

IBM becomes the first company to be granted 5000 US patents in a single year - Garbage
http://java.sys-con.com/node/1677580

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corin_

      It took IBM 50 years to get its first 5,000 patents and that milestone was hit 40 years ago back in 1961.
    

<pedantic> That was 50 years ago, not 40. </pedantic>

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juiceandjuice
It's pretty tempting to rattle something off about the patent system with a
story like this, but given that IBM has so many research facilities and an R&D
budget rivaling the NSF's, I'd guess IBM has more legit patents (non-
frivolous) than other company.

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iwwr
Just imagine all the legal and administrative budget be put toward developing
new products (or even adding to IBM's bottom line).

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fierarul
"Toward developing new products"... which would be killed because someone else
patented something remotely related to them.

I don't imagine playing a game at that level and not use patents so I don't
blame IBM.

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yock
I especially love the comment regarding the USPTO as "efficient." As if there
is any metric measurable by an outside source that can distinguish between
"efficient" and "just grant the damn things."

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sharjeel
Is that a matter of pride or a matter of shame?

