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IFI Patent Intelligence Analysis of 2008’s Top U.S.-Patent Recipients Suggests America May be Losing Dominance
Companies
Outside the U.S. Tip Scales to 51 Percent Share of New Patents
Total Patent Grants
Up Slightly Over Last Year with IBM Setting an All-Time High;
Broadcom,
Cisco, Fujifilm, Hon Hai, LG Phillips LCD, Microsoft, and Samsung Also Post Greatest
Gains in the Top 35, All Up By More Than 20 Percent
WILMINGTON, Del., (Jan. 14, 2009) —
IFI Patent Intelligence, a Wolters Kluwer Health business, today
released an annual compilation of the world’s top-ranked U.S.-patent companies,
which suggests America’s longstanding dominance of new U.S. patents may be
slipping. However, the economic downturn
that epitomized 2008 did not slow the overall flow of U.S patent activity, at
least not yet. According to IFI’s
analysis, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a total of 157,774
utility patents in calendar year 2008, up slightly over 2007’s total of
157,284.
Although
IBM still tops the list and is ahead by a relatively wide margin, the scales of
patent-quantity supremacy may be shifting away from corporate America in favor
of companies overseas, especially to those in Asia. As part of its analysis, IFI looked at 2008
utility patents assigned to companies separate from those owned by
individuals. It found that American
companies captured only 49 percent of U.S. patents granted to companies
compared to 50 percent in 2007. In
addition, the U.S. holds only four — less than half — of the top 10 slots, down
from five the prior year. American firms
also hold only 12 positions in the top 35, which collectively generated 26 percent of all the utility patents
granted in 2008.
In comparison, Japanese
companies hold five of the top 10 slots and 14 of the top 35.Although America is still the leading single
country in total new patents for 2008, Japan trails second with 23 percent;
Germany is third with 6 percent; South Korea fourth with 5 percent; and Taiwan
fifth with 4 percent.
The first organization to
break the 4,000 patent barrier, IBM Corp. set a new all-time record of 4,186, up 33 percent over last year.
Samsung continues to hold the number 2 slot with 3,515, up 29
percent over 2007; followed by Canon
at number 3, with 2,114; Microsoft
comes in at number 4 with 2,030, up 24 percent over last year and 400 percent
since 2003; and Intel at number
5. Other notable movers in the top 35
include Broadcom and Cisco, both up 21 percent over 2007; Hon
Hai of Taiwan, up 63 percent and
new to the top 35; Fujifilm, up 31
percent; and LG Philips LCD, up 25
percent.
“Although data suggest
that American companies garnered a minority share of the total number of
corporate U.S. patents last year, it’s important not to confuse quantity with
quality,” said Darlene Slaughter, general manager of IFI
Patent Intelligence.
“What’s clear is that many of the world’s largest
companies are placing a higher priority on protecting their intellectual
property. This trend is occurring both
here in the U.S. and abroad especially in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany
and other countries in Europe,” continued Slaughter. “Securing patents may be even more important
in a down economy, since it gives
patent-holders an edge over their competitors.”
It also is worth noting
that many of the patents granted in 2008 were applied for back in 2005 and
2006, so today’s economy probably had little, if any, effect on 2008
approvals. “It will be interesting to
report on how the patent pipeline flows two years from now and to see if the
down economy leads to more or less patent activity,” added Slaughter. IFI data confirm that there was a three-year
downward trend in patent approvals from 2003-2005, a period that followed the
last recession in 2001.
Although annual utility
patent grants have been up and down for the past decade, interest in protecting
intellectual property both in the U.S and abroad is on an up swing. The USPTO posted a 6 percent increase in
patent applications for its fiscal year 2008 for a total of 466,147. A growing backlog of patent applications has
ensued for the past two decades and continues to pile up at the USPTO, with 1.2
million patents pending approval, according to its website.
“Just as the USPTO is creating
new efficiencies to make progress against the backlog, they’re finding an increase
in the number of new filings each year makes the process a true up-hill
battle,” added Slaughter.
