IEEE Releases Patent Portfolio Scorecard

IEEE Spectrum has released its annual patent scorecard that ranks the "pipeline power" of U.S. technology patent portfolios. The survey scores a company's "pipeline power" by considering a variety of factors, including the number of patents issued to the company in a given year, the growth of its patent portfolio and the variety of the technologies a company patents (for more on the methodology, see here).

Interestingly, the survey found that U.S. technology companies led the way in terms of patent portfolio strength, with Microsoft getting top marks, followed by Intel and IBM. Other notable companies include Micron, Nantero, SanDisk, and HP. The survey covers a wide range of industries including biotech, aerospace, chemicals, computer systems, medical equipment and semiconductor manufacturing.

See the IEEE Spectrum Scorecard here (link)

Read the IEEE Spectrum article here (link)

IEEE Releases List of "Top Patent Companies"

It's been stated that one of the most valuable assets financial analysts and other potential stakeholders should consider are the number of patents held by a company. Taking this principle to heart, IEEE Spectrum has published a study, conducted by 1790 Analytics, that analyzes patent portfolios of 1,178 organizations and compares those portfolios on the basis of patent citations. Referencing patent citations serve as indicators of technological output and information flow. Ultimately, the goal of the study was to identify the organizations with the most influential— and potentially the most lucrative— patent portfolios.

The study identifies the top ranking companies for the following industry sectors:

--Aerospace and Defense
--Computer Peripherals and Storage
--Computer Systems and Software
--Electronics
--Medical Equipment/Instruments
--Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing
--Semiconductor Manufacturing
--Telecom Equipment
--Telecom Services

View/download the results here (link)

See the IEEE article online here (link)

For more information on the article, fell free to contact b.mcgurr@ieee.org.