IBM tops U.S. patent list for 10th year

By Jonathan Berr
Bloomberg News Service

IBM was awarded 3,288 patents in 2002 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, edging second-place Canon Inc. of Japan. Micron Technology Inc., the world's second largest-maker of memory chips, finished third. Japan's NEC Corp. was fourth, followed by Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and Sony Corp. General Electric Co. finished eighth, Hewlett-Packard Co. was ninth and Mitsubishi Corp. was 10th.

IBM intends to continue leading patent rankings as it seeks to gain an edge on competitors, company executives and patent experts say.

Having the most patents doesn't necessarily mean IBM is the most innovative company, said Greg Aharonian, publisher of Internet Patent News Service, and a critic of patent quality.

"Until the quality of all patents improves, it's hard to say what the total number of patents given to one company really means," he said.

IBM employees awarded patents are paid cash bonuses, said Nick Donofrio, senior vice president of corporate technology and manufacturing, and the holder of seven patents.

The Armonk-based company spent $5.5 billion on research and development and was paid $1.5 billion in royalties from patents and licenses in 2001.

Patents awarded to IBM in 2002 included technologies for conducting business online, task-sharing over networks and development of smaller computing devices, IBM said.

IBM employs 100 patent attorneys, the size of many law firms specializing in that area, said Q. Todd Dickinson, former head of the Patent and Trademark Office and now a partner with Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White.

"They have made a strategic decision to maintain that position," he said. "They recognize the value of their intellectual property."