IBM Retains U.S. Patent Record in 2014

IBM received a record 7,534 patents in 2014 -- marking the 22nd consecutive year that the company topped the annual list of U.S. patent recipients -- followd by Samsung, Canon, Sony and Microsoft. The US patent office granted a recorded 300,674 patents last year, up 8%, with most of the top 50 winners increasing their annual awards, according to figures compiled by IFI Claims Patent Services, a division of Fairview Research of Madison, Conn.

IBM said that its inventors earned an average of more than 20 patents per day in 2014, propelling the company to become the first to surpass more than 7,000 patents in a single year.

The company’s record-setting 2014 patent output was led by more than 3,000 patents – 40% of its annual total – covering a range of cloud computing, analytics, mobile, social and security inventions. Over the past five years, IBM has more than doubled its output of patents within these strategic growth areas and was the leading recipient of cloud, analytics, mobile, social and security patents during this period.

IBM inventors also received more than 500 patents for inventions that will usher in the era of cognitive systems, including new Watson related cognitive technologies.

The Top Ten list of 2014 U.S. patent recipients includes:

1	IBM	7,534
2	Samsung	4,952
3	Canon	4,055
4	Sony	3,224
5	Microsoft	2,829
6	Toshiba	2,608
7	Qualcomm	2,590
8	Google	2,566
9	LG Electronics	2,122
10	Panasonic	2,095

Google also broke into the Top 10 in 2014 (at #8 up from #11) and Apple was #11 – up from #13 in 2013. Combined, Google and Apple were granted 943 more utility patents in 2014 than they collectively received in 2013 (26% increase).

Qualcomm also increased its patent counts by 23% capturing the #7 position up from #9 in 2013. Microsoft held its #5 position.

Amazon Technologies made its debut in the Top 50 at #50 up from #59; China’s Huawei Technologies broke into the Top 50 at #48 up from #53; and Honeywell International, returned to the list at #49 up from #52.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) rose from #35 to #23, a significant increase of 519 utility grants (+55%).

Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. fell from #8 to #18. Japan’s Hitachi fell from #26 to #38, the two biggest position-drops in the Top 50.

Just below the Top 50, China’s ZTE moved from #133 to #51 with a significant 706 utility grants in 2014 – an increase of 160% over 2013.

Korea’s Samsung, LG, and SK Hynix held their strong positions with net gains, but with little movement in their rankings.

Exceptional Gainers Below the Top 50 also included: