MEDIA ADVISORY
                                                  PTO 97-2
CONTACT:  Richard Maulsby
          Lisa-Joy Zgorski
          (703)305-8341

       USPTO ANNOUNCES LAST YEAR'S TOP PATENT EARNERS
                   IBM AGAIN TOPS THE LIST
                              
ARLINGTON, VA -- The United States Patent and Trademark
Office today announced its top patent recipients last year.
The following organizations received the most patents for
invention, i.e. utility patents, during the 1996 calendar
year.

1996 Rank 1996 Patents   Organization             (1995
Rank)     (1995 Patents)

1              1,867          IBM  `              (1)
(1,383)
2         1,541          Canon                    (2)
(1,087)
3         1,064          Motorola Inc.            (4)
(1,012)
4         1,043          NEC Corporation          (5)
(1,005)
5           963          Hitachi                  (8)
(910)
6           934          Mitsubishi               (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                     (12)
(754)
11          841          Matsushita Electric Ind. Co.  (9)
(854)










January 21, 1996

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