For the twelfth consecutive year, IBM Corp. topped the list of patent winners in the US, but 2004 saw the first decline in the number of US patents awarded in about a decade.
With 3,277 patents, IBM outdistanced its nearest competitor, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company of Japan, by more than 1300 patents. Matsushita earned 1,965, followed by Canon Corp. with 1813, according to patent researcher IFI Claims Patent Services. No other company has surpassed 2,000 patents in one year, the research firm said.
In related news, IBM said Tuesday (Jan. 11) that it would give open source developers free access to 500 of its software patents. The company said the pledge represents a significant shift in the way it manages its huge IP portfolio.
IBM, which has about 40,000 patents, said its offer is available to any individual, group or company working on or using software complying with an industry initiative's definition of open source software. The company also said it hopes the move will serve as the basis for an industry-wide "patent commons" that would lead to greater innovation.
In a time of concern regarding US competitiveness, especially in technology, IFI noted that US patent awards declined for the first time since 1995. A total of 164,402 patents were issued last year, down 2.7 percent from 2003.
"These results reflect the number of patents granted this year, not the number of new applications filed. Next year's numbers will give a better indication of whether this is the beginning of a downward trend," said Darlene Slaughter, general manager of IFI Claims Patent Services, in a statement.
Despite the decline, IFI noted that US companies still dominate patent awards. US firms took 23 of the top 50 spots in last year's rankings, followed by Japanese firms with 16 slots.
Technology companies, in particular, continue to be big winners in the patent process. Besides IBM, other top contenders include Hewlett Packard, Micron Technology, Intel, General Electric, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, Kodak, Sun Microsystems, Agilent, Microsoft, and Motorola. South Korea's Samsung was sixth and the Netherlands' Philips was twelfth. Except for Samsung, no other non-Japanese company in Asia made the top 20 of the rankings.
Top 20 patent winners for 2004
Rank Company Country Patents
1 IBM Corp. USA 3277
2 Matsushita Japan 1965
3 Canon KK Japan 1813
4 Hewlett-Packard USA 1780 *
5 Micron Tech. USA 1761
6 Samsung Korea 1605
7 Intel Corp. USA 1604
8 Hitachi Ltd. Japan 1534
9 Sony Corp. Japan 1348 **
10 Toshiba Corp. Japan 1342
11 Fujitsu Japan 1320
12 Philips The Netherlands 1224
13 Fuji Film Japan 1030
14 General Electric USA 978
15 Renesas Japan 917
16 Texas Instruments USA 915
17 Robert Bosch Germany 907
18 Seiko Epson Japan 859
19 NEC Corp. Japan 826
20 AMD USA 803
Source: IFI Claims Patent Services
* Includes 17 patents issued to Hewlett-Packard Co. and 2 patents issued to Compaq Computer Co.
** Includes 9 patents issued as unassigned but which have C/O Sony Corp. in inventor address
***Counts exclude design and plant patents
Note: EE Times staff contributed to this report.
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