published throughout the previous decade (2014–2023).

Annual publication figures also show remarkable growth:

Approximately 14,000 GenAI patent families were published in 2023.
More than 37,000 patent families were published in 2025.

As a result, Generative AI now represents 8.7% of all AI patent families, compared to 6.1% in 2023, reflecting its rapidly growing importance within the broader artificial intelligence landscape.

The report attributes this significant increase largely to the surge in research and commercial investment following the widespread adoption of Generative AI technologies.

Large Language Models Lead Innovation

One of the report’s most notable findings is the shift in technological focus.

For many years, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) dominated Generative AI patenting. Today, however, Large Language Models (LLMs) have become the largest category of patent filings.

By 2025:

approximately 14,100 LLM patent families had been published,
compared with approximately 5,200 patent families relating to GAN technologies.

The report also highlights the rapid growth of Diffusion Models, which have become a key technology for AI-generated images, video, and multimedia applications.

China Maintains Leadership While Global Competition Intensifies

China continues to lead the world in Generative AI patenting by a considerable margin.

At the same time, WIPO identifies significant growth in patent filings from several other jurisdictions, including:

United States
Japan
Germany
Canada
Switzerland

Japan’s rapid increase is largely attributed to SoftBank’s extensive patent filing activities, illustrating how investment in AI technologies continues to expand globally.

New Leaders Among Patent Owners

The report also reveals notable changes among the world’s leading patent owners.

SoftBank has become the largest owner of published Generative AI patent families, followed by major Chinese technology companies including:

Tencent
Ping An
Baidu

Among U.S.-based innovators, companies such as Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, IBM, and Nvidia continue to strengthen their patent portfolios, reflecting increasing investment in both AI infrastructure and advanced AI applications.

Emerging Areas of Innovation

According to WIPO, future patent activity is expected to concentrate on several rapidly developing technologies, including:

Large Language Models (LLMs)
Multimodal AI systems
Reasoning models
Agentic AI
AI-assisted software development
Healthcare and biotechnology applications
Industrial automation
Energy technologies

These trends demonstrate that Generative AI is expanding well beyond software development and is becoming an enabling technology across numerous industries.

Why This Matters for Businesses

The dramatic increase in patent filings indicates that intellectual property has become a critical component of competitive strategy in the AI sector.

Companies developing AI-based technologies should consider:

protecting innovations at an early stage,
implementing well-planned international patent filing strategies,
monitoring competitors’ patent portfolios,
conducting Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) analyses before commercialization.

As the patent landscape becomes increasingly crowded, proactive IP management will be essential for reducing legal risks and maintaining technological competitiveness.

WIPO’s latest report confirms that Generative AI patenting has entered a new phase of global competition. The rapid growth in patent filings demonstrates that artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging technology but a major driver of industrial innovation across virtually every sector.

Companies investing in AI should view intellectual property not merely as a legal formality but as a strategic business asset. Early patent protection, comprehensive international filing strategies, and continuous monitoring of the evolving patent landscape will be key factors for long-term success in the rapidly changing AI ecosystem.