Where does Illinois Tool Works Inc. rank among US patent assignees?

According to USPTO PatentsView (2015–2025 granted utility patents), Illinois Tool Works Inc. ranks #111 of 49,997 assignees by granted-patent volume, the same sort as the companies listing and top-holders ranking. See /methodology/#corpus-placement.

How many patents does Illinois Tool Works Inc. hold?

Illinois Tool Works Inc. holds 3,292 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025, spanning 350 technology areas.

What is Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Illinois Tool Works Inc. has an Innovation Score of 69.0 out of 100 (top 1% of the corpus). This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), grant velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

Is Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s patent grant rate increasing or decreasing?

Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s recent grant velocity is +34% compared to the prior five-year period (grant years, not application filing dates). The company is maintaining or growing its granted-patent output.

What does claim depth mean for Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s patents?

Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s patents average 15.6 claims each. This is an aggregate descriptive count from the grant record; it does not establish claim scope, legal strength, enforceability, or design-around risk.

How is the Illinois Tool Works Inc. patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Q: What technology areas does Illinois Tool Works Inc. focus on?

Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s top technology area is B23K (Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam) with 976 patents, ranking #1 of 1,623 assignees active in that subclass. Grants appear in 350 CPC subclasses total.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 3,292 granted patents across 350 technology areas, recorded in grant years 2015–2025. Grant-trend analysis is cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search; it does not measure application filings, current R&D, or legal strength. Primary class: B23K (Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam).

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

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The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Illinois ranks #111 of 49,997 tracked US assignees by granted-patent volume, with 3,292 patents across 350 technology areas.

#111
of 49,997 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (69.0/100): 15.6
avg claims per patent: +34%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

USPTO PatentsView assignee plate

Corpus R111 · US Corporation #111 · 3,292 grants

GRANTS-LARGE · TOP-DECILE · NEAR-PEER · CPC-BROAD · INNOV-STRONG · CLAIMS-RICH · TYPE-USCORP · VEL-UP · BOOK-FULL

GRANTS-LARGE 3.3K grants
TOP-DECILE #111/49,997
NEAR-PEER United States of…
CPC-BROAD B23K · 350 areas
INNOV-STRONG 69.0/100
CLAIMS-RICH 15.6 claims/avg
TYPE-USCORP US Corporation
VEL-UP +34% vel
BOOK-FULL 10/10 fields

Nearest grant-volume peer: United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force (±6 grants)

Instrument codes from this assignee’s USPTO PatentsView grant sheet: volume band, corpus rank, photo-finish peer, lead CPC, Innovation Score, claim depth, assignee type, velocity, and book completeness. Not a USPTO rating of patent strength.

How Illinois’s 69.0 Innovation Score adds up

The same four weighted components behind every Innovation Score on PlainPatent: portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth.

Volume 28.0 pts (41%) Velocity 6.6 pts (10%) Breadth 25.0 pts (36%) Claim depth 9.4 pts (14%)

Qualcomm Incorporated · highest

85
The Secretary of… · near

69
Zoll Medical · near

69
Panasonic Intellectu… · near

69
Illinois Tool Works · this assignee

69
STMicroelectronics… · near

69
3D Lighting… · lowest

7

What this shows Illinois's Innovation Score is 69.0/100 (top 1% of the PatentsView-derived corpus). The chart places that score against the nearest Innovation Score peers plus corpus poles, not a reprint of the volume ranking.

Does more volume mean deeper claims for Illinois?

Each dot is one of Illinois’s 8 nearest volume peers (same corpus rank neighbourhood as the chart above), placed by total granted patents (horizontal) against average claims per patent (vertical). Illinois’s own 15.6 claims/patent is ABOVE the 14.8 median for these volume peers. More thorough claims than most filers at this scale, not just more of them.

Illinois vs its 8 nearest volume peers: granted patents vs average claims per patent. Source: USPTO PatentsView.

How Illinois's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, Illinois Tool Works Inc. received 1,735 grants versus 1,299 in 2015–2019 (+34% equal-window velocity, above median growth). Across complete PatentsView years, output peaked in 2020 at 373 grants and bottomed in 2016 at 239. Lead class B23K accounts for 29.6% of the portfolio across 350 subclasses. Volume neighbours: Seagate Technology LLC (#107) and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (#115).

Illinois's three-year grant acceleration

From 2019–2021 to 2022–2024, Illinois Tool Works Inc. moved from 1,015 to 1,007 grants (0.99x the prior three-year total, a multiple, not a CAGR). Among 3,296 tracked assignees with ≥100 grants and ≥20 prior-period grants, that multiple ranks #1,206. See the growth leaderboard.

