Pushes in AI, cognitive computing, cloud and cyber security saw IBM notch up 8,088 US patents, which works out to 22 patents per day in 2016. Setting a US patent record, IBM researchers, engineers, and designers generated more than 1,100 inventions in the cognitive computing space alone, with patents granted for inventions that help machines learn, reason, and efficiently process diverse data types while interacting with people in natural and familiar ways.

Patent #9,384,661 saw IBM inventors develop a method of planning a trip route based on the state of travellers that affects driving risk the most: their state-of-mind. Had a long day or easily overwhelmed? This system aims to help you navigate a less stressful route home.

Another patent, #9,311,703, saw IBM researchers tackle cardiac disease categorisation. Researchers developed a method for categorising human heart disease states by using cardiac images to characterize the shape and motion of the heart. This could be used to aid doctors with the diagnosis of heart disease symptoms.

IBM inventors also patented more than 1,600 inventions that can help advance the field of cloud computing, with patent #9,329,908 used to pro-actively identify hotspots in a cloud computing environment, including the server, storage and network where a resource constraint is likely to occur causing performance problems. The cloud learns parameters associated with a workload and provides an autonomic solution based on cloud resource usage for deployment or migration of applications.

IBM US patent record“Leading the world in innovation for 24 years in a row is a result of IBM’s unmatched commitment to innovation and R&D–reflected in this year’s new U.S. patent record, breaking the 8,000 barrier for the first time,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM’s chairman, president and CEO.

“We are deeply proud of our inventors’ unique contributions to discovery, science and technology that are driving progress across business and society and opening the new era of cognitive business.”

IBM took US patent record quite comfortably, counting a couple few thousand patents more than second-place Samsung’s 5,518 patents in 2016. Google just made the top five with 2,835 patents in 2016, with fellow tech giant Microsoft coming in at eighth with 2,398 patents.

 

The Top Ten list of 2016 U.S. patent recipients* includes:
  1.        IBM – 8,088
  2.        Samsung Electronics – 5,518
  3.        Canon – 3,665
  4.        Qualcomm – 2,897
  5.        Google – 2,835
  6.        Intel – 2,784
  7.        LG Electronics – 2,428
  8.        Microsoft – 2,398
  9.        Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. – 2,288
  10.        Sony – 2,181
*Data provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services