Thomas Edison held 1093 US patents, and over 2000 worldwide.
99,220, including utility patents, plant patents, design patents, and reissues.
Thomas Edison was granted 1093 US Patents - a record that has yet to be broken by a single individual. He also held a couple hundred foreign patents in the UK, France, and Germany. This goes without mentioning the 500-800 denied US applications he filed as well as other inventions he may never have had sought protection for.
As of 2010, General Electric (GE) has 1,222 patents. Aside from this, they have filed 37, 268 patents in the US.
The USPTO granted a total of 247,727 patents from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011, including Reissue Patents, Plant Patents, Design Patents, and Utility Patents.
The US Patent Office issued 99,200 total patents from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1990, including 9 reissue patents, 6 plant patents, 194 design patents, and 98,991 utility patents.
In the US, 276,788 patents were awarded in calendar year 2012. A surprisingly detailed list is linked below.
ALL US patents expire within a timeframe.
U.S. patents are only effective in the United States, its territories, and its possessions
It depends upon what country you're talking about and how "early" you mean. By 1899 there were over 600,000 US patents. In 1850 there were less than 8,000.
US Patents for anything are good for 17 years.
Kia Silverbrook. Silverbrook is listed as an inventor on 3123 issued US utility patents.