IBM Corp, the world's biggest computer company, topped the list of companies receiving US patents for the 12th year in a row.
IBM received 3,248 patents last year, 167 less than in 2003, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
As in past years, the 10 recipients of the most patents are technology-related companies, including five based in Japan, four in the US and one in South Korea.
Companies with the most patents can use the ranking to promote themselves as being at the forefront of technological innovation, said Brad Wright, an attorney who helps firms obtain patents.
Licensing Revenue
More patents also can translate to higher revenue from licensing technology to competitors.
"They have a sort of fear factor with companies like IBM or other companies that have thousands of patents," Wright said. "The target licensees frequently are persuaded by the sheer raw number of patents."
Dutch electronics company Royal Philips Electronics NV dropped off the top-10 list from last year and Japan's Toshiba Corp joined it.
Technology patents can take as long as three years to process, compared with an average of two years for all other categories. IBM, which is selling its personal-computer business, has relied on advances in nanotechnology and computer services to stay on top of the list. The company has one of the world's largest patent portfolios and spent US$5.1 billion in research in 2003, the most recent year for which figures are available.
IBM spokesman Chris Andrews didn't return calls seeking comment.
HP Improves
Hewlett-Packard Co, which rose to fourth place from fifth place in its third year on the list, has made patents a top priority. The company rewards employees for proffering ideas, and it set up a licensing program to increase revenue.
"We're improving our position from a standpoint of income from outlicensing activities," said Steve Fox, vice president and deputy general counsel for intellectual property for Hewlett-Packard. Being on the list is "an objective because what it shows relative to the other technology companies is that we're doing the right thing."
The US government received 829 patents, just more than half the number received by Sony Corp, which ranked No. 10.
Semiconductor companies Intel Corp and Micron Technology Inc made the list because "they protect even small advances in their technology," said David Klein, a patent lawyer who handles licensing issues.
Other companies with the most patents tend to focus on a wider range of products, he said.
Fewer, more valuable patents sometimes deliver higher sales than a large tally. Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drug maker, has only five patents covering the cholesterol drug Lipitor.
The drug's US$10 billion in annual sales dwarfs Micron's US$4.4 billion.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2