ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it set a new U.S. patent record in 2011, marking the 19th consecutive year that the company has led the annual list of patent recipients. IBM inventors earned a record 6,180 U.S. patents in 2011, more than quadrupling Hewlett-Packard's issuances and exceeding by six times those of Oracle/Sun.

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More than 8,000 IBMers residing in 46 different U.S. states and 36 countries are responsible for the company's record-breaking 2011 patent tally. IBM inventors who reside outside the U.S. contributed to more than 26% of the company's 2011 patents.


                2011 U.S. Patent Leaders*
              1  IBM                                                6,180
              2  Samsung                                            4,894
              3  Canon                                              2,821
              4  Panasonic                                          2,559
              5  Toshiba                                            2,483
              6  Microsoft                                          2,311
              7  Sony                                               2,286
              8  Seiko Epson                                        1,533
              9  Hon Hai                                            1,514
             10  Hitachi                                            1,465


    *Data provided by IFI
     CLAIMS Patent Services

The more than 6,000 patents IBMers received in 2011 represent a range of inventions that enable new innovations and add significant value to the company's products, services, including smarter solutions for retail, banking, healthcare, transportation and other industries. These patented inventions also span a wide range of computing technologies poised to support a new generation of more cognitive, intelligent and insight-driven systems, processes and infrastructures for smarter commerce, shopping, medicine, transportation, and more.

"IBM's commitment to invention and scientific exploration is unmatched in any industry and the results of this dedication to enabling innovation is evidenced in our nearly two decades of U.S. patent leadership," said Ken King, general manager, Intellectual Property and vice president, Research Business Development, IBM. "The inventions we patent each year deliver significant value to IBM, our clients and partners and demonstrate a measurable return on our approximately $6 billion annual investment in research and development."

IBM's record-breaking 2011 patent output features many interesting and important inventions, such as:


    --  U.S. Patent #8,019,992: Method for granting user privileges in
        electronic commerce security domains - This patented invention helps IBM
        WebSphere Commerce software customers reduce administration and resource
        costs by providing a flexible authentication and authorization mechanism
        across multiple online stores.  The capability enables shoppers and
        administrators to have access to individual online stores or seamlessly
        access multiple online stores managed by the same company. It also is a
        key feature in enabling multiple companies to run on a single instance
        of WebSphere Commerce. Patent #8,019,992 was issued to IBM inventors
        Victor Chan, Darshanand Khusial, Lev Mirlas and Wesley Philip.
    --  U.S. Patent #8,037,000: Systems and methods for automated interpretation
        of analytic procedures - This invention describes a method for
        dynamically constructing natural language explanations of analytic
        results using templates defined by domain experts. Patent #8,037,000 was
        issued to IBM inventors Robert Delmonico, Tamir Klinger, Bonnie Ray,
        Padmanabhan Santhanam and Clay Williams.
    --  U.S. Patent #8,005,773: System and method for cortical simulation - This
        patented invention describes a method for developing a computerized
        brain simulation system that can mimic the cognitive systems and
        function of the cortex of the brain. IBM has fabricated working
        prototypes of experimental computer chips designed to emulate the
        brain's abilities for perception, action and cognition. Patent
        #8,005,773 was issued to IBM inventors Dharmendra Modha and Rajagopal
        Ananthanarayanan.
    --  U.S. Patent #7,882,219: Deploying analytic functions - This patented
        invention empowers users to design and implement highly-sophisticated,
        streaming analytics on massive disparate data sources. The advanced
        algorithm described in patent #7,882,219 enables IBM Tivoli Network
        Performance Manager software to efficiently perform sophisticated
        analytics in near real-time. Patent #7,882,219 was issued to IBM
        inventors Alexander Pikovsky, David Pennell, Robert McKeown and Colin
        Putney.

For more information about IBM's patent and innovation leadership, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/ibm100/us/en/icons/patents/

CONTACT:

Chris Andrews

914-499-4045

candrews@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM