USPTO Releases Annual List of Top 10 Organizations

PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Maria V. Hernandez
703-305-8341
maria.hernandez2@uspto.gov

January 10, 2002
#02-01

USPTO RELEASES ANNUAL LIST OF TOP 10 ORGANIZATIONS
RECEIVING MOST PATENTS
IBM repeats at top of list

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the top 10 private sector patent recipients for the 2001 calendar year. Listed below are the 10 corporations receiving the most patents for inventions in 2001, along with their ranking last year. For the ninth consecutive year, IBM received more patents than any other private sector organization.

"I am proud that American corporations are leaders among U.S. patent holders," said James E. Rogan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. "Patents promote technological progress and are a potent force for competitive free enterprise. Global confidence in the U.S. patent system confirms the strength of the American marketplace, and plays a key role in bringing an end to the recession."

Top 10 Private Sector Patent Recipients for the 2001 Calendar Year

Preliminary
Rank in 2001*

Preliminary *
#Patents in 2001*

Organization*

(Final Rank)
(in 2000)

(Final Number of)
(Patents in 2000)

1

3,411
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
(1)

(2,886)

2

1,953
NEC Corporation
(2)

(2,021)

3

1,877
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
(3)

(1,890)

4

1,643
Micron Technology, Inc.
(7)

(1,304)

5

1,450
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
(4)

(1,441)

6

1,440
Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co., Ltd.
(11)

(1,137)

7

1,363
Sony Corporation
(6)

(1,385)

8

1,271
Hitachi, Ltd.
(13)

(1,036)

9

1,184
Mitsbushi. Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
(14)

(1,010)

10

1,166
Fujitsu Limited
(10)

(1,147)

* The listed patent counts are preliminary counts, which are subject to correction. The final listing of patent counts for the top patenting organizations in 2001 should be available by early April 2002. Patent information reflects patent ownership at patent grant and does not include ownership changes that occur after the patent grant. Where more than one assignee (owner) exists, patents are attributed to the first-named assignee.

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