Cloud Computing: IBM Sets U.S. Patent Record; Achieves 21st Straight Year of Patent Leadership

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

IBM today announced that its inventors received a record-setting 6,809 patents in 2013 — the 21(st) consecutive year the company topped the annual list of U.S. patent leaders. IBM’s 2013 patent results represent a diverse range of inventions poised to enable significant innovations that will position the company to compete and lead in strategic areas–such as IBM’s Watson, cloud computing, Big Data and analytics.

These inventions will also advance the new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and interact with people in more natural ways. "We take pride in being recognized as the U.S. patent leader, but patents are only one gauge of innovation. Equally significant is the impact that our patented inventions have when they are used to enable solutions that help clients and societies solve problems," said Bernie Meyerson, IBM Fellow and VP of Innovation…

"Furthermore, the broad range of inventions that these patents represent underscores the need for a patent system that equally and fairly promotes and supports innovation across all technical fields."

IBM’s 2013 patent total exceeded the combined totals of Amazon, Google, EMC, HP, Intel, Oracle/SUN and Symantec.

The company’s record 2013 patent count was made possible by more than 8,000 IBM inventors residing in 47 different U.S. states and 41 countries.

The Top Ten list of 2013 U.S. patent recipients* includes:

1. IBM 6,809

2. Samsung 4,676

3. Canon 3,825

4. Sony 3,098

5. Microsoft 2,660

6. Panasonic 2,601

7. Toshiba 2,416

8. Hon Hai 2,279

9. Qualcomm 2,103

10. LG Electronics 1,947
*Data provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

In 2013, IBM patented inventions that will transform how companies use technology across a Smarter Planet and to embrace the cognitive computing era, such as:

— U.S. Patent #8,510,296 Lexical answer type confidence estimation and
application — This patented invention enables IBM Watson to more
accurately assess questions posed in natural language and determine
confidence in the accuracy of potential answers. To accelerate the impact
of patented Watson inventions, IBM has formed the Watson Group, a new
business unit that will tap the company’s software, services, research,
industry experts and sellers to advance development and delivery of a new
class of Watson-enabled cognitive computing apps and technologies to the
marketplace.

— U.S. Patent #8,515,885: Neuromorphic and synaptronic spiking neural
network with synaptic weights learned using simulation — This patented
invention describes breakthrough brain-inspired computers that lay the
foundation for a new generation of cognitive systems via hardware and
software co-design. As part of a DARPA-funded Systems of Neuromorphic
Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project, IBM is
developing a chip architecture that aspires to emulate the human brain’s
cognitive capabilities while rivaling its energy and volume efficiency.

— U.S. Patent #8,422,686: Automated validation and execution of
cryptographic key and certificate deployment and distribution — This
patented invention automates the lifecycle of cryptographic keys used to
encrypt and secure data — from creation and deployment to deletion and
can also enhance security for cloud computing applications.

— U.S. Patent #8,352,953: Dynamically Provisioning Virtual Machines — This
invention solves the "noisy neighbor" problem that reduces online system
availability and constrains cloud computing network bandwidth when
websites, such as online retailers or auction sites encounter unexpected
dramatic spikes in demand.

— U.S. Patent #8,387,065: Speculative popcount data creation – This patent
describes an approach for Big Data and analytics computing where a small
region or population of analyzed data — known as a popcount — is
counted, sorted, and speculatively analyzed in real time for trends or
outliers. The idea is based on a counter intuitive premise: that Big Data
analysis is small. The method improves data analysis performance, reduces
processor resources needed to analyze the data and is based upon modern
graph theories. Built into IBM’s POWER processors — the chip within
IBM’s Watson and IBM’s Power Systems servers — speculative popcount is
advancing cryptanalysis, real-time error correction for streaming data
and the cognitive computing era.

— U.S. Patent #8,423,339: Visual analysis of a protein folding process —
This patented invention describes a method for discovering and viewing
common patterns in protein folding simulation, which aids in
understanding the protein folding process and can lead to significant
advances in computer based drug discovery, among other applications.

— U.S. Patent #8,572,274: Estimating load shed data in streaming database
application — This patented invention describes a technique that
addresses the challenge of analyzing real-time streaming Big Data traffic
jams by shedding or reducing the data pool without compromising accuracy
of the insights.

— U.S. Patent #8,402,041: Analytics of historical conversations in relation
to present communication — This patented invention uses Big Data
analytics to establish relationships between past and present electronic
conversations (social or business) that have similar attributes and
provide relevant results in real-time.