IBM whips up patent lather

Michael Kenward

"With 3,621, IBM surpassed its own record and earned more U.S. patents than any other company for the fourteenth consecutive year, exceeding the next closest patentee by 1,170." But that does not mean that the IT giant is happy with the patent system. It used the opportunity of the annual numbers fest from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to announce its own initiative to "share and debate ideas on how smaller enterprises view patent systems and can contribute to reform efforts such as improved patent quality".

There's the key to the debate here, quality. (For evidence of further problems with the patents system in the USA, check out "Bluetooth and the vampire?" on the Science|Business...

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