Title page 1

Contents 5

Abstract 3

Acknowledgements 4

Executive summary 8

1. Introduction 9

2. Review of existing taxonomies 10

WIPO (2019) 10

OECD (2020) 10

Country Activity Tacker (2020) 11

USPTO (2021 and 2024) 11

WIPO on Generative AI (2024) 12

Other existing taxonomies 12

3. A novel approach to identifying emerging AI fields 13

Enrich the list of AI keywords to capture emerging trends 13

Use of patent classification system 14

Expert validation 16

Revised AI patent identification methodology 17

4. Recent trends in AI patents 18

Evolution of patenting in AI 18

Leading countries in AI patents 19

5. Conclusion and limitations 22

References 23

Annex A. Identify CPC codes related to AI 25

Annex B. New AI search strategy 28

Annex C. Expert consultation 31

Annex D. Comparison with previous methodology 33

Annex E. Method for nowcasting AI PCT patents 36

Endnotes 39

Figures 7

Figure 3.1. Distribution of patents by "Core AI" CPC groups and AI-related keywords 15

Figure 4.1. Evolution of AI patents, 2010-2023 18

Figure 4.2. Top 10 keywords listed in patents' titles or abstract, 2020 19

Figure 4.3. Top 15 countries patenting in AI, 2020-23 20

Figure 4.4. Revealed technological advantage in AI, 2014-16 and 2020-23 21

Boxes 14

Box 3.1. Systematic identification and extraction of recent AI keywords 14

Annex Tables 7

Table A A.1. Description of selected CPC subclasses connected to AI-related technologies 25

Table A A.2. Patent counts by CPC groups and AI-related keywords 26

Table A B.1. Revised list of AI-related keywords 28

Table A B.2. Revised list of AI-related CPC groups 30

Table A E.1. PCT patent counts for a set AI keywords, based on PATENTSCOPE 37

Annex Figures 7

Figure A D.1. Previous vs. revised OECD AI patents identification methodology 33

Figure A D.2. Country's share in total AI patents, previous vs. revised OECD methodology, 2010-15 and 2018-21 34

Figure A D.3. Top 30 frequent terms emerging from AI patent abstracts, previous vs. revised methodology 34

Figure A D.4. Word cloud of AI patents' abstract, 2018-21 35

Figure A E.1. Statistics on PCT filings by different sources 36

Figure A E.2. Evolution of the share of AI patents in total, by sources 38