TOP PATENTING ORGANIZATIONS Page 1 of 2 Calendar Year 1994 This report lists the organizations receiving the most patents for invention (i.e., utility patents) during the 1994 CALENDAR year. In 1994, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) received more patents than any other organization and the most patents ever granted in one year to a non-Federal organization. The corporation's 1,298 patents for 1994 surpassed the 1,251 patents granted to the U.S. Government during the period. This marks the first time in five years that a non-Federal organization has received the most patents for a year. In addition, for the second straight year, IBM received more patents than any other non-Federal organization. Following IBM and the Federal Government, Canon Kabushiki Kaisha received 1,096 patents in 1994 while Hitachi, Ltd, General Electric Company, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, and Toshiba Corporation are grouped together with slightly less than 1,000 patents each. U.S. corporations continued to be active in patenting in 1994. As in 1993, four of the top ten non-Federal patenting organizations are U.S. corporations. However, only two of the top five are U.S. corporations in 1994 as compared to three of the top five in 1993. NEC Corporation joins the top eleven patenting organizations for 1994 while Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd drops off the list (to sixteenth position). Other organizations on the list remain unchanged from 1993 except for their relative positions. Eastman Kodak Company drops from fifth to ninth position and Motorola, Inc. drops from ninth to tenth position. A complete listing of the top eleven organizations receiving utility patents during 1994 is shown below. Rank (Rank Organization # Patents in 1994 in 1993) 1 (2) International Business Machines Corporation 1,298 2 (1) U.S. GOVERNMENT 1,251 3 (4) Canon Kabushiki Kaisha 1,096 4 (8) Hitachi, Ltd. 976 5 (6) General Electric Company 970 (7) Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha 970 7 (3) Toshiba Corporation 968 8 (12) NEC Corporation 897 9 (5) Eastman Kodak Company 888 10 (9) Motorola Inc. 837 11 (10) Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 771 Please Note: Patent information included in the report reflects patent ownership at patent grant and does not include changes in ownership which occur after the patent grant. Where more than one assignee (owner) exists, patents are attributed to the first-named assignee. (continued) Page 2 of 2 No attempt has been made to combine data based on subsidiary relationships. However, where possible, spelling variations and variations based on name changes have been merged into a single name (e.g., ESSO to EXXON). While every effort is made to accurately identify all organizational entities and report data by a single organization name, achievement of a totally clean record is not expected, particularly in view of the variations which occur in many corporate identifications. __________________________________________________________________________ SOURCE: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Technology Assessment and Forecast data base (1-27-95) ------------------ Questions regarding this report should be directed to: (address updated 4/96) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Office of Electronic Information Products Technology Assessment and Forecast Program PK3-Suite 441 Washington, DC 20231 tel (703) 306-2600 FAX (703) 306-2737