Seagate Technology

3,383
Boston Scientific…

3,361
Snap

3,345
United States of…

3,298
Illinois Tool Wor… ◀

3,292
Toshiba TEC

3,280
Nippon Telegraph…

3,279
Yazaki

3,264
Toyota Motor Engi…

3,200

What this shows Illinois holds 3,292 patents at rank #111, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Illinois

By rank, the assignees closest to #111 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in B23K (Soldering OR Unsoldering)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Illinois's primary technology class.

Assignees with similar portfolio profiles

Two PlainPatent-derived peer sets for Illinois, neither rank-band nor same-CPC leaders (those blocks stay above). In B23K (Soldering OR Unsoldering), Illinois ranks #1 of 1,623 assignees by patent count in that subclass.

Similar innovation score

Nearest assignees by Innovation Score (69 here).

STMicroelectronics International N.V. 69 Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. 69 Zoll Medical Corporation 69 The Secretary of State for Defence 69

Similar claim depth

Nearest assignees by average claims per patent (15.6 here).

Assa Abloy Entrance Systems AB 15.6 avg Arvinas Operations, Inc. 15.6 avg Washington University 15.6 avg British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited 15.6 avg

Illinois's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, grant velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

69 Top 1% higher than 99% of 49,997 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Illinois Tool Works Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	249	7.6%
2016	239	7.3%
2017	269	8.2%
2018	255	7.7%
2019	287	8.7%
2020	373	11.3%
2021	355	10.8%
2022	302	9.2%
2023	340	10.3%
2024	365	11.1%
2025partial year	258	7.8%

Which technologies does Illinois Tool Works Inc. patent most?

B23K - Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam 976

F16B - Devices FOR Fastening OR Securing Constructional Elements OR Machine Parts Together, e.g. Nails, Bolts, Circlips, Clamps, Clips OR WEDGES; Joints OR Jointing 273

Y10T - Technical Subjects Covered BY Former US Classification 243

B25C - Hand-held Nailing OR Stapling TOOLS; Manually Operated Portable Stapling Tools 133

H05K - Printed CIRCUITS; Casings OR Constructional Details OF Electric APPARATUS; Manufacture OF Assemblages OF Electrical Components 121

B65D - Containers FOR Storage OR Transport OF Articles OR Materials, e.g. Bags, Barrels, Bottles, Boxes, Cans, Cartons, Crates, Drums, Jars, Tanks, Hoppers, Forwarding CONTAINERS; Accessories, Closures, OR Fittings THEREFOR; Packaging ELEMENTS; Packages 118

G09B - Educational OR Demonstration APPLIANCES; Appliances FOR Teaching, OR Communicating With, THE Blind, Deaf OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; Diagrams 104

H05B - Electric HEATING; Electric Light Sources NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; Circuit Arrangements FOR Electric Light Sources, IN General 104

G01N - Investigating OR Analysing Materials BY Determining Their Chemical OR Physical Properties 98

B60R - Vehicles, Vehicle Fittings, OR Vehicle Parts, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR 97

E05B - LOCKS; Accessories THEREFOR; Handcuffs 97

B29C - Shaping OR Joining OF PLASTICS; Shaping OF Material IN A Plastic State, NOT Otherwise Provided FOR; After-treatment OF THE Shaped Products, e.g. Repairing 96

A47L - Domestic Washing OR Cleaning ; Suction Cleaners IN General 93

F16K - VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; Devices FOR Venting OR Aerating 89

G05B - Control OR Regulating Systems IN GENERAL; Functional Elements OF Such SYSTEMS; Monitoring OR Testing Arrangements FOR Such Systems OR Elements 83

Top 15 of 350 technology areas

More on this record

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

View all rankings → How is Innovation Score calculated?

What to do with this data

Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s patent record in context - here's where to go next.

Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s lead technology class is B23K (Soldering OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; Cladding OR Plating BY Soldering OR WELDING; Cutting BY Applying Heat Locally, e.g. Flame CUTTING; Working BY Laser Beam), 29.6% of its portfolio - see every assignee active in that class. Explore B23K
Ranked #111 of 49,997 tracked assignees by patent volume - see the full leaderboard. See the ranking
Compare Illinois Tool Works Inc. against Seagate Technology LLC, an assignee filing at a similar volume. Compare portfolios
Innovation Score of 69.0/100 blends volume, velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth. How it's calculated

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through May 2026; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled by PlainPatent , US Patent Intelligence Editorial Process · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.