U.S. issues record number of patents last year
Last Updated: Friday, January 12, 2007 | 11:40 AM ET
CBC News
Related
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
Electronics companies helped spur a record year for American patents, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued an average of 476 a day in 2006.
Last year, 173,772 corporate patents were issued, an all-time record and a 20.8 per cent increase compared to 2005, according to IFI Claims Patent Services, which annually compiles the patent data.
IBM held onto its U.S. patent crown for the 14th year in a row, receiving a record 3,621 patents.
Electronics companies dominated the list of companies awarded patents, with IBM, Samsung, Canon, Matsushita and Hewlett-Packard all receiving more than 2,000 patents each. Prior to 2006, no company other than IBM had ever received 2,000 patents in a single year.
Electronics patents traditionally have a short lifespan, so companies are continually filing for and receiving new ones to keep pace with innovations.
A separate analysis of the data conducted by the Public Patent Foundation earlier this week found software patents made up a growing sector of intellectual property claims.
The patent office awarded 40,964 software patents, an increase of 36 per cent from the previous year.
The Public Patent Foundation is an organization that tries to invalidate patents and lobby for patent reform. It says software patents often cover trivial technologies and stunt innovation.
The patent office said it received 440,000 applications, examined 332,000 of them in 2006 and allowed only 54 per cent of those examined, a record low clearance rate.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- New, tougher reforms to refugee legislation that hasn't yet come into force are already drawing fire from critics who say they give Canada's immigration minister too much power and risk the lives of claimants. more »
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- CBC News has learned that no government agency has taken legal action to try to stop a Montreal-based telemarketing company accused of defrauding thousands of small businesses. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
- A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- 'Tell Vic Everything' tweets protest online surveillance
- Twitter users upset about a new bill that would force internet service providers to turn over information to police are swamping Public Safety Minister Vic Toews with tweets to keep him up to date on everything in their lives. more »
- Moore defends Canada's 'different path' on copyright bill
- Heritage Minister James Moore says Canada's copyright legislation is taking a very different path from a controversial U.S. piracy bill that drew widespread protests. more »
- Canada helps target pollution in developing world
- Soot and methane pollution in the developing world are being targeted by a new coalition of six countries, including Canada. more »
- Online surveillance bill could change, Harper signals
- The government says it's open to amending its bill that would give police and intelligence agencies new powers to access Canadians' electronic communications and get telecommunications subscriber data. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Glacier Discovery Walk: Will the visitor centre enhance the view? Feb. 14, 2012 9:22 AM Environment minister Peter Kent has announced the construction of a new Glacier Discovery Walk and visitor centre on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It raises the issue of how to balance commercial development in our National Parks against the preservation of the last refuges of wilderness.
Quirks & Quarks
- February 18: Guitar Hero, or Guitar Zero? Feb. 15, 2012 10:53 AM An NYU professor of psychology describes how he was able to learn to play the guitar in midlife in spite of a limited musical aptitude, and what it tells us about how our brains learn.
Latest Features
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- Nortel collapse linked to Chinese hackers
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
- 2 small earthquakes rattle Vancouver Island
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
