IBM is the undisputed patent king, with 4,186 U.S. patents in 2008. The numbers make Big Blue the first company ever to earn more than 4,000 U.S. patents in a single year. But U.S. firms may be giving ground to foreign competitors, according to a new study.
IBM’s 2008 patent issuances are nearly triple those of Hewlett-Packard. Big Blue also outpaced Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, EMC, Accenture and Google combined. This is the 16th year IBM has led in U.S. patents.
According to Dr. John E. Kelly III, IBM senior vice president and director of IBM Research, the company’s strategic use of intellectual property is based on balancing proprietary and open innovation.
“Our goal is helping stimulate innovation as public investments in large infrastructure projects are being planned to boost global economies,” Kelly said. “We also anticipate that adding additional transparency to the patent system will help tackle the continuing patent-quality crisis, which is impeding inventors, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes.”
Is America Losing Patent Dominance?
IFI Patent Intelligence, however, points to evidence that America’s patent dominance may be slipping away to companies overseas, especially to those in Asia.
In a review of 2008 utility patents, IFI found that American companies captured only 49 percent of U.S. patents granted to companies. That compares to 50 percent in 2007. In addition, the U.S. holds only four of the top 10 slots, down from five in 2007. American firms also hold only 12 positions in the top 35, which collectively generated 26 percent of all the utility patents granted in 2008.
By comparison, Japanese companies hold five of the top 10 slots and 14 of the top 35. Although America is still the leading country in total new patents for 2008, IFI noted that Japan trails second with 23 percent. Germany, meanwhile, is third with six percent, South…