According to latest data from IFI Claims Patent Services, IBM closed off 2013 with a whopping 6,809 utility patents thereby grabbing the most number of patents for straight 21st year.
IBM patent count for 2013 was 5 percent up from 2012, when it earned 6,478 patents. Samsung Electronics came in at second with 4,675 patents registering a decline in number of patents from 2012 when it earned 5,081 patents. Canon and Sony retained their 2012 rankings of third and fourth with 3,825 and 3,098 patents respectively.
Microsoft with 2,660 patents came in at fifth position – an increase in ranking by one when it stood sixth with 2,613 patents. Panasonic with 2,601 patents was placed sixth. Toshiba, Hon Hai Precision (aka Foxconn), Qualcomm and LG filled the remaining spots in top 10 with 2,416, 2,279, 2,103 and 1,947 patents respectively.
Google did put up a show increasing its patent count by a whopping 60 percent by taking home 1,851 patents and coming in at eleventh position. Last year Google had earned 1,151 patents and was placed 21st.
Apple was placed on thirteenth position with 1,775 patents up from 22nd place from 2012 when it was awarded 1,136 patents.
IFI Claims that “Rankings were compiled using the USPTO source-data by current company or assignee name on file at the USPTO.”
[Source: IFI Claims 2013 Ranking, IFI Claims 2012 Ranking]
