Inc. magazine included San Diego in it’s list of the 20 most-innovative metro areas in the United States, basing the ranking on number of patents issued to local companies and individuals.
The magazine compiled the number of utility patents — patents for a new invention or process — issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office between 2000 and 2011, and analyzed which metropolitan areas were the national leaders in each patent category.
The San Diego metropolitan area ranked ninth overall with 25,790 patents, but was first in telecommunications and “games using a tangible projectile.”
The first category is explained, the magazine said, by the wireless hub created by Qualcomm‘s founding in 1985. San Diego now hosts some 800 telecommunications companies.
The second category, “games using a tangible projectile,” can be traced to golf. More than 30 golf-equipment manufacturers, including TaylorMade and Callaway, have operations in the San Diego area, which also has the weather for year-round golf.
The article was published in the April issue of the magazine.
