British American Tobacco has a total of 14173 patents globally, out of which 6974 have been granted. Of these 14173 patents, more than 69% patents are active. United States of America is where British American Tobacco has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by Europe (EPO) and Japan. Parallelly, United States of America seems to be the main focused R&D centre and also United Kingdom is the origin country of British American Tobacco.
British American Tobacco was founded in the year 1902. The Company operates as a holding company for a group of companies that manufactures, markets and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products including cigars and roll-your-own tobacco.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of British American Tobacco which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find British American Tobacco patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over British American Tobacco patent portfolio.
How many patents does British American Tobacco have?
British American Tobacco has a total of 14173 patents globally. These patents belong to 3122 unique patent families. Out of 14173 patents, 9807 patents are active.
Top Patent Contributing Subsidiaries of British American Tobacco
| Subsidiary | Patent Families |
| Nicoventures | 1319 |
| British American Tobacco | 488 |
| RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company | 459 |
| Rai Strategic Holding | 383 |
| Souza Cruz | 125 |
| Brown And Williamson | 49 |
| Advanced Technologies Cambridge Limited | 25 |
| Tobacco Research And Development Institute (Proprietary) Limited | 24 |
| Fiedler & Lundgren Ab | 23 |
| Loec Inc | 21 |
| Niconovum | 20 |
| Batmark | 18 |
| Imperial Tobacco Canada | 18 |
| Kentucky Bioprocessing | 18 |
| House Of Prince | 13 |
| Rothmans International | 12 |
| Modoral Brands Inc | 12 |
| Lorillard Licensing Company | 9 |
| Nicovations | 9 |
| Dunhill Tobacco Of London Limited | 9 |
| Winnington Ab | 8 |
| American Snuff Company | 8 |
| Chic Sp Zoo | 8 |
| Spot You More Inc | 6 |
| Ardath Tobacco Company | 6 |
| Kbio Holdings Limited | 5 |
| American Cigarette Company (Overseas) Ltd | 5 |
| X-International Aps | 4 |
| Cygnet UK Trading | 4 |
| Reynolds Technologies | 4 |
| Lorillard Tobacco Company | 4 |
| Theodorus Niemeyer | 2 |
| Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company | 2 |
| PJ Carroll & Company | 1 |
| Rjr Packaging | 1 |
How Many Patents did British American Tobacco File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | British American Tobacco Applications Filed | British American Tobacco Patents Granted |
| 2024 | 372 | 1316 |
| 2023 | 690 | 520 |
| 2022 | 1525 | 442 |
| 2021 | 618 | 502 |
| 2020 | 925 | 492 |
| 2019 | 1079 | 477 |
| 2018 | 957 | 426 |
| 2017 | 1101 | 297 |
| 2016 | 957 | 265 |
| 2015 | 842 | 295 |
| 2014 | 626 | 261 |
| 2013 | 614 | 231 |
How many British American Tobacco patents are Alive/Dead?
How Many Patents did British American Tobacco File in Different Countries?
Countries in which British American Tobacco Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States of America | 1903 |
| Europe (EPO) | 1240 |
| Japan | 1142 |
| China | 843 |
| Korea (South) | 797 |
| Germany | 576 |
| Brazil | 540 |
| Russia | 492 |
| United Kingdom | 450 |
| Austria | 415 |
| Australia | 400 |
| Canada | 387 |
| South Africa | 334 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 332 |
| Poland | 320 |
| Spain | 313 |
| Malaysia | 295 |
| Mexico | 288 |
| Indonesia | 239 |
| Israel | 216 |
| Chile | 148 |
| India | 145 |
| Ukraine | 143 |
| Philippines | 129 |
| Italy | 122 |
| Argentina | 117 |
| Hungary | 110 |
| Taiwan | 110 |
| New Zealand | 88 |
| Denmark | 68 |
| Colombia | 53 |
| Norway | 50 |
| Singapore | 44 |
| Portugal | 37 |
| Lithuania | 31 |
| Turkey | 24 |
| Viet Nam | 24 |
| Pakistan | 17 |
| Saudi Arabia | 14 |
| Czech Republic | 13 |
| Bangladesh | 12 |
| Slovakia | 12 |
| Honduras | 10 |
| Sweden | 9 |
| Uzbekistan | 7 |
| Romania | 7 |
| Croatia | 6 |
| Costa Rica | 6 |
| Africa | 5 |
| Slovenia | 4 |
| Finland | 4 |
| Serbia | 3 |
| Morocco | 3 |
| Egypt | 3 |
| Dominican Republic | 3 |
| Switzerland | 3 |
| Eurasia | 2 |
| Cyprus | 2 |
| Macao | 2 |
| Gulf Cooperation Council | 2 |
| France | 2 |
| Kazakhstan | 2 |
| Kenya | 2 |
| Nicaragua | 1 |
| Panama | 1 |
| Uruguay | 1 |
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 1 |
| Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro | 1 |
| Montenegro | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 |
| Estonia | 1 |
| Iceland | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 |
| Peru | 1 |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| Jordan | 1 |
| El Salvador | 1 |
Where are Research Centres of British American Tobacco Patents Located?
