Reference: IFI CLAIMS Announces Top 50 U.S. Patent Assignees of 2012; Google at 21, Apple at 22

From IFI:

Top-Line Trends

• The USPTO issued 253,155 utility patents in 2012, the highest annual number on record and an increase of approximately 13 percent over 2011.
• All but nine companies in the Top 50 saw an increase in patent production over last year.? In fact, 32 of the gainers saw double-digit or better growth.
• A total of 17 U.S. based firms made the Top-50 list in 2012, the same number as in 2011 ? the number of Asian firms also held steady at 26.
• This year marks IBM?s twentieth consecutive appearance as the list leader ? receiving a record of 6,478 utility patents in 2012, up nearly 5 percent from 2011.
• GE and LG are both back in the Top 10. General Electric, #9, makes its first appearance since 2002; LG, #10, makes its first since 2010.

More Trends, Biggest Movers, Drops, etc. in this document.

Top 6

1. IBM (6478 patent grants)
2. Samsung (5081)
3. Canon (3174)
4. Sony (3031)
5. Panasonic (2769)
6. Microsoft (2613)

Others

21. Google (1151)
Biggest Gainer, Up 170%; Was 65 on 2011 list.

22. Apple (1136)

Direct to Complete 2012 Top 50 List

See Also: Complete 2011 Top 50 List

Source: http://www.infodocket.com/2013/01/10/reference-ifi-claims-announces-top-50-u-s-patent-assignees-of-2012-google-at-21/

penguins the band colton dixon houston weather dwyane wade the night they drove old dixie down levon