LIST OF TOP PATENTING ORGANIZATIONS *
                      Calendar Year 1999


This report presents a preliminary list of the organizations receiving
the most patents for invention (i.e., utility patents) during the 1999
CALENDAR year.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) ranks first, receiving
2,756 utility patents, up four percent from its total for 1998. This is
the seventh consecutive year that IBM has received more utility patents
than any other non-Federal patenting organization.
 
NEC Corporation ranks second, receiving 1,842 patents, up thirteen
percent from the previous year, and Canon Kabushiki Kaisha ranks third 
with 1,795 patents for the year. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Samsung)
continues to receive a rapidly increasing number of patents and is now 
ranked fourth with 1,545 patents, eighteen percent above its count for
1998. Last year, Samsung ranked sixth (1,304 patents in 1998); two years
ago, it ranked seventeenth (582 patents in 1997).
 
The U.S. organization, Motorola, Inc., drops from fourth to eighth
position while Lucent Technologies Inc. joins the list for the first time
with 1,153 patents, up twenty-four percent from its count for the 
previous year. Among Japanese organizations, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki
Kaisha, rejoins the list after a one year absence while Hitachi, Ltd drops
from the list. The U.S. Government received 870 utility patents for the 
year (please see "#" note below (5/18/2000)). 
 
As was the case last year, the top ten patenting organizations consist of
three U.S. corporations, six Japanese corporations, and one corporation
from the Republic of Korea. A complete listing of the top ten patenting
organizations receiving utility patents in 1999 is shown below. Patent 
receipts by the U.S. Government are also displayed.




1999    1999                                         ( Rank  )  (# Patents)
Rank  # Patents  Organization                        (in 1998)  ( in 1998 )
----  ---------  --------------------------          ---------  ----------
  1     2,756    International Business Machines Corp  (1)       (2,657)
  2     1,842    NEC Corporation                       (3)       (1,627)
  3     1,795    Canon Kabushiki Kaisha                (2)       (1,928)
  4     1,545    Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.         (6)       (1,304)
  5     1,409    Sony Corporation                      (5)       (1,316)
  6     1,200    Toshiba Corporation                   (8)       (1,170)
  7     1,193    Fujitsu Limited                       (7)       (1,189)
  8     1,192    Motorola Inc.                         (4)       (1,406)
  9     1,153    Lucent Technologies Inc.             (13)         (928)
 10     1,054    Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha    (11)       (1,080)

          870 #  U.S. GOVERNMENT                                 (1,018)

        +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
   #    +  Please note that the 1999 count of U.S. GOVERNMENT patents has +
        +  been revised upward to 983. See the report, "Patenting         +
        +  By Organizations, 1999" for other updated counts.    (5/18/00) +
        +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

* The  listed patent counts are preliminary counts which are subject to
correction. The final listing of 1999 patent counts for the top patenting
organizations should be available by early April.

Please Note:
Patent information presented reflects patent ownership at patent grant and
does not include ownership changes that occur after the patent grant.
Where more than one assignee (owner) exists, patents are attributed to the
first-named assignee.

No attempt has been made to combine data based on subsidiary relationships.
However, where possible, spelling variations and variations based on name
changes have been merged into a single name (e.g., ESSO to EXXON).  While
every effort is made to accurately identify all organizational entities and
to report data by a single organization name, achievement of a totally
clean record is not expected, particularly in view of the many variations
which occur in corporate identifications.

------------------
Questions regarding this report should be directed to:
(address as of 5/2000)
             U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
             Information Products Division
             Technology Assessment and Forecast Branch
             PK3-Suite 441
             Washington, DC  20231

             tel (703) 306-2600
             FAX (703) 306-2737

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE:   U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
          Technology Assessment and Forecast database  (1-6-2000)