You inspired me to look for US patent grants by year, which brought me to this table: https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/us_stat.htm https://www

You inspired me to look for US patent grants by year, which brought me to this table: https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/us_stat.htm https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/us_stat.ht... In 1963 the USPTO granted patents to 54% of applications. In 2015 the rate was actually slightly lower (52%). But as "The Case Against Patents" notes, the total volume of applications has soared. I kind of expected to see some sort of upward inflection around 1980 (Bayh-Dole Act) but didn't spot one by eye. The growth rate just in this century is astonishing; there were "only" 288,811 applications in 1999. Total applications per year were below 500,000 as recently as 2009. They're now well over 600,000/year.