For 29 years, IBM had filed more utility patents annually than any other company.

That is, until Samsung took the crown in 2022 with 8,513 patents, compared to IBM’s 4,743 — a 44% annual decline for the company, and one made on purpose.

On purpose?

Yes, on purpose. Why? “One word,” writes director of IBM research Dario Gil, in a Fortune piece. “Focus.”

The areas of focus, he says, are hybrid cloud, data and AI, automation, security, semiconductors, and quantum computing.

• Gil told Bloomberg the change will “free engineers from the time-consuming patent process.”
• He also explained that IBM increasingly sees collaboration as a means toward innovation, which should be measured not just by patent count or R&D dollars, but by the life-changing applications that this strategy will help IBM pursue.

BTW: TikTok owner ByteDance — though filing far fewer patents, with 160 in 2020 — saw its patent output increase 84% YoY.