Posted on January 13, 2010 by Vincent LoTempio

IBM Tops US Patent List Again

In a January 12, 2010 press release IBM reported that it was awarded more U.S. patents than any other company in the world for a 17th straight year,  breaking its own record by receiving 4,914 patents in 2009. The number of patents awarded to IBM was nearly four times that received by Hewlett-Packard and was more than the combined total patent allowances of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Apple, Accenture and Google.

Data provided by IFI Patent Intelligence indicated that South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co came in second with 3,611 and Microsoft Corp., was awarded 2,906 patents to place third in the patent race. The figures clearly show IBM’s commitment to being the world's leader when it comes to filing new patent applications. The reason why is simple, they make a lot of money by protecting their innovation and exploiting their patent portfolio through licensing deals.

Steve Levine of Bloomberg.com reported that Christopher Andrews, a spokesman for the IBM said “We invest $6 billion annually in R&D and we continue to pursue patents for inventions that will advance IBM’s business strategies..."

2009 U.S. Patent Leaders*ibm

  1. IBM 4,914
  2. Samsung 3,611
  3. Microsoft 2,906
  4. Canon 2,206
  5. Panasonic 1,829
  6. Toshiba 1,696
  7. Sony 1,680
  8. Intel 1,537
  9. Seiko Epson 1,330
  10. HP 1,273

* Data provided by IFI Patent Intelligence

In addition to filing patents to stop others from using their technology, IBM published almost 4,000 defensive publications so that others are precluded from filing patent applications on certain technology and in turn stopping IBM from using that technology. As a result this technology is open and free for anyone to use because it is in the public domain. Tom Colson the CEO of IP.com  stated in a recent blog post,

"By definition, defensive publishing is the practice of placing innovation into the public domain. Although the tactic is not new, when used hand in hand with patents and trade secrets, it lets companies efficiently build and maintain competitive IP portfolios."

IBM reports, "IBM released these inventions through publication as part of its commitment to improving patent quality. Consequently, the inventions are freely available in a public database of prior art and can be cited by patent offices in limiting the scope of patent applications. The company's publication effort may also spur follow-on innovation, which enables dynamic business growth."  

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Posted on December 10, 2009 by Vincent LoTempio

Should an inventor produce a prototype?

What Inventors Need to Know...

An inventor does not need a prototype to file for patent protection. Many inventors incorrectly believe they need a working prototype in order to file an application for a patent. The law requires that a patent application include a description of the invention so that somebody skilled in the art can make and use it. However, prototypes can be useful to prove whether the invention will work properly.
Merry R. Constantino
I spoke with Merry R. Constantino, a former Product Design Manager at Fisher-Price and currently the president of a "new product development company" called Product Logic and she said that,

A common problem when making a prototype after a patent application has been filed, is that all of the bugs have not been worked out of the product and often the 'end product' that we produce is not the same thing that was described in the patent.

Inventors should know that no "new matter" can be added to a patent application after it is filed.

There are many manufacturing and marketing factors that an inventor should consider in the initial idea stage. Here are a few of the things that Product Logic brainstorms when making a prototype:

  • Human Factors/Ergonomics
  • How can it be made with the fewest possible number of parts?
  • What is best way to mass produce (labor sensitive)?
  • What is a cost-effective way to produce?
  • Can it be made in a way that others cannot easily copy?
  • What is the best material it should be made from?


Another thing that an inventor should know is that when working to prepare a prototype with a new product development company is that if the company makes changes which improve the product it is possible that the company becomes a co-inventor.

Merry stated that "our company assigns all rights over to the inventor for any product that we work on." It's important to understand that when an inventor retains the services of  a company to produce a prototype there is a risk of loss of intellectual property rights unless a written assignment of rights document is prepared and executed by the parties.

If an inventor plans to license or sell their "patent rights" to an invention,  it may be necessary to build a prototype to demonstrate  to a potential licensee how great it works. In order to mass produce a product it may be necessary to design a working prototype as a model of reference for the manufacturer to duplicate.

Although an inventor does not need a prototype to get a patent, working out all the potential manufacturing issues before filing appears to be a logical step in the invention process.

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