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IBM sets record for number of employee patents in one year
Explore Northwest Austin on the Impact Mapstories, offers and moreIBM Corp. announced Jan. 10 that the company set a new record for the number of patents issued to its employees in a one-year period.
Approximately 1,060 patents were issued to Austin employees and 