IFI Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

List of Top 50 Patent Winners for 2003 Posted

IBM Tops List for 11th Consecutive Year

WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 12, 2004 -- IFI CLAIMS® Patent Services, the most trusted and comprehensive source of U.S. patent information, today issued its annual listing of top patent companies for 2003. IBM Corporation once again topped the list as the leader among companies receiving U.S. patents in 2003. With 3,439 U.S. patents granted, IBM received 72 percent more patents for the year than the next nearest company and has maintained the top position for 11 consecutive years.

Other companies to grace the top five include Canon KK of Japan, which holds second place with 1,997 patents for the year, followed by. Hitachi, Matsushita and Hewlett-Packard. A partial list of the top 50 performers compiled by IFI using its CLAIMS® database follows and the full list is available on the company's web site at www.ificlaims.com

"During the past 45 years, we have built a solid reputation as the preeminent producer of patent databases," said Darlene Slaughter, General Manager of IFI CLAIMS. "We've compiled this listing for the past few years running and many people look forward to seeing it appear each year. As a result, it is quickly emerging as the definitive listing of top U.S. patent earners for the year."

While the top 15 companies each received over 1,000 U.S. patents last year, only IBM exceeded 2,000 patents for the year. Based on about 169,000 total U.S. utility patents granted in 2003, IBM accounted for a solid 2 percent of all issued U.S. patents. The top 10 companies account for about 10 percent of the year's total patents granted; the top 15 companies for about 14.5 percent.

Big movers at the top include Intel which increased its U.S. patent portfolio by a whopping 515 patents, or 47.7 percent over last year. Hitachi also showed a respectable gain of 289 or 17.9 percent. There also was some downward movement among the top 20 patent-holders. NEC Corporation's patent issues dropped by 34.6 percent with 635 fewer patents granted than in 2002. Advanced Micro Devices also lost ground with a 21.3 percent reduction in patents granted, and General Electric received 19.6 percent fewer patents in 2003 than its 2002 total of 1,417.

Complete information on over 1,750 companies worldwide which received 10 or more U.S. patents in 2003 will be published in the Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, available in May from IFI CLAIMS® Patent Services. All counts in the Patent Information and Technology Report are based upon multiple assigned records of all Utility and Statutory patents. IFI produces monthly electronic updates of the Patent Intelligence and Technology Report which monitor current patenting activity throughout the year.

Visit our web site at www.ificlaims.com/otherproducts_pitr.html for more information on the Patent Intelligence and Technology Report. To place an order, simply call 800-331-4955 or fax 302-998-0733, attention Rick Myrick.