IBM earned more U.S. patents than any other company for the thirteenth consecutive year, according to a new list from the Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office.
With 2,941 patents in 2005, IBM topped the USPTO list of top 10 global private sector patent recipients. Canon was second and Hewlett-Packard third on the list, which includes other printer OEMs Samsung (5th) and Toshiba (9th).
“America’s technological and economic strength is the result of its tremendous ingenuity,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Jon Dudas. “The USPTO has taken and will continue to take aggressive steps that will enhance quality and improve productivity to ensure that U.S. intellectual property protection remains the best in the world, protecting American innovation and sustaining economic growth.”
Listed below are the 10 corporations receiving the most U.S. patents for inventions in 2005, along with their 2004 ranking.
| Preliminary Rank in 2005 | Preliminary Number of Patents in 2005 | Organization | (Final Rank in 2004) | (Final Number of Patents in 2004) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,941 | International Business Machines Corporation | (1) | (3,248) |
| 2 | 1,828 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | (3) | (1,805) |
| 3 | 1,797* | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.* | (4) | (1,775) |
| 4 | 1,688 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | (2) | (1,934) |
| 5 | 1,641 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | (6) | (1,604) |
| 6 | 1,561 | Micron Technology, Inc. | (5) | (1,760) |
| 7 | 1,549 | Intel Corporation | (7) | (1,601) |
| 8 | 1,271 | Hitachi, Ltd | (8) | (1,513) |
| 9 | 1,258 | Toshiba Corporation | (9) | (1,311) |
| 10 | 1,154 | Fujitsu Limited | (11) | (1,296) |
* Calendar year counts for 2005 for Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. including seven patents issued to Hewlett-Packard Company. Source: Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office.
