For the first time, Samsung enters the top three at No.2 position, followed by Canon at No.3, Matsushita at No.4, and HP at No.5, with all top 5 exceeding the 2,000 patents mark in 2006 . In the past 5 years, no organization other than IBM has ever broken the 2,000 barrier.  IBM's worldwide patent portfolio exceeds 40,000 active patents.

• Japan-based organizations lead the U.S. patent-assignee list with 9 of the top 20 slots, while only 7 U.S.-based organizations made to the top 20 list.
• Electronics patents dominates the top 25 list
• Pharmaceutical-related patents granted in 2006 increased approximately 22% over 2005. 
• Biotech patents grew roughly 29% over the previous year. 

Here a a list of 2006’s Annual Rankings Of Top 35 U.S. Patent Assignees, as compiled by IFI:   

IFI compiles its listing from original USPTO data using the powerful indexing and standardization algorithms of CLAIMS®, the most reliable, text-searchable database of U.S. patents in the world. Complete information on more than 1,700 companies worldwide that received 10 or more U.S. patents in 2006 will be published in IFI’s Patent Intelligence and Technology Report, available in May.  IFI also produces monthly electronic updates of the report that monitor current patenting activity throughout the year. 

Source: IFI Patent Intelligence