TOP PATENTING ORGANIZATIONS
                        Calendar Year 1996


This report lists the organizations receiving the most patents for
invention (i.e., utility patents) during the 1996 CALENDAR year.

For the fourth straight year, International Business Machines
Corporation (IBM) received more utility patents than any other non-
Federal organization.  IBM's  1,867 patents in 1996 represent a 35
percent increase over its patent total for the previous year and
are the most patents ever granted to a non-Federal organization in
a single year.  Canon Kabushiki Kaisha ranks second for 1996 with
1,541 utility patents, a 42 percent increase over its patent total
for the previous year.

With Motorola, Inc. ranked third (1,064 patents), U.S. corporations
comprise two of the top three patenting organizations for the
calendar year.  However, no other U.S. corporations are among the
top ten non-Federal patenting organizations in 1996.  The other top
ten organizations are Japanese corporations, with Sony Corporation
and Fujitsu Limited joining the list and U.S. corporations, Eastman
Kodak Company and General Electric Company dropping from the list.

The Federal Government received 923 utility patents in 1996 placing
it seventh among all organizations receiving utility patents for
the year.

A complete listing of the top eleven organizations receiving
utility patents in 1996 is shown below.

1996    1996                                         ( Rank  )  (# Patents)
Rank  # Patents  Organization                        (in 1995)  ( in 1995 )
----  ---------  --------------------------          ---------  ----------
  1     1,867    International Business Machines Corp  (1)       (1,383)
  2     1,541    Canon Kabushiki Kaisha                (2)       (1,087)
  3     1,064    Motorola Inc.                         (4)       (1,012)
  4     1,043    NEC Corporation                       (5)       (1,005)
  5       963    Hitachi, Ltd.                         (8)         (910)
  6       934    Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha     (6)         (973)
  7       923    U.S. GOVERNMENT                       (3)       (1,026)
  8       914    Toshiba Corporation                   (7)         (969)
  9       869    Fujitsu Limited                      (13)         (724)
 10       855    Sony Corporation                     (12)         (754)
 11       841    Matsushita Electric Indus. Co., Ltd.  (9)         (854)


Please Note:
Patent information presented 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.

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.


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Questions regarding this report should be directed to:
(address as of 2/97)
             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

__________________________________________________________________
SOURCE:   U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
          Technology Assessment and Forecast data base  (1-17-97)