OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for AIDS vaccine R&D in China through investigating AIDS vaccine patent approval in America. METHODS： By combining keywords as HIV vaccine（s）， AIDS vaccine（s） and Vaccine of HIV（AIDS） and classification number as A61K， A61P and C12P， related patents were retrieved from Thomson Innovation platform during Jan. 1981-Mar. 2015， and then analyzed in respects of patent data， patent approval trend， R&D ability， patent technology field distribution， etc. RESULTS： A total of 1 272 patents were retrieved， including 405 valid patents. From 1985 to 2014， there were three stages for the change of AIDS vaccine application quantity， which were slow rise， fast rise and slow decline period； on the whole， the trend was on the rise. The main players were Duke University， United States Department of Health and Human Services， Pasteur Institute， Connaught Laboratories Limited and Merck Group. AIDS vaccine R&D focused on pharmaceutical preparation， therapeutic activity of medicinal preparations， microorganism， enzyme， etc. American scientific research institutions focused more on pharmaceutical preparation and peptide study. CONCLUSIONS： Though the AIDS vaccine field develops slowly， the future is still promising. In this field， America has stronger patent advantage and scientific research strength. AIDS vaccine R&D concentrates on pharmaceutical preparation， therapeutic activity of medicinal preparations and composition.