Austin ingenuity helps IBM lead U.S. in 2018 tech patents

For the 26th year in a row, IBM Corp. led the technology industry in the number of new U.S. patents with help from the company's Austin office.

IBM received a record 9,100 patents in 2018, ahead of Samsung Electronics, which received 5,850. IBM's 2018 patents pushed the company's all-time total to more than 110,000.

IBM employees in Texas contributed 1,103 patent grants to the company's total in 2018, with roughly 70 percent of those from the company's Austin location, according to an IBM spokesman.

IBM Austin received 790 patents. The Austin site received almost 20 percent more patents than Dell Products, nearly double NXP and more than six times Austin-based Cirrus Logic's patent output.

Overall, the number of patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2018 declined by 3.5 percent compared to the previous year, according to patent research firm IFI Claims.

IBM led the tech world in the number of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, security and quantum computing-related patent grants, the company said in a news release Friday.

The patents were granted to IBM inventors in 47 different states in the U.S. and 48 countries, according to the company.

"IBM is committed to leading the way on the technologies that change the way the world works – and solving problems many people have not even thought of yet," Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO, said in a written statement. "Our clients and their customers are the beneficiaries of these innovations, particularly our leadership in AI, cloud, blockchain and security for business."

IBM patents granted in 2018 include a "Project Debator," an AI system that can debate humans on complex topics, and an intelligent system to monitor lakes and other aquatic ecosystems. The company also patented an AI system to analyze conversation patterns to identify attempts by one party to deceive another.

IBM is one of the largest technology employers in the Austin metro area, with an estimated 6,000 workers here. The company was one of the pioneers of Austin’s tech sector, as it has had operations in Austin since 1967.