IBM Patents its Patenting Prowess
UPDATE: IBM (IBM) adds that it has patented its prowess at patenting: U.S. patent #7,630,915 “Intellectual property management method and apparatus” on December 8, 2009.
IBM Corp. topped the list of corporate patent issuers in 2008 for the 17th year in a row and says it will use its prowess to help other companies file and manage patents.
The Armonk, NY, based technology giant received 4,914 new patents in 2008, according to IFI Patent Intelligence in Wilmington, Delaware. Korea’s Samsung Electronics was second with 3,611 patents and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was third with 2,906.
IBM, which has moved away from making personal computers and other hardware in recent years, is focusing heavily on developing computer software and services, patenting new technologies in a variety of applications. In the past year, the company has added patents related to massive, parallel super-computing and has patented technologies to improve technologies for traffic management systems and electricity grids.
