Top Patent Blogs for 2018

This is an update for the Top Patent Blogs post that I published back in 2011. In my opinion, rankings are important, but they do not necessarily reflect the actual value that a specific blog adds to the inventing community. There are obviously many factors that contribute to the value and success of a blog.

The blogs from the original 2011 list that are still operational have, in their own way, helped others to understand the patent system more either locally in their own community or to the larger inventing community. Blogging has become much more sophisticated since it first started. Each blogger develops his/her own voice to capture an audience with their blog. To each one of these enduring blogs, great job for having staying power and the valuable contributions you offer to the invention community.

In preparing for this Top Patent Blogs post, I reached out to the writers (patent attorneys and patent professor) from the Top Patent Blogs post and asked them a few questions about why they maintain their blogs. Not all responded but from those that did, I got a sense that their blogs are more than just another means of attracting new business.  For example, a few use blogging as a reason for reading cases and briefing them to keep up with the current state of patent law.  The reasons varied far and wide.  To summarize or to get to the essence of their differentiation, I asked them how they felt their blog was different from the others on the list.  For their answers, see the Comment by Blog Manager column below in the ranking list.

To the new bloggers out there, keep up the good work. Our opinions are being heard both locally and globally because of your blogs. If you would like to be included in this list, please contact me through my blog at OC Patent Lawyer.

Back in 2011, I ranked the top patent blogs based on the results from Page Rank and Alexa Rank. This time around, the rankings are based on the traffic rankings from three different sources, namely, www.similarweb.com, www.alexa.com, and www.spyfu.com. These three sources rank the traffic to each of the blogs using a slightly different method with slightly different results. Because of this, I thought that the fairest way to deal with the variance was to rank the blogs using a weighted average of the rankings from these three sites.

Without further ado. Drum roll please.

The starburst below is even more interesting because it gives you a sense of the relative traffic that each blog gets compared to the others. In relation to the relative traffic, back when patent blogging began to get popular, the rankings race for number one was, in my opinion, between IPWatchdog and PatentlyO. The ABA Journal maintained a Blawg 100 list, and these two blogs always made this list and have since been inducted into the ABA Blawg Hall of Fame. The starburst shows that, since then, IPWatchdog has pulled well ahead of PatentlyO.

According to the traffic data, IPWatchdog has really pulled away from the pack. They have about 3 times the traffic of PatentlyO. Congratulations!

Those are the winners of the Top Patent Blogs 2018. I’m excited to watch how the blogosphere continues to change and to improve. Are you surprised by any of the results? Do you have any personal favorites that haven’t made the list? Who might pull ahead in the future? Please leave a comment below about any of these topics or others if you’d like.

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13 comments so far.

  • [Avatar for James Yang]
    James Yang
    April 7, 2018 09:50 am

    James Yang here at ocpatentlawyer.com. I prepared the blog post. I put in the metric for the ranking in the post itself. I did not put in the raw data. I probably don’t have that right now. I will look into the ipsection.com next time and also patent barista.

  • [Avatar for Lost In Norway]
    Lost In Norway
    February 12, 2018 05:02 am

    Great job Gene! This blog is the reason that I got interested in becoming a patent agent in the first place. Without you, I would not have pursued a career that resulted in the best job that I have ever had.

  • [Avatar for Anon]
    Anon
    February 9, 2018 09:52 am

    PS DIP,

    Good point.

    Perhaps the Rankings provider can substantiate the results with some of their metrics.

  • [Avatar for PS DIP]
    PS DIP
    February 9, 2018 08:30 am

    Not to take away from Gene’s efforts here, but a ranking that puts a blog with only two posts since 2015 in the top ten (Patent Baristas) tells me that something is off with the ranking system…

  • [Avatar for Bemused]
    Bemused
    February 8, 2018 07:11 pm

    Congrats, Gene. Very well deserved. Everyone on the patent holder side of this debate is indebted to you for providing a world-class forum advocating strong patent rights.

    I personally know that many folks on Capitol Hill read this blog to gain a better understanding of the issues facing inventors and your efforts for the US innovation economy are very much appreciated by your readers (with the exception of the efficient infringer lobby, of course).

  • [Avatar for JMKA]
    JMKA
    February 8, 2018 04:15 pm

    Great job Gene! I enjoy your blog and you deserve it. On a similar note, we have a blog about a patent attorney who’s taken up stand-up comedy. It is more entertainment than educational, but IP folks might enjoy it. We’re at http://theipsection.com, we hope you’ll check it out!

  • [Avatar for Gene Quinn]
    Gene Quinn
    February 8, 2018 01:45 pm

    Thanks everyone.

  • [Avatar for Curious]
    Curious
    February 8, 2018 01:31 pm

    When I have the time, I always enjoy reading 717 Madison place.

  • [Avatar for JNG]
    JNG
    February 8, 2018 01:14 pm

    Congrats Gene, well deserved!

  • [Avatar for angry dude]
    angry dude
    February 8, 2018 11:32 am

    Soon enough you guys will be blogging about something that does not exist (patent rights)
    almost there
    pathetic

  • [Avatar for EG]
    EG
    February 8, 2018 10:53 am

    Patently-O may be ranked 2nd in terms of “traffic,” but in terms of quality, Patent Docs is much, much better, as is IPWatchdog. Dennis does nothing to evenly handedly control the ad hominems and off topic comments spewed on Patently-O. For that reason alone, I no longer comment on that blog and have told him as much.

  • [Avatar for Keith Larson]
    Keith Larson
    February 8, 2018 09:31 am

    I definitely agree with the first place. Thanks for the updated list. The hyperlinks in the 2011 list were helpful, but the blogs in the current list are easy enough to find.

  • [Avatar for Anon]
    Anon
    February 8, 2018 09:27 am

    Congrats and well-deserved.

    (Of course, Gene, this means that you will be even more targeted by the anti-patentists out there)