WIPO GenAI Patent Trends Update: Shifts in Patent Landscape and Major Models
WIPO's July 2026 report reveals a surge in GenAI patent families to 37,808 in 2025, driven by post-ChatGPT commercial interest, with SoftBank leading the rankings.
WISECODE Take
WIPO's July 2026 report shows a surge in GenAI patents, which many mistake for an active patent war. This increase actually reflects the 18-month publication lag for filings post-ChatGPT. With patent families reaching 37,808 in 2025 and SoftBank leading with 2,985 families, this resembles defensive mine-laying rather than technological breakthroughs. For businesses merely adopting AI, this patent wave is largely irrelevant. As long as you do not develop base models, infringement risks remain low. We advise focusing on application-specific patents to bypass big tech's defensive lines, and monitoring competitor boundaries in text and image generation. Understanding big tech's defensive boundaries holds far more commercial value than blindly filing patents.
Original sources
Compiled automatically by WISECODE IP Radar. Summaries are short source excerpts; commentary is AI-generated. See the source links for full text.
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