This week’s Patexia Insight focuses on the attorneys driving patent prosecution success at the USPTO. Drawing from our Patent Intelligence Report 2025, we spotlight the top-performing attorneys and agents who have demonstrated consistency and results across thousands of filings. Their expertise helps the innovation pipeline, transforming ideas into granted patents efficiently and strategically.

In case you missed our previous insights…

Between 2020 and 2024, U.S. patent activity remained generally steady, though grant volumes saw some fluctuations. Published patent applications remained relatively steady, ranging from roughly 411,000 to 438,000 per year, peaking in 2024 at 437,741. This consistency underscores the resilience of innovation, even amid economic and regulatory changes. In contrast, the number of patents granted experienced a temporary decline, falling from 391,353 in 2020 to 348,114 in 2023, before rebounding to 373,516 in 2024. The rebound in grant activity signals renewed momentum in the patent prosecution process and a strengthening of the innovation pipeline.

These patterns reflect multiple influences on U.S. patent activity. Shifts in R&D investment, USPTO examination practices, and broader economic cycles all play a role, as do policy adjustments such as changes to patent eligibility standards and fee structures. The global dimension is also significant: a substantial portion of applications and granted patents comes from foreign entities, meaning international trends, trade dynamics, and supply chain developments can directly impact U.S. patent filings. Taken together, these figures paint a picture of patent prosecution as a dynamic reflection of both domestic and global innovation activity.

Understanding these broader trends provides context for the attorneys and agents who handle this complex process. The following table highlights some of the most active and best-performing patent attorneys, reflecting their activity, efficiency, and impact across thousands of filings during the 2020–2024 period. Being recognized among the top 500 attorneys, representing the top 1.7 percent, is a notable achievement in this field.

Attorney	Law Firm	All Patents Including Design	Biotech Patents	High-tech Patents	Category	Rank
Roger C. Knapp	Slater Matsil	439	0	420	Overall Rank (High-Tech)	1
David M. O'Dell	Haynes and Boone, LLP	622	0	571	Overall Rank	1
Pramod Chintalapoodi	Chip Law Group	2,877	2	2,592	Activity Rank (High-Tech)	3
R. B. Israelsen	Maschoff Brennan Gilmore Israelsen & Mauriel LLP	2,786	50	1,973	Activity Rank (Overall)	6
Robert E. Hanson	Dentons	1,683	20	3	Overall Rank	9
Christian A. Camarce	Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox	320	0	289	Overall Rank (High-Tech)	24
Keegan M. Caldwell	Caldwell	394	2	157	Overall Rank	25
Sunwoo Lee	Polsinelli	582	1	555	Overall Rank	30
Gero G. McClellan	Patterson + Sheridan	1,475	9	1,110	Overall Rank	32
John R. Van Amsterdam	Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks	126	117	1	Activity Rank (Bio)	50
Charles W. Gray	Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton	784	5	563	Activity Rank (High-Tech)	120
Christopher C. Bolten	Greenberg Traurig LLP	209	7	49	Overall Rank	206
Guy R. Gosnell	Alston & Bird	442	0	325	Activity Rank (High-Tech)	309
Thomas C. Webster	Nicholson De Vos Webster & Elliott	282	0	275	Activity Rank (High-Tech)	424
Li Zhang	Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.	289	1	219	Activity Rank (High-Tech)	566

Understanding the Rankings

Patexia’s annual rankings evaluate both activity and performance across a five-year study period, analyzing millions of patent applications and tens of thousands of practitioners. The Activity Score reflects the attorney’s overall workload, including the number of applications filed, prosecuted, and granted. The Performance Score, on the other Hand, measures quality indicators such as the allowance rate, prosecution efficiency, average office actions per patent, and more. Together, these metrics offer a balanced view of both volume and effectiveness in patent prosecution. Learn more about the Patent Intelligence Report 2025 ranking methodology here.

Key Highlights of the Patent Intelligence Report

● The study covers a five-year period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2024.
● It analyzed 1,848,450 patents issued and 2,097,958 applications published by the USPTO.
● During this time, 2,215,201 applications were either allowed or abandoned, resulting in 27,938,007 granted claims.
● U.S.-based entities accounted for 51.8% of all granted patents during the five-year period.
● China recorded an average 14.51% year-over-year growth in patenting activity, while Saudi Arabia saw the highest annual growth rate at 19.34% among 190 countries.
● The analysis covered 156,066 unique companies (assignees), 3,720 law firms, and 29,026 active patent attorneys and agents.

The Patent Intelligence Report 2025 includes the full list of the Top 2,000 Patent Prosecution Attorneys, plus detailed metrics by law firm and company. Find your position and explore how you rank among your peers.