The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued 253,155 patents during 2012, according to patent research firm IFI Claims. That's more patents than it turned out in any previous year -- and a 13 percent increase over 2011.
What tech giants grabbed the most? Well, according to the IFI's new list, IBM remains the king of the patents, and two companies at the heart of the smartphone patent wars are climbing the list: Google and Apple. But you'll also notice a big gain from the giants of South Korea.
Each year, IFI ranks the companies with the most patents awarded, and with patents playing an increasingly important role in the tech industry, the list is far more interesting than it used to be. Patent awards are often used as to show how innovative companies are, but some pundits will tell you there's no correlation between innovation and patents. In today's world, the biggest issue is that many of these patents become weapons that corporate giants use in their eternal battle for market share.
IBM has topped the list for the past 20 years. In 2012, it maintained the top, with 6,478 patents awarded. Google ranked 21st with 1,151 patents, a 170 percent increase over 2011, and Apple was 22nd, with 1,136 patents, a 68 percent increase. Google wasn't even in the top 50 last year -- it jumped from number 65 to 21 -- Apple rose from 39th to 22nd.
But the other big story is the rise of South Korea. Samsung held on to the number 2 position, and LG muscled its way into the top 10. "2012 was all about K-pop and Samsung," sci-fi author, futurist and Wired blogger Bruce Sterling wrote in his annual State of the World address. "Who can’t admire these two mushrooming efflorescences of Korean soft power and Korean hard manufacturing? They’re the New 1980s Japan."
Of the 70,578 patents filed by the top 50 companies, 12 percent were filed by Korean companies. Japanese companies filed 39 percent, and 26 percent came from U.S. companies.
According to IFI, electronics is driving the patent explosion. The sector surpassed consumer products and chemicals as the biggest recipients of patent awards, and technology and electronics companies dominated the top 10:
- International Business Machines Corp
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd KR
- Canon K K JP
- Sony Corp JP
- Panasonic Corp JP
- Microsoft Corp
- Toshiba Corp JP
- Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd TW
- General Electric Co
- LG Electronics Inc KR
HP -- often criticized for its lack of innovation in recent years -- came in 15th place with 1,394 patents awarded last year. RIM, the troubled maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, was also a big gainer, with 49 percent more patents in 2012 than in 2011. According to IFI, RIM is also strong in pre-grant applications, which are issued soon after patent applications are filed.
Australia's Silverbrook Research made the biggest drop, from number 31 in 2011 to number 157 in 2012. Nokia, DuPont, and Cisco also had big drops.
