2007's top U.S. patent assignees

IFI Patent Intelligence, a Wolters Kluwer Health business, today announced its annual compilation of the world's top-ranked U.S. patent winners.

Employing proprietary authority lists and algorithms to enhance the speed and accuracy of the culling process, IFI's analysts ranked organizations with the most patents awarded in 2007. The top 35 organizations are posted on its website, www.ificlaims.com. A comprehensive analysis of U.S. patent ownership data for 2007 will be published in May and made available on the IFI website.

According to IFI's analysis, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a total of 157,284 utility patents in 2007 -- down 9.5 percent from 2006's all-time high -- at a time when the Patent Office is faced with a swelling backlog of patents pending. The most recent USPTO annual report (www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2007) tallies the backlog to be 1,112,517 patents pending for fiscal year 2007.

This year, IBM Corp. continues to maintain the top slot, as it has for the previous 14 years, with 3,148 patents, down more than 500 grants from the previous year. Samsung trails at number 2 with 2,725 patents, followed by Canon at number 3, Matsushita at number 4, and Intel at number 5. Most of the top 25 companies attained fewer grants in 2007 than in 2006, with five exceptions including Samsung, up 11 percent over 2006; Microsoft, which jumped into the top 10 and saw an increase of nearly 12 percent; Denso Corp., up 4 percent; Nokia, up a respectable 14 percent with 85 more issues than last year; and Seiko Epson, up 2 patents.

"While 2007 didn't bring any marked improvements in terms of reducing America's backlog of patents pending, it wasn't far off the annual average of the past seven years either," said Darlene Slaughter, general manager of IFI Patent Intelligence. "Although the total number of patents issued is down from 2006's record high, it did beat 2005's relatively low showing. Overall, it's fair to say that 80 percent of the top 35 organizations were down versus the previous year."

U.S. organizations currently hold half of the slots on the top 10 list with Japan a close second. However, looking at the top 25 list, U.S. companies hold 7 spots, less than a third of the positions, while Japan leads with 13; Germany with 2; South Korea with 2; and Finland with 1. Semiconductors (4,187 patents in 2007); Active Solid State Devices (3,855) and Telecommunications (2,783) lead the individual patent class categories, but others are showing strength including Static Information Storage & Retrieval; Drugs and Biotechnology; Chemistry; and Radiant Energy.

A list of 2007's Top 25 performers as compiled by IFI follows:

          Rank Company Name 2007 Patents

1. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP 3148
2. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD KR 2725
3. CANON K K JP 1987
4. MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO LTD JP 1941
5. INTEL CORP 1865
6. MICROSOFT CORP 1637
7. TOSHIBA CORP JP 1549
8. SONY CORP JP 1481
9. MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 1476
10. HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT CO L P 1470**
11. HITACHI LTD JP 1397
12. FUJITSU LTD JP 1315
13. SEIKO EPSON CORP JP 1208
14. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 914
15. INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG DE 856
16. DENSO CORP JP 803
17. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC 752
18. RICOH CO LTD JP 728
19. HONDA MOTOR CO LTD JP 719
20. SIEMENS AG DE 700
21. LG ELECTRONICS INC KR 684
22. NOKIA AB OY FI 682
23. SHARP K K JP 667
24. FUJIFILM CORP JP 662
25. NEC CORP JP 617

** total includes 4 patents issued to Hewlett-Packard Co.

IFI compiles its listing from original USPTO data using the powerful indexing and standardization algorithms of CLAIMS(R), the most reliable, text- searchable database of U.S. patents in the world. The collection of CLAIMS(R) databases makes searching for patent data accurate and efficient. CLAIMS(R) is available via Thomson Dialog, STN International and Questel.

For more than 50 years, IFI has been the preeminent producer of patent databases. Complete information on more than 1,700 companies worldwide that received 10 or more U.S. patents in 2007 will be published in IFI's Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, available in May. IFI produces monthly electronic updates of the report that monitor current patenting activity throughout the year. For ordering information, contact IFI at 800-331-4955 or visit www.ificlaims.com.

About IFI Patent Intelligence

For more than 50 years, IFI Patent Intelligence (Wilmington, DE), a Wolters Kluwer Health business, has been the preeminent producer of enhanced U.S patent databases. 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 in patent databases. For more information, visit IFIclaims.com or call 800-331-4955 or 302-633-7200, or contact [email protected].

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