How many patent applications are submitted each year?”
First how many applications, over 200,000 per year of US origin. The chart also shows of foreign origin: 241,347 in 2007, 221,784 in 2006, 207,867 in 2005 http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/appl_yr.htm Here is a chart of patents granted by year. A quick look seems to indicate an average of more than 180,000 per year from the 200,000 applications: Number of Patents Granted as Distributed by Year of Patent Grant http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/apat.htm#PartA1_1 About the patents in general: Patents and Patent Activity Over 7.8 million United States patents, including over 7.2 million utility patents (“patents for inventions”) have issued since the first was granted on July 31, 1790. To facilitate the use of this large body of technology, these documents have been “classified
