IBM will disclose its patent applications online

IBM believes that by being clear and direct regarding the technology it registers as a patent, there is a chance to reduce the risk of disputes surrounding patents and to reduce the chance that its innovation will infringe the patents of others? Last year, IBM registered 2,941 patents and led with a huge advantage over Canon, which ranked second with 1,828 patents, HP with 1,797, Mechoshita with 1,688 and Intel with 1,549 patents

In a surprising move, the computing giant IBM recently announced (Wednesday) that it has decided to publish its applications for patent registration online, in order to share their details with the public and to encourage innovation among communities and organizations, according to her. IBM adopts the surprising policy following a two-month research project that recently ended in which experts from the fields of law, academia, government and technology participated. "The change in policy is intended to encourage fairness, a healthier environment for innovation and mutual respect in the field of intellectual property rights," it was stated in a statement published by IBM, in which it also encourages others in the "community of patent creators" to follow suit.

IBM believes that by being clear and direct regarding the technology it registers as a patent, there is a chance to reduce the risk of disputes surrounding patents and to reduce the chance that its innovation will infringe the patents of others. Ari Fishkind, IBM spokesman at the corporate headquarters in Armonk, New York, explained that the US Patent and Trademark Office publishes patent applications only 18 months after they have been submitted and provides a window of only two months to receive public comments on the application. As part of IBM's new policy, the company will publish on the Internet for six months the patent applications it submitted, for the purpose of receiving public comments and will encourage a more active dialogue regarding patents. Fishkind added that this will also give other inventors an opportunity to inform BMW if they already have a patent on the subject. "This is a way to involve the public in our activities as in the open source community", concluded Fishkind.

IBM's new patent policy was developed by a team of about 50 experts who worked from May to July this year in an online collaborative process carried out on a special wiki site, where several people can write and edit a document online.

During 2005, IBM registered 2,941 patents and led with a huge advantage over Canon, which ranked second with 1,828 patents, HP with 1,797, Mechshita with 1,688 and Intel with 1,549 patents.