IBM announced that its inventors received 9,262 U.S. patents during 2019, breaking the record for most patents ever awarded to a U.S. company during a single year. Last year was also the 27th consecutive year that IBM was the top company for receiving U.S. patents.
The Armonk-headquartered company was awarded more than 1,800 patents related to artificial intelligence technology and more than 2,500 patents in cloud computing technology.
The company also received patents for its quantum computing innovations and for its cybersecurity breakthroughs, including a patent in homomorphic encryption that enables users to operate on encrypted data without having to decrypt it first.
IBM credited the patents to contributions from more than 8,500 inventors working in 45 states and 54 countries.
“The pace of innovation continues to accelerate and reach unprecedented levels, especially in IBM’s Labs. Technology advances ”“ whether AI, cloud or quantum computing ”“ will all contribute to solving the biggest challenges facing business and society,” said John E. Kelly III, executive vice president at IBM. “Businesses around the world, and across virtually all industries, rely on IBM technology for mission critical applications and sustained innovation. We are very proud of the talented individuals across IBM who change the world through their inventions.”
