Patent Law Practice Center

IBM tops with more than 9,000 patents in 2017

In 1992, George H.W. Bush was President of the United States, the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show, the Cartoon Network was established by Turner Broadcasting, and Prince Charles and Princess Dianna separated. 1992 was also the last year that a company not named IBM earned the greatest number of U.S. patents.

IBM inventors received a record number of U.S. patents in 2017, again blowing past their own previous record to sail past 9,000 issued patents. The 9,043 U.S. patents issued to IBM in 2017  represents an average of nearly 25 patents a day. These 9,043 U.S. patents were granted to a diverse group of more than 8,500 IBM researchers, engineers, scientists and designers in 47 different U.S. states and 47 countries.

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IBM is top patenting company for 23rd straight year

IBM has once again has topped the list of annual U.S. patent recipients, receiving 7,355 patents in 2015. This marks 23 straight years that IBM has received more U.S. patents than any other entity, a testament to IBM’s commitment to innovation.

IBM’s 2015 patent haul represents a diverse range of inventions as well as a strong and growing focus on cognitive solutions and the cloud platform as the company positions itself for leadership in a new era of computing. For example, IBM inventors generated more than 2,000 patents in areas related to cognitive computing and the company’s cloud platform.

During our two most recent in-depth looks at IBM’s U.S. patent portfolio (see here and here), we found dozens of patents issued in 2015 relating to patient health…hardly surprising given IBM’s move to deploy its remarkable super-computer known as Watson into the medical field.  Watson, which became famous for winning on Jeopardy!, is the first generation omnipotent computer sci-fi fans have dreamed of.

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IBM Brief: Abstract Idea Jurisprudence Is Unworkable

On March 31, 2014, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could determine the fate of software patents in the United States. Recently, IBM filed an amicus brief at the United States Supreme Court in the case of Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International. While many attorneys contributed to this brief, former Solicitor General of the United States Paul D. Clement is the Counsel of Record on behalf of IBM.

I think it is fair to say that the IBM brief can be summarized as follows: ‘The abstract idea doctrine is unworkable.’ Bravo! If the Supreme Court cannot define the term “abstract idea,” which they have never done,  how can it be at all appropriate for the Court to apply the doctrine as if it has meaning? At least with respect to software, there is also no uniform application of the patent laws, which at least conceptually should raise concerns of disparate treatment of those similarly situated.

Something needs to be done to once and for all acknowledge that software is patent eligible. Even having to say that and hope it is what ultimately happens is truly saddening in the year 2014. Software is all around us and empowers practically everything, and according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from August 2013, somewhere between 50% to 60% of all patent applications filed deal in some way with software. Software is the very backbone of innovation and the fact that we have to wonder whether it is patent eligible more than 46 years after the first software patent issued is really an indictment of the judicial system as it relates to patent law and jurisprudence.

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Cloud Technology Manages Network Bandwidth

IBM recently issued a press release touting U.S. Patent No. 8,352,953, titled Dynamically provisioning virtual machines, which was actually issued in January 2013. That suggests that the technology at play in this patent application is making its way into the stream of commerce. This gives us an opportunity to take a look at a real world useful innovation in the cloud computing space and wonder whether the claims issued would satisfy the half of the Federal Circuit that seems opposed to software patents.

The invention at issue was developed as a method for dynamically managing network bandwidth within a cloud computing environment. IBM says this innovation could lead to significant improvements in overall system performance, efficiency and economy.

In a typical cloud computing environment, each user is given access to a virtual machine (“VM”) that delivers a host operating system and physical resources such as processor and memory to support the user’s application requirements. To accommodate numerous users, multiple VMs are assigned within the cloud and as demands for system resources increase and multiply, applications can become constrained by limits on networking bandwidth. This IBM invention allows the system to automatically and dynamically reassign work from one system node to another based on networking bandwidth requirements and availability, ensuring that the system and VMs can run efficiently.

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Institute Live Blog: Global Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios

During the afternoon session, we will be breaking out into three groups: Prosecution, Litigation and Strategic & Transactional.  I’ve decided to sit in on the Strategic & Transactional discussion.  Marian Underwiser of  IBM Corporation will be discussing global strategies for managing and policing patent portfolios.

Invention Management –

1. Not just managing a collection of patents, need to consider all facets of Intellectual Property Lifecycle. 
2. It’s informed by corporate objectives –  What does the company need from its patent portfolio?  Why & how are inventions generated? What industries are most relevant? What is the market strategy? Who are the competitors?
3. A team sport – requires active participation from all parts of the company
4. A moving target – requires constant refinement and evolution

Leveraging IP for Business Value – IP rights are extremely powerful.  How do I make money on my IP in an area like open source?  Need to think strategically about your patents.  What services can I add on top of my platform. Building a service line on top of open source.  as you look at development of inventions, the flexibility of patent right allows you to use the patent right where you don’t think it’s even possible – can give you leverage as to where the development goes.  You need to be very connected to your business to figure out how to do that. (more…)