IBM Sets New Record for Patent Leadership
IBM recently announced that for the 18th consecutive year, it has been issued more U.S. patents than any other company. With 5,896 patents, IBM set a new record for a single year and became the first company to ever surpass 5,000 patents in a single year.
As we reflect on IBM's first hundred years of innovation, it is worth noting that in 1911, our newly-founded company was issued three U.S. patents, and that it took about 50 years to cumulatively earn our first 5,000 patents -- a number we've now achieved in less than 12 months.
Through this culture of innovation we have created the strongest patent portfolio in the world. It gives us the freedom of action to serve the markets we choose; protects our intellectual property, which we spend approximately $6 billion each year to create; and plays a significant role in generating about $1 billion annually in IP-related income.
IBM's 2010 patent total was 10 times that of Apple; nearly quadruple that of Hewlett-Packard, and exceeded the issuances of Microsoft, HP, Oracle and Google combined. Still, several of our individual competitors continue to threaten our leadership. To help improve the overall quality and value of our portfolio, we will be announcing enhancements to our patent award system, with improved reward opportunities for inventions in portfolio focus areas.
I want to close by thanking you for your ongoing support of our inventors -- these numbers are a reflection of the tremendous work of IBM employees across all our units, as well as our commitment to research & development as part of our high-value business model. It is their expertise, and the innovations they create, that has helped to enable IBM's enduring value proposition in technology, business and society.
