ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/-- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has once again topped the list of annual U.S. patent recipients, receiving 7,355 patents in 2015, marking the 23(rd )consecutive year of leadership. IBM's 2015 patent results represent a diverse range of inventions as well as a strong and growing focus on cognitive solutions and the cloud platform as the company positions itself for leadership in a new era of computing.

"During IBM's 23 years atop the patent list, the company's inventors have received more than 88,000 U.S. patents. IBM's investments in R&D continue to shape the future of computing through cognitive computing and the cloud platform that will help our clients drive transformation across multiple industries," said Ginni Rometty, IBM's chairman, president and CEO. "IBM's patent leadership demonstrates our unparalleled commitment to the fundamental R&D necessary to drive progress in business and society."

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The Top Ten list of 2015 U.S. patent recipients* includes:

    1               IBM                               7,355
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    2               Samsung                           5,072
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    3               Canon                             4,134
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    4               Qualcomm                          2,900
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    5               Google                            2,835
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    6               Toshiba                           2,627
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    7               Sony                              2,455
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    8               LG Electronics                    2,242
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    9               Intel                             2,048
    ---             -----                             -----

    10              Microsoft                         1,956
    ---             ---------                         -----

*Data provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

IBM inventors generated more than 2,000 patents in areas related to cognitive computing and the company's cloud platform.

In the area of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence, IBM inventors developed new technologies that can help machines learn, reason, and efficiently process diverse data types while interacting with people in natural and familiar ways. For example:

    --  Helping machines understand emotion: For most of the history of
        computing, humans have had to play by the machines' rules --mostly
        typing or pushing buttons to make ourselves understood. In the cognitive
        era, machines will increasingly listen and talk to us. A group of
        scientists from IBM Research's China lab patented a system that helps
        machines interpret emotion-laden words so they can converse with us in
        more natural ways. (Patent US9117446)
    --  Helping computers learn from us: Unlike conventional computers,
        cognitive systems can learn from experience. A team invented technology
        that helps computers understand language by interacting with humans. The
        goal is to help computers figure out whether they're interacting with a
        human or a machine. The invention then could be used by a Web site that
        sells tickets to events to weed out bots controlled by scalpers, for
        example. (Patent US9146917)

IBM inventors are also focused on innovations that will help advance its cloud platform. For example:

    --  Helping your cloud to run faster and more efficiently: One advantage of
        cloud computing is that resources can be provisioned from all over the
        planet.  Even though you can use resources from all over, a cloud runs
        more efficiently if network latency between the resources, and between
        end users and resources, can be minimized.  IBM computer scientists have
        developed and patented a way to lay out a topology of available
        resources and determine the shortest network routes between them, and to
        the end users.  The best, most efficient configuration of resources can
        then be utilized at the time of provisioning.  (Patent US8972986)
    --  Drawing resources from all over to get the job done: IBM inventors have
        developed a way for clouds to request extra computing resources from
        other clouds to manage intensive workloads that have extra capacity to
        share. At the same time, clouds that have sufficient resources available
        can also alert other clouds when high profile events are coming up. This
        allows computing tasks to be completed more quickly and efficiently, and
        is all done in a seamless fashion that is transparent to end users.
        (Patent US9009722)

IBM inventors are also focused on innovations that will help transform industries. For example:

    --  Effective communications at international travel venues: Travel hubs
        such as international airports need to get information to passengers
        that speak different languages as quickly and efficiently as possible.
        IBM inventors have come up with a way to detect which languages are
        being spoken most often among a group of travelers. Announcements are
        then translated into those languages, and are made according to the
        order of the languages being most frequently spoken. (Patent US9015032)
    --  Enhancing patient care through machine learning: Cognitive systems use
        various algorithms to help generate intelligent insights used to make
        decisions when analyzing large and disparate data sources. These
        cognitive systems can be used to help medical professionals identify
        evidence-based treatment options for their patients. IBM inventors have
        patented an invention that identifies algorithms based on specific
        medical categories to help doctors identify personalized treatment
        options. (Patent US9171478)

More than 8,500 IBMers residing in 50 states and territories and 46 countries are responsible for IBM's 2015 patent tally. IBM inventors who reside outside the U.S. contributed to more than 36 percent of the company's 2015 patents.

For more information about IBM's patent leadership, please visit the IBM THINK Blog at http://ibm.co/1Rpzpt3 and http://ibm.co/1Re0VJL

2015 patent data provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services: http://www.ificlaims.com

Media Contact:
Vineeta Durani, IBM
415-545-6726
vineeta.durani@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM

SOURCE: IBM