IBM Files Most Patents in 2008

According to recently released data, IBM has once again beaten the other big names in the technology industry to become the company who filed the most patents in the year 2008.

Not only did IBM file the most patents its ever filed inside a single year (and nab itself the top spot for the 16th year in a row), the company filed the most patents the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office has ever seen in the space of 12 months. IBM announced the numbers and at the same time, plans to increase the number of technical inventions it publishes annually.

"IBM's leadership in the strategic use of intellectual property is based on balancing proprietary and open innovation," said IBM director of research John Kelly. The company plans to increase the number of inventions published each year (instead of seeking patent protection) by 50 percent, bringing the total to more than 3,000. The company said that while it will continue to file patents (we assume like there's no tomorrow, given its history with patent filing) and protect its intellectual property, its planned increase in publishing inventions will focus on areas of technology that "will increase the build out of a new, smarter infrastructure."

The top ten companies for filing patents in 2008 were as follows:

#1 IBM took the : 4186 patents.
#2 Samsung : 3515 patents.
#3 Canon : 2114 patents.
#4 Microsoft : 2030 patents.
#5 Intel : 1776 patents.
#6 Matsushita : 1745 patents.
#7 Toshiba :1609 patents.
#8 Fujitsu : 1494 patents.
#9 Sony : 1485 patents.
#10 HP : 1424 patents.

Check out the full press release here.