Young Basile Ranks Among the Top Patent Firms in the Country for Quality - Ranked Top Three Among Large Patent Firms

Patent Bots 2026 Rankings place Young Basile #3 among large patent firms and #1 in software patent quality – with Zoom ranking #1 among all companies nationally

Young Basile Hanlon and MacFarlane P.C., a technology-focused boutique IP law firm headquartered in Troy, Michigan, today announced its results in the Patent Bots 2026 Patent Quality Rankings. The firm ranked #10 overall among 709 patent law firms nationally and #3 among large firms – those issuing 500 or more patents per year.

Across all technology centers, no other firm in the published top 50 received as many top-10 patent quality badges as Young Basile. The firm ranked #1 in Tech Center 2100, which covers software and computer architecture patents, and also ranked #2 in Tech Centers 2600 and 3600, #4 in Tech Center 2400, and #7 in Tech Center 3700. Six badges. Five technology disciplines.

Young Basile achieved its #3 ranking among large firms while issuing 721 patents. Maintaining a high quality score at that scale is a different, harder achievement than ranking well with a smaller book of work. It reflects a quality standard applied consistently across a high-volume practice – not selectively applied to a curated sample.

“Patent quality is not a metric we track internally for our own satisfaction – it is the standard our clients rely on when their IP is challenged, licensed, or valued. When Patent Bots independently ranks us #3 among the largest firms in the country and #1 in software patent quality, that tells our clients something they can take into a boardroom, a licensing negotiation, or a courtroom. These rankings reflect what we have always believed about the work: if it is worth filing, it is worth getting right.”
– Andrew Basile Jr., Managing Shareholder

Why Patent Quality Is a Business Issue, Not Just a Legal One
Patent errors are not cosmetic. A numbering error, an antecedent basis problem, or a word support gap can affect the scope of what a patent actually protects. In litigation, flawed patents face heightened invalidity challenges. In licensing negotiations, they invite pushback on royalty rates and claim coverage. In merger and acquisition due diligence, IP portfolio quality is a direct input to valuation. For technology companies whose patent portfolios represent years of R&D investment and competitive advantage, the quality of each individual patent is a business issue – not a legal formality.

This context is what makes the Patent Bots rankings meaningful. Patent Bots analyzed more than 327,000 patents issued by the USPTO in the past year. Despite an industry-wide improvement – average errors per patent declined from 8.9 in 2020 to 6.38 this year – 86 percent of all patents issued nationally still contained at least one error. Young Basile’s 95.4 quality score places it well above that baseline. The firms that rank at this level are producing patents built to hold up under pressure, not just patents built to issue.

“Every patent we produce goes through a quality process that treats it as if it will face a challenge tomorrow – because for our clients, it might. We have built the systems, the checklists, the review workflows, and the culture of accountability that make quality at scale possible. Ranking #3 among the largest firms in the country while maintaining a high quality score is the result we have been building toward. Harrity and Harrity has held the top spot for five consecutive years. We are working hard to take that top spot.”
– Warren Pate, Of Counsel and Director of Legal Operations

The Zoom Result
The rankings also confirm a significant client outcome. Zoom Communications, Inc. ranked #1 nationally among all companies in patent quality in the 2026 Patent Bots results, with a quality score of 99.0. Zoom ranked #1 in Tech Center 2600 and #2 in Tech Center 2400. Young Basile serves as lead patent counsel on Zoom’s ranked portfolio. YB’s commitment to quality drove Zoom’s #1 ranking among all companies in the country.

The achievement was significant enough that Zoom’s founder and CEO shared it publicly on his own LinkedIn account – a rare acknowledgment of outside counsel quality at the executive level.

About the Patent Bots Rankings
Now in its seventh year, the Patent Bots Patent Quality Rankings analyze every patent issued by the USPTO in the past year – more than 327,000 in 2026 – and rank the 709 law firms with 50 or more patents issued based on average error rates. Rankings are based on numbering errors, antecedent basis errors, and word support errors detected by the Patent Bots AI. There are no surveys, no reputation scores, and no submitted materials. The methodology is consistent across all firms.

This year, 46,013 patents – 14 percent of all patents reviewed – achieved a perfect Patent Quality Score, up from 12 percent in 2025. The average number of errors per patent declined to an all-time low of 6.38, down from 8.9 when the rankings began in 2020. The decline coincides with the adoption of automated proofreading tools. Young Basile has been among the firms at the leading edge of that adoption.

What This Means for Companies Evaluating Outside Patent Counsel
Technology companies that depend on their patent portfolios for competitive advantage, fundraising, licensing, or litigation have always needed to know that their counsel is producing work that holds up. The Patent Bots rankings provide an objective, data-driven answer to a question that has historically been difficult to evaluate: is my patent firm actually producing quality work at scale?

Young Basile’s results – #3 among large firms nationally, #1 in software patent quality, more top-10 tech center badges than any other firm in the published top 50 – answer that question directly. Companies in software, communications, networking, and adjacent technology sectors whose current counsel does not appear on this list now have a clear point of comparison.

Young Basile invites technology companies interested in learning more about the firm’s quality-first approach to patent prosecution to contact the firm at youngbasile.com.

Firm Background
Young Basile Hanlon and MacFarlane P.C. is a technology-focused boutique IP law firm headquartered in Troy, Michigan, with offices in Palo Alto, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston. The firm provides strategic counsel across the full IP lifecycle – from patent prosecution and trademark protection to technology transactions, product counseling, monetization, and enforcement.

The firm serves leading technology companies, including Fortune 5 clients it has represented for over a decade. Young Basile is recognized by Chambers USA and is home to the only 3-PhD quantum computing legal team in the legal industry. The firm maintains deep specialization in quantum computing, life sciences, AI and emerging technology, and sports technology.

ABOUT YOUNG BASILE HANLON AND MACFARLANE P.C.
Young Basile Hanlon and MacFarlane P.C. is a technology-focused boutique IP law firm with approximately 50 attorneys across offices in Troy, Michigan; Palo Alto, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; and Houston, Texas. The firm provides strategic counsel across the full IP lifecycle – from patent prosecution and trademark protection to technology transactions, product counseling, monetization, and enforcement – for technology companies ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 5 enterprises, including clients the firm has served for over a decade. Young Basile is recognized by Chambers USA and is home to the only 3-PhD quantum computing legal team in the legal industry. The firm maintains deep specialization in quantum computing, life sciences, AI and emerging technology, and sports technology. More information is available at youngbasile.com.

View the full 2026 Patent Bots rankings and Young Basile’s firm profile at patentbots.com.