Samsung registered the most number of patents in the US last year. According to a new market report, the Korean firm registered 8,513 utility patents in the US in 2022 to lead the annual chart. It overthrew International Business Machines Corporation, popularly known as IBM, from the top spot. IBM reportedly topped these charts for the past 29 years.
In its report, Virginia-based law firm Harrity & Harrity, which specializes in patent preparation and prosecution, said Samsung registered almost as many patents in 2022 as in the year before. IBM, on the other hand, had about 44 percent fewer patents against its name last year. The New York-based tech behemoth’s 2022 total of 4,743 patents dropped it to the second spot, well below Samsung. The latter’s compatriot LG sits third on the list with 4,580 patents registered in the US in 2022. That’s a five percent increase from the year before.
Toyota, Canon, Taiwan, Huawei, BOE, Raytheon, and Qualcomm made up the top ten, in that order. Sony, Intel, Dell, Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon are the next six names, with all of them registering more than 2,000 patents in the US last year. 25 other companies registered more than 1,000 patents stateside in 2022, including Microsoft, Hyundai, Honda, HP, Ford, Mitsubishi, TCL, and BBK Electronics, the parent company of Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus. You can check out the full list on Harrity & Harrity’s official website here (via).
Samsung tops the US patents chart after a strategy shift from IBM
As said earlier, IBM has been topping the US patent chart for the past 29 years. It reportedly made about $27 billion from intellectual property rights between 1996 and 2022. The firm successfully kept Samsung at bay despite the latter registering more than 8,000 patents every year since 2017. However, IBM has shifted its strategy lately. It is no longer focusing on new patents. The company has significantly reduced its patent registration in semiconductors, hardware memory, and other areas since 2020.
“We decided to no longer pursue numeric patent leadership, but remain an intellectual property powerhouse and continue to have one of the strongest portfolios in the world in our priority technologies,” said IBM research head Dario Gil. The tech behemoth reportedly plans to prioritize advancements in hybrid cloud computing, AI chips, cyber security, and quantum computing in the coming years. This strategic shift from IBM has allowed Samsung to climb up to the top spot. The Korean behemoth already has the most number of patents registered globally, with nearly 300,000 patents against its name.