IBM received a record-breaking 3,415 patents, 70 percent more than the next company on the list, Japanese copier maker Canon Inc., also the runner-up in 2002. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released the figures today in Alexandria, Va.

IBM, with one of the world's biggest patent portfolios, spent $4.75 billion on research and development in 2002 and collected $1.1 billion in royalties. Figures for 2003 haven't been released. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company seeks to develop technologies, reach cross-licensing agreements with other companies and ward off patent-infringement lawsuits.

"It helps us establish standards in the industry, and the key here is, do you have something to offer that others are willing to follow?" said Jerry Rosenthal, vice president of intellectual property and licensing for IBM. "It lets us do a lot of cross-licensing and get access to other patent portfolios. You're not able to do that if you don't have a quality portfolio."

Intel Corp., the world's biggest maker of semiconductors, joined the list for the first time, ranking seventh, by boosting the number of patents it received — 1,592 — by 48 percent.

Four of the companies on the list are based in the United States, four are Japanese, and the two others are South Korean and Dutch.

"The 2003 patent counts show American technological influence continuing to grow," Jon Dudas, acting undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property, said in a statement. "Patents protect intellectual endeavors and encourage technological progress, helping to nurture industries that create jobs for Americans."

Patents secured by IBM included inventions in nanotechnology and the health sciences, and cover inventions such as a way to detect faults in computers, a new credit card designed to prevent identity fraud and a method of accessing information so users of portable devices can get Web content more quickly.

Rosenthal said there's no pressure by investors that IBM remain atop the list. Still, he said, it has become a comfortable spot for Big Blue.