In 2010, IBM's research and open laboratories in Israel received 45 new patents, which made it the leading body in Israel in registering patents in the US
IBM is ranked again, for the 18th year in a row, in first place on the list of US patent recipients and is the first company to register more than 5,000 patents in one year! After receiving 5,896 new patents last year.
During 2010, IBM's research and development laboratories in Israel submitted about 100 new applications for registration of patents in the USA. 45 patents originating from laboratories were approved this year and Israeli researchers from research and development laboratories in Israel were partners in another 63 IBM patents originating from other laboratories.
Moreover, IBM laboratories in Israel were ranked first in the registration of American patents by entities operating in Israel. IBM's laboratories in Israel are ahead of SanDisk Israel and Teva, and the number of patents they registered is greater than the combined number of researchers at the Technion and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Susan Erez, the legal advisor for the field of intellectual property at IBM Israel, stated that "the patents of researchers in laboratories in Israel made a significant contribution to the technological leadership of the IBM company. The innovation of researchers in Israel has a significant impact on various IBM technologies such as, for example, on the future models of xBox, on software tools in the fields of the social network, on tools for managing financial movements, and on processors that are expected to be the fastest in the world." "The Israelis' ability to think outside the box also helps to define new areas and strengthen the company's innovation," Erez added.
The number of patents that IBM received in 2010 is almost 4 times greater compared to the number of HP patents. The combination of the number of patents of Microsoft, HP, Oracle, EMC and Google - is still less than the total number of patents granted to BMW.
In second place, at a distance of more than 1,300 patents after IBM, is Samsung, which last year registered 4,551 patents in the US. Microsoft received 3,094 new patents, Canon 2,552, Panasonic 2,482, Toshiba 2,246, Sony 2,150, Intel 1,653, LG registered 1,490, and HP seals the top ten patent recipients with 1,480 patents.
In order to maintain its leading position in the fields of technological innovation, IBM annually invests about 6 billion dollars in research and development.
The list of IBM patents covers a wide range of fields and technologies. The same applies to a method for collecting, analyzing and processing patient data from a large number of information sources, in order to provide a more accurate medical diagnosis; The same goes for a system for predicting traffic loads based on data transmitted via wireless communication; Or a system that collects data from the sensors integrated into hard disk drives in computers - in order to perform an analysis of seismic activity, locate earthquakes and alert the emergency forces. Another IBM technology replaces the electrical communication between computer chips and within these chips - with light signal communication, in order to offer significantly faster performance.
Behind IBM's new patents are more than 7,000 company researchers and developers working in 29 countries around the world. Researchers and inventors working outside the USA - including Israel - are responsible for 22% of the patents that IBM received in 2010. In the last three years, there has been a 27% increase in the contribution of research carried out outside the USA to the company's patent list.
IBM's research and development system in Israel includes three laboratories: a research laboratory in Haifa, a software laboratory operating at the company's sites in Jerusalem, Rehovot, Herzliya and Haifa, and a systems and technology laboratory in Tel Aviv and Haifa. XIV's development center in the field of storage systems is also located in Israel.
The list of patents that IBM received over the years of its existence reflects the changes and development in its business focus. The first patent registered by IBM, in 1911, dealt with tables on punched cards. In 2010, on the other hand, IBM's patents cover areas such as analytical computing, multi-core systems, software technologies, smart infrastructures for electricity and water systems, systems for managing vehicle traffic and health systems.
In the photo: Susan Erez, the legal advisor for the field of intellectual property at IBM Israel
