IBM retains global patent leadership; wins 3,059 this year

While Apple is most often commended for its innovations, it has neither applied for or been granted the most patents.

IBM, which has been bagging the most patents for years, received 3,059 patents at the end of May.

Samsung followed with 3,052 patents granted, which commentators say would go a long way in countering the myth that it merely copied Apple.

Canon was third with 1,782.

Apple was at No 11, having been granted 780 patents this year, while search giant Google was at No5, followed by Sony and Microsoft.

Sqoop, which indexes new patent applications and grants as they are published by the United States Patent Office (USPTO), haa compiled a list of the companies that had applied for the most patents, and received the most grants, from the USPTO so far this year.

The following lists the top 40 companies by number of patents granted in 2015:

1. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) - 3059
2. Samsung - 3052
3. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - 1782
4. LG - 1263
5. Google - 1083
6. Sony Corporation - 1074
7. Microsoft - 1037
8. Qualcomm Incorporated - 1034
9. Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba - 1022
10. Panasonic - 896
11. Apple - 780
12. General Electric Company - 730
13. Intel Corporation - 711
14. Ricoh Company - 695
15. Seiko Epson Corporation - 625
16. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company - 620
17. Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - 613
18. Fujitsu Limited - 570
19. GM Global Technology Operations - 542
20. Hewlett-Packard Development Company - 531
21. Telefonaktiebolaget L.M. Ericsson - 509
22. Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha - 486
23. BlackBerry - 461
24. Broadcom Corporation - 454
25. Semiconductor Energy Laboratory - 451
26. Robert Bosch GmbH - 436
27. Honda Motor Co. - 417
28. Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha - 410
29. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. - 408
30. Amazon Technologies - 391
31. The Boeing Company - 391
32. Siemens Aktiengesellschaft - 388
33. Micron Technology, Inc. 371
34. Covidien LP - 370
35. Ford Global Technologies - 359
36. Cisco Technology - 353
37. AT&T Intellectual Property - 351
38. Nec Corporation - 336
39. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute - 327
40. SK Hynix Inc - 323

When it came to patent applications filed, Samsung was the undisputed leader with 2,487 submissions from January through May of this year. This was 723 more than runner-up IBM while LG came in fourth with 856 applications.

Snapdragon producer Qualcomm stood sixth with 617 patent applications sent in and with 279 filings made in the first five months of the year, Apple came in at the 23rd spot on the list.