10 Best British American Tobacco Patents
US20130255702A1 is the most popular patent in the British American Tobacco portfolio. It has received 1736 citations so far from companies like Altria Client Service, Ploom, Inc. and R. J. Reynolds Tobacco.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of British American Tobacco:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US20130255702A1 | 1736 |
| US7726320B2 | 1665 |
| US20140261487A1 | 821 |
| US20070062549A1 | 805 |
| US8881737B2 | 751 |
| US20080029116A1 | 696 |
| US8079371B2 | 695 |
| US20150216232A1 | 692 |
| US20080173317A1 | 677 |
| US7025066B2 | 666 |
How many inventions of other companies were rejected due to British American Tobacco patents?
The statistics below share strategic R&D insights. It tells the companies that were trying to protect inventions similar to British American Tobacco invention. They couldn’t because British American Tobacco had protected those before them.
Examiners at the USPTO referred 447 British American Tobacco patents in 3108 rejections (35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 types).
The top citing companies in the British American Tobacco patent portfolio are Philip Morris, Altria Client Services and Japan Tobacco.
List of the Companies whose Patents were rejected citing British American Tobacco –
| Company | Number of Patent Applications that faced Rejection Citing British American Tobacco Patents | Number of Rejections (102 & 103) |
| Philip Morris | 237 | 708 |
| Altria Client Services | 184 | 533 |
| Japan Tobacco | 60 | 145 |
| Huizhou Kimree Technology | 31 | 60 |
| Jli National Settlement Trust | 29 | 79 |
| Jt International | 25 | 58 |
| Ayr Ltd | 22 | 35 |
| Kimree Hi-Tech | 22 | 51 |
| Shenzhen Smoore Technology | 17 | 26 |
| Swedish Match | 17 | 58 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on British American Tobacco Patents
Top British American Tobacco Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US7726320B2 | 68 |
| US10004259B2 | 47 |
| US20130255702A1 | 46 |
| US8881737B2 | 43 |
| US9078473B2 | 27 |
| US9854841B2 | 26 |
| US9423152B2 | 24 |
| US6929013B2 | 20 |
| US20140261486A1 | 18 |
| US10117460B2 | 18 |
| US7810507B2 | 18 |
| US7861728B2 | 17 |
| US8910640B2 | 17 |
| US9491974B2 | 16 |
| US8079371B2 | 16 |
To completely contribute to tobacco harm reduction, reduced-risk products (RRPs) must have their reduced-risk status, when compared to smoking, adequately shown by rigorous science. BAT has made enormous expenditures in research and development in order to deliver innovations that fulfil or anticipate consumer preferences and drive business growth across all categories. The RRPs are the main focus of its investment, but it is also conducting R&D into its traditional cigarette improvements.
The latest clinical trial for BAT’s tobacco heating product, glo, is the first to prove that switching to glo exclusively instead of continuing to smoke is comparable to quitting smoking. To make tobacco harm reduction a reality, scientific substantiation is required for its New Category goods. With their world-class science, they are proudly leading the way.
BAT has also established a set of scientific tests to evaluate the RRPs’ reduced-risk potential in comparison to cigarettes. This entails examining everything from how consumers use a product and the composition of the vapour it creates, to the vapour’s biological impact on cells in laboratory studies, and, finally, the potential impact of the product’s availability on consumer health.
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!
What are BAT’s key innovation segments?
What Technologies are Covered by British American Tobacco?
The chart below distributes patents filed by BAT in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where BAT thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How British American Tobacco search focus changed over the years?
EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS COMING SOON!