WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- IFI CLAIMS(R) Patent Services, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, today issued its annual compilation of top patent winners for 2004. IBM Corporation once again was at the top of the list, leading all organizations receiving U.S. patents. With 3,277 patents granted, IBM was awarded 1,312 more patents than the number two ranked company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company of Japan, which came in with 1,965. IBM has maintained this leading position for an unprecedented 12 consecutive years and no other single company has surpassed the 2,000 patents per year mark.
For the first time since 1995, total U.S. patents issued have declined. In 2004, a total of 164,402 were issued, down 2.7 percent from 2003. U.S. organizations led all industries with 23 of the top 50 slots followed by Japanese based organizations in the number two position holding down 16 of the top 50 slots.
“Until this year, there have been increasing numbers of total U.S. patents issued each year since 1995,” said Darlene Slaughter, general manager of IFI Claims(R) Patent Services. “These results reflect the number of patents granted this year, not the number of new applications filed. Next year’s numbers will give a better indication of whether this is the beginning of a downward trend.”
Technology companies continue to be strong and lead the top-50 list. In addition to IBM, top-30 U.S.-based performers include HP, Micron Technology, Intel, General Electric, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, Kodak, Sun, Agilent, Microsoft, and Motorola. Other big movers at the top include Korea’s Samsung which posted a 22 percent increase over 2003 and Japanese newcomer Renesas Technology Corp., which made its debut on the top-50 list at number 15.
In 2004, the biotech leader was The University of California, which led the category in the number 42 position overall with 447 patents. Other top biotech contenders included Applera Corp., Degussa, U.S. Government Health and Human Services, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Biotechnology continues to spawn new patents from companies, government and academia. Since 1994, the total number of biotech patents has nearly doubled.
Although all patent information is public domain, the powerful indexing algorithms and search tools available using the CLAIMS(R) database make searching for patent data infinitely more efficient and accurate. The collection of databases known as CLAIMS(R) represents the most reliable, text-searchable and value-added databases of U.S. patents in the world. IFI CLAIMS(R) databases are available on Dialog, STN International and Questel*Orbit.
Complete information on over 1,800 companies worldwide which received 10 or more U.S. patents in 2004 will be published in IFI’s Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, available in May. IFI produces monthly electronic updates of the Patent Intelligence and Technology Report which monitor current patenting activity throughout the year. Customers can order the report by contacting Rick Myrick at 800-331-4955.
For the past 50 years, IFI has built a solid reputation as the preeminent producer of patent databases. A list of the top-20 performers compiled by IFI using its CLAIMS(R) database follows.
2004 Top-20 Patent Winners 1 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP (US) 3277 2 MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO LTD (Japan) 1965 3 CANON K K (Japan) 1813 4 HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT CO L P (US) 1780* 5 MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC (US) 1761 6 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD (Korea) 1605 7 INTEL CORP (US) 1604 8 HITACHI LTD (Japan) 1534 9 SONY CORP (Japan) 1348** 10 TOSHIBA CORP (Japan) 1342 11 FUJITSU LTD (Japan) 1320 12 KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N V (Netherlands) 1224 13 FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD (Japan) 1030 14 GENERAL ELECTRIC CO (US) 978 15 RENESAS TECHNOLOGY CORP (Japan) 917 16 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC (US) 915 17 BOSCH, ROBERT GMBH (Germany) 907 18 SEIKO EPSON CORP (Japan) 859 19 NEC CORP (Japan) 826 20 ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC (US) 803 * Includes 17 patents issued to Hewlett-Packard Co. and 2 patents issued to Compaq Computer Co. ** Includes 9 patents issued as unassigned but which have C/O Sony Corp. in inventor address ***Counts exclude design and plant patents
For more information on the Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, visit our web site at http://www.ificlaims.com/ or http://www.wkhealth.com/.
About Wolters Kluwer Health
Based in Wilmington, Delaware, IFI CLAIMS is part of the Wolters Kluwer Health Pharma Solutions division. The division provides information and communications support for the pharmaceutical industry, from drug discovery and research to launch and marketing under the industry’s leading medical information brands, Adis International, IFI Claims and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Wolters Kluwer Health is a unit of WoltersKluwer nv, a leading multinational publisher and information services company with annual revenues (2003) of Euro 3.4 billion and employing approximately 18,750 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its depositary receipts of shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. For more information, visit http://www.ificlaims/ and http://www.wkhealth.com/.
Contact: Tom Kivett Kivett & Company Communications (212) 727-2935 tkivett@kivettandco.com
Wolters Kluwer Health Pharma Solutions
CONTACT: Tom Kivett of Kivett & Company Communications, +1-212-727-2935,tkivett@kivettandco.com for Wolters Kluwer Health Pharma Solutions