pencil on a chair and try to get a patent for a pencil-holding chair. • Must be useful . The invention being submitted must serve some purpose or have some use that would be desired. The job of the patent office is to review patent applications to ensure that the item being submitted meets these requirements. This is not an easy job. In 2017 the US Patent Office granted 318,849 patents, an increase of 5.2% over 2016. 8 The current backlog for a patent approval is 15.6 months. Information Technology firms have applied for a significant number of patents each year. Here are the top five I.T. firms in terms of patent applications filed since 2009. The percent indicate the percent of total I.T. patents filed since 2009. Notice that over half of patent filings come from just these five corporations. • International Business Machines (IBM) 21.6% • Microsoft Corporation 14.2% • AT & T, Inc. 7.1% • Alphabet (Google), Inc. 5.0% • Sony Corporation 4.7%
You might have noticed that Apple is not in the top five listing. Microsoft holds the lead in Artificial Intelligence (AI) patents. 9
Sidebar: What Is a Patent Troll? The advent of digital technologies has led to a large increase in patent filings and therefore a large number of patents being granted. Once a patent is granted, it is up to the owner of the patent to enforce it. If someone is found to be using the invention Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) pg. 267
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