IBM Leads In Patents--AgainIBM Leads In Patents--Again

IBM was awarded more U.S. patents than any other company in 2003, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Monday, making it the top private-sector patent earner for the 11th year in a row,

IBM had 1,423 more patents than the second-highest patent-earning company, Japan's Canon Inc., according to the agency's 2003 figures. The 3,415 U.S. patents were 125 more than the previous year and the most ever granted to a company in a single year. IBM exceeded 3,000 patents for the third consecutive year.

Two more Japanese companies, Hitachi Ltd. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., were next on the list, followed by Hewlett-Packard.

Nick Donofrio, IBM senior VP of technology and manufacturing, said notable patents from 2003 include a self-healing computer system that can detect and correct faults, as well as a statistical analysis of Internet surfing patterns that can predict which Web pages a user will want to see.

About 1,200 of IBM's patents were in the semiconductor field, including an improved silicon-on-insulator isolation barrier and a method for patterning self-assembled nanotechnology objects.