Patents awarded to Apple surge 68% in 2012
Apple was granted a total of 1,135 patents in 2012, ranking it 21st among companies worldwide, up from 39th a year prior.
The inventions granted to Apple in the U.S. were ahead of noteworthy companies such as Texas Instruments, AT&T, Research in Motion and Sharp, according to data published Thursday by IFI Claims. The number of patents granted to Apple also represented a 68 percent increase from 2011, according to The New York Times.
Apple finished just behind rival Google, which won 1,151 patents in 2012 and took 21st place. And Samsung was in second place among all companies with 5,081 patents, more than four times Apple's haul.
Cracking the top ten was Apple manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., otherwise known as Foxconn, which was awarded 2,013 patents last year, good for 8th place. Also among the top were Microsoft (2,613 patents, 6th) and Sony (3,032 patents, 4th).
Retaining the top spot once again was IBM, which was awarded 6,478 patents in 2012. Big Blue has now held the No. 1 position in intellectual property for 20 years.
Other noteworthy companies ahead of Apple were Broadcom (1,157 patents, 20th), Intel (1,290 inventions, 18th), Helwett-Packard (1,394 patents, 15th). The rankings were compiled using data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In 2011, Apple was awarded 676 patents by the USPTO. That ranked it 39th among companies awarded inventions in the U.S.
The inventions granted to Apple in the U.S. were ahead of noteworthy companies such as Texas Instruments, AT&T, Research in Motion and Sharp, according to data published Thursday by IFI Claims. The number of patents granted to Apple also represented a 68 percent increase from 2011, according to The New York Times.
Apple finished just behind rival Google, which won 1,151 patents in 2012 and took 21st place. And Samsung was in second place among all companies with 5,081 patents, more than four times Apple's haul.
Cracking the top ten was Apple manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., otherwise known as Foxconn, which was awarded 2,013 patents last year, good for 8th place. Also among the top were Microsoft (2,613 patents, 6th) and Sony (3,032 patents, 4th).
Retaining the top spot once again was IBM, which was awarded 6,478 patents in 2012. Big Blue has now held the No. 1 position in intellectual property for 20 years.
Other noteworthy companies ahead of Apple were Broadcom (1,157 patents, 20th), Intel (1,290 inventions, 18th), Helwett-Packard (1,394 patents, 15th). The rankings were compiled using data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In 2011, Apple was awarded 676 patents by the USPTO. That ranked it 39th among companies awarded inventions in the U.S.
Comments
Innovate, don't litigate. But then again, all patents that Apple receives are invalid, sight unseen. So there you go.
I don't like some of the wording here. "Number of patents" isn't a race. It's also not fishing trawlers in the Bering Sea. I'd rather see 100 patents that change the course of human history than 5,000 patents, 90% of which are used for litigation.
And some people say Apple patents shouldn't be awarded.
Imagine what sort of things samsung tries to patent (5000 patents), but nobody gives a damn.
Only Apple matters.
And, sadly, judges will invalidate all 1,135 patents at some point in the future.
I'm trying to figure out their patent totals.
Latestpatents.com [via USPTO] shows 1293 patents granted for 2012 [if you add them up on your own].
I saw a recent article addressing this titled "Google beats Apple in Patents". Apparently they won the numbers game. Doooooomed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Innovate, don't litigate. But then again, all patents that Apple receives are invalid, sight unseen. So there you go.
I don't like some of the wording here. "Number of patents" isn't a race. It's also not fishing trawlers in the Bering Sea. I'd rather see 100 patents that change the course of human history than 5,000 patents, 90% of which are used for litigation.
In terms of validity, the people at Apple know what they're doing. If it's broadly worded, they knew that when they applied for it. Your words simply indicate you'd like to see some amount of reform in this area. Even with reform, if they're asserted in litigation and product ban requests, they are likely to be closely scrutinized. The other thing you need to remember is that patenting something incredible doesn't mean you must use it. If it conflicts with a current business plan, a company can retain the IP just to sit on it and deny its use to others. It falls completely within within their rights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Apple was granted a total of 1,135 patents in 2012, ranking it 21st among companies worldwide, up from 39th a year prior.
I wondered what kind of patents, so I checked. Those were all utility patents.
Apple also was granted 147 design patents, many of them about what the iOS screens looked like.
Google got 19 design patents, almost all of which were for wearable devices.
I think Apple should sue Google and Samsung for copying patenting everything. That will show Samsung not to patent any ideas because only Apple does that....Well other people's ideas anyway because Apple has no one that works for them that thinks. In fact Apple is comprised of a bunch of overhead employees and lawyers and nothing gets done but bossing around and litigation.
Is it possible Samsung patented everyone of Apples patents 5 separate times?
When you run with the big dogs, patents are the difference between leading the pack and having the pack turn on you and being eaten alive.
There wasn't one for stopping dust clinging to a computer screen was there? Gets a bit annoying after a while, and it would help give the product an otherworldly nature if dust never stuck to it.