Employing proprietary
authority lists and algorithms to enhance the speed and accuracy of the culling
process, IFI Patent Intelligence analyzed 2008 USPTO data and prepared what has
become the de facto standard ranking of U.S. patent assignees. A comprehensive analysis of U.S. patent
ownership data for 2008 will be published by IFI. IFI’s list of 2008’s Top 35performers is posted on its website,
www.ificlaims.com, and follows:
| Rank | Company Name | 2008 Patents |
| 1 | INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP | 4186 |
| 2 | SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD KR | 3515 |
| 3 | CANON K K JP | 2114 |
| 4 | MICROSOFT CORP | 2030 |
| 5 | INTEL CORP | 1776 |
| 6 | MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO LTD JP 1 | 1745 |
| 7 | TOSHIBA CORP JP | 1609 |
| 8 | FUJITSU LTD JP | 1494 |
| 9 | SONY CORP JP | 1485 |
| 10 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT CO L P * | 1424 * |
| 11 | HITACHI LTD JP | 1313 |
| 12 | MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | 1250 |
| 13 | SEIKO EPSON CORP JP | 1229 |
| 14 | GENERAL ELECTRIC CO | 912 |
| 15 | FUJIFILM CORP JP | 869 |
| 16 | RICOH CO LTD JP | 857 |
| 17 | INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG DE | 814 |
| 18 | LG ELECTRONICS INC KR | 805 |
| 19 | TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC | 757 |
| 20 | HONDA MOTOR CO LTD JP | 747 |
| 21 | SIEMENS AG DE | 724 |
| 22 | HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO LTD TW | 719 |
| 23 | DENSO CORP JP | 708 |
| 24 | CISCO TECHNOLOGY INC | 704 |
| 25 | BROADCOM CORP | 643 |
| 26 | HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC | 619 |
| 27 | NOKIA AB OY FI | 608 |
| SILVERBROOK RESEARCH PTY LTD AU | 608 | |
| 29 | SHARP K K JP | 603 |
| 30 | NEC CORP JP | 547 |
| 31 | BROADCOM CORPXEROX CORP | 529 |
| 32 | LG PHILIPS LCD CO LTD KR 2 | 524 |
| 33 | RENESAS TECHNOLOGY CORP JP | 513 |
| 34 | SUN MICROSYSTEMS INC | 509 |
| 35 | KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N V NL | 497 |
* Includes
4 patents assigned to Hewlett-Packard Co
1 Now Panasonic Corp JP
2 Now LG Display Co Ltd KR
Market sectors with the
heaviest new patent activity include the electronic areas of Semiconductor
Manufacturing and of Multiplex Communication, each with about 4,430 patents in
2008. The bio sectors of Drug
Compositions had 2,990 patents and Biotechnology had almost 2,680 patents
issued. Only one automaker,
Honda Motor Company, appeared in the
top 35 list. Sun Microsystems, down 17 percent, and Micron Technology, down 15 percent, had the two largest percentage
declines in new patents compared to 2007, while 2007 list-placers Bosch, Kodak, andSanyo failed
to make the top-35 this year.
IFI compiles its list
from original USPTO data using the powerful indexing and standardization
algorithms of CLAIMS®, the most reliable, text-searchable database
of U.S. patents in the world. The
collection of CLAIMS® databases makes searching for patent data
accurate and efficient. CLAIMS®
is available via Dialog, STN International and Questel.
For more than 50 years,
IFI has been the preeminent producer of patent databases. Complete information on more than 1,700
companies worldwide that received 10 or more U.S. patents in 2008 will be published
in IFI’s Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, available in May.
IFI produces monthly electronic updates of the report that monitor
current patenting activity throughout the year.
For ordering information, contact IFI at 800-331-4955 or visit
www.ificlaims.com.
###
EDITORS: For analysis,
factoids, market-sector breakdowns or to set an interview with Darlene
Slaughter, please contact Tom Kivett at 212-727-2935 or via email at
tkivett@kivettandco.com.
About IFI Patent Intelligence
For more than 50 years,
IFI Patent Intelligence (Wilmington, DE), a Wolters Kluwer Health business, has
been the preeminent producer of enhanced U.S patent databases. From the most rigorous U.S. assignee name standardization
process in the industry, to continual class code updates, and comprehensive
indexing for chemical patents —
IFI
has built a solid reputation in patent databases. For more information,
visit
IFIclaims.com or call 800-331-4955 or
302-633-7200, or contact info@ificlaims.com.
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