USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 72,926 granted patents across 449 technology areas, active 2015–2025. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

72,926

Total patents granted

449

CPC technology areas

15.7

Avg claims per patent

-30%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

International ranks #2 of 50,000 US assignees, with 72,926 patents across 449 technology areas.

#2
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 0.1%
by Innovation Score (75.7/100): 15.7
avg claims per patent: -30%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

International Business Machines Corporation has been granted 72,926 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing International Business Machines Corporation at rank #2 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 449 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 15.7 claims per patent with primary concentration in G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING). As a US Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. The composite Innovation Score of 75.7/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 30,024 grants, compared with 42,902 in the 2015–2019 window, a -30% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The US Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. International Business Machines Corporation's 15.7 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark International Business Machines Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Samsung

106,890
International Bus… ◀

72,926
Canon

34,378
LG

32,607
Taiwan Semiconduc…

31,041
Apple

30,560
Qualcomm Incorpor…

30,354
Intel

27,498
Microsoft Technol…

24,392

What this shows International sits among the ten largest US patent holders, a tier dominated by electronics and semiconductor multinationals.

Other top-10 patent holders

The other largest US assignees by granted patent volume.

Leaders in G06F (Electric Digital DATA Processing)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in International's primary technology class.

International's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

76 Top 1% higher than 99% of 50,000 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2025

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

International Business Machines Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	7,372	10.1%
2016	8,108	11.1%
2017	9,049	12.4%
2018	9,105	12.5%
2019	9,268	12.7%
2020	9,137	12.5%
2021	8,690	11.9%
2022	4,402	6.0%
2023	3,661	5.0%
2024	2,466	3.4%
2025	1,668	2.3%

Which technologies does International Business Machines Corporation patent most?

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 42,717

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 15,969

G06N - COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS 7,479

H01L - SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10 7,298

G06Q - INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 6,621

H10D - INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES 6,204

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 3,257

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 2,565

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 2,281

G11C - STATIC STORES 1,554

G10L - SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING 1,520

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 1,511

H05K - PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 1,469

H10N - ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 1,422

G11B - INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER 1,279

Top 15 of 449 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Deep

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

75.7 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does International Business Machines Corporation hold?

International Business Machines Corporation holds 72,926 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 449 technology areas.

What is International Business Machines Corporation's Innovation Score?

International Business Machines Corporation has an Innovation Score of 75.7 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does International Business Machines Corporation focus on?

International Business Machines Corporation's top technology area is G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING) with 42,717 patents. The company has filed patents in 449 CPC subclasses total.

Is International Business Machines Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

International Business Machines Corporation's recent filing velocity is -30% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for International Business Machines Corporation's patents?

International Business Machines Corporation's patents average 15.7 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the International Business Machines Corporation patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

How to use this portfolio

International's 72,926 grants land it in the top 0.1% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - International ranks #2 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in G06F - see who else leads that technology area. G06F leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.