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There were 298,407 utility patents granted in 2015, down
slightly from 2014, IFI Claims said on Wednesday. IBM gained
7,355 patents last year. Utility patents cover function rather
than design.
Among the technology giants notable for their intellectual
property, Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google stepped up its patent
activity, moving to the fifth position from eighth in 2014,
while Apple Inc <AAPL.O> stayed at the 11th position.
Patents are sometimes the subject of legal battles, and
investors, analysts and enthusiasts alike track patents closely
to see what companies are looking to develop next.
Following IBM, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and Canon
Inc <7751.T> rounded off the top three spots, the ranking
showed.
The U.S. patent counts for 2015 fell for the first time since
2007, according to the ranking.
Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O> patents dropped significantly in 2015,
sliding to tenth on the list with a near 31 percent decrease in
patents.
Companies such as Microsoft and Panasonic <6752.T> have assigned
some patents to newly formed holding companies, which explains
why several entities dropped considerably lower in the rankings,
IFI said.
"Rather than keeping all corporate patents under a single
registration, some companies are choosing to spread their
portfolios across multiple entities," said Larry Cady, an
analyst at IFI Claims.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Cynthia Osterman)
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