IBM Corp, the world's biggest computer company, topped the list of companies receiving US patents for the 12th year in a row.
IBM received 3,248 patents last year, 167 less than in 2003, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
As in past years, the 10 recipients of the most patents are technology-related companies, including five based in Japan, four in the US and one in South Korea.
Companies with the most patents can use the ranking to promote themselves as being at the forefront of technological innovation, said Brad Wright, an attorney who helps firms obtain patents.
Licensing Revenue
More patents also can translate to higher revenue from licensing technology to competitors.
"They have a sort of fear factor with companies like IBM or other companies that have thousands of patents," Wright said. "The target licensees frequently are persuaded by the sheer raw number of patents."
Dutch electronics company Royal Philips Electronics NV dropped off the top-10 list from last year and Japan's Toshiba Corp joined it.
Technology patents can take as long as three years to process, compared with an average of two years for all other categories. IBM, which is selling its personal-computer business, has relied on advances in nanotechnology and computer services to stay on top of the list. The company has one of the world's largest patent portfolios and spent US$5.1 billion in research in 2003, the most recent year for which figures are available.
IBM spokesman Chris Andrews didn't return calls seeking comment.
HP Improves
Hewlett-Packard Co, which rose to fourth place from fifth place in its third year on the list, has made patents a top priority. The company rewards employees for proffering ideas, and it set up a licensing program to increase revenue.
"We're improving our position from a standpoint of income from outlicensing activities," said Steve Fox, vice president and deputy general counsel for intellectual property for Hewlett-Packard. Being on the list is "an objective because what it shows relative to the other technology companies is that we're doing the right thing."
The US government received 829 patents, just more than half the number received by Sony Corp, which ranked No. 10.
Semiconductor companies Intel Corp and Micron Technology Inc made the list because "they protect even small advances in their technology," said David Klein, a patent lawyer who handles licensing issues.
Other companies with the most patents tend to focus on a wider range of products, he said.
Fewer, more valuable patents sometimes deliver higher sales than a large tally. Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drug maker, has only five patents covering the cholesterol drug Lipitor.
The drug's US$10 billion in annual sales dwarfs Micron's US$4.4 billion.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS