IBM received a record 5,896 US patents in 2010 topping the list of the world’s most inventive companies. It took IBM’s inventors more than 50 years to achieve the 5k patents in a single year making them the first company to do so and at the same time making them the patent leader for the 18th consecutive year.
More than 7,000 inventors residing in 46 different U.S. states and 29 countries generated the company’s record-breaking 2010 patent tally. It is also worth noting that IBM’s 2010 patent total has exceeded the issuances of its major competitors combined.
2010 U.S. Patent Leaders
- IBM 5,896
- Samsung 4,551
- Microsoft 3,094
- Canon 2,552
- Panasonic 2,482
- Toshiba 2,246
- Sony 2,150
- Intel 1,653
- LG Electronics 1,490
- HP 1,480
Data provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services
IBM received patents for a range of inventions in 2010, such as a method for gathering, analyzing, and processing patient information from multiple data sources to provide more effective diagnoses of medical conditions; a system for predicting traffic conditions based on information exchanged over short-range wireless communications; a technique that analyzes data from sensors in computer hard drives to enable faster emergency response in the event of earthquakes and other disasters; and a technology advancement for enabling computer chips to communicate using pulses of light instead of electrical signals, which can deliver increased performance of computing systems.
From the very first punch card-related patent IBM received one hundred years ago to the final patent we received in 2010, the company has long regarded patents as an essential link between innovation and commercial success.