U.S. Companies See Major Gains Including Record Best for #1 IBM; #8 Google's Induction into Top 10 in Close Pursuit of #7 Qualcomm and Only 263 Patents Shy of #5 Microsoft
MADISON, Conn., Jan. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IFI CLAIMS® Patent Services, the leading producer of global patent databases, analytic solutions and innovative web services, today released its annual tabulation of the top U.S. patent recipients for 2014. The company has posted the official 2014 IFI CLAIMS Top 50, a ranking of global companies and organizations to receive the most utility patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Another banner year for the patent world, 2014 saw annual U.S. patent grants increase by more than 8 percent reaching an all-time high of 300,674 and surpassing the 300,000 mark for the first time.
IFI's tabulation places IBM at the top of the list where it has been for 22 consecutive years. Garnering 7,534 patents and up 10.6 percent over 2013, IBM is the first company to break the 7K barrier for a single year. Samsung is second with 4,952, up 5.9 percent; Canon is third, up 6 percent; Sony fourth, up 4 percent; and Microsoft fifth, up 6.3 percent.
A total of 19 U.S.-based companies appear on the 2014 IFI CLAIMS Top 50, up from 18 in 2013 and 17 in 2011 and 2012. Google enters the Top 10 for the first time at position #8—up a remarkable 38.6 percent—trailing #7 Qualcomm by just 21 patents and only 263 patents shy of #5 Microsoft. Apple, at #11, makes impressive gains as it continues its push toward the Top 10 increasing its patent counts by 12.8 percent, just ahead of #12 General Electric and 92 patents short of #10 Panasonic.
"It was a very good year for U.S. patents in terms of growth," said Mike Baycroft, CEO, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. "It was a particularly good year for U.S. firms which saw major gains from many of the top patent-generators, whereas overall foreign holdings of U.S. patents has held steady at roughly 49 percent."
In addition to the 2014 IFI CLAIMS Top 50, a collection of 2014 Patent Trends and Insights is available on the IFI website. Free access to the IFI CLAIMS Top 1,000 rankings, a multi-year analysis of global patentees to receive the most U.S. utility grants, is available by registering on the company's website.
One of the oldest and most trusted patent analysis firms in the U.S., IFI CLAIMS is known throughout the world as the gold standard tabulator of U.S. utility patents. Using proprietary algorithms and more than 60 years' experience, many clients turn to IFI to assist with tracking "total portfolio ownership." The company's full analysis comprises patent data on more than 7,000 companies and organizations. For more information visit www.ificlaims.com.
CLAIMS® is a registered trademark of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services.
About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services/Fairview Research
IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, a division of Fairview Research, is the preeminent producer of value-added patent databases and the innovative CLAIMS DIRECT platform and web service. 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 as a leader in patent databases. Fairview Research (Madison, Conn., and Barcelona, Spain) is a provider of data-enrichment technology and services for information retrieval and analysis. Founded in 2006, the company is skilled at making large-scale scientific and technical databases more searchable and helping to lower the cost of specialized research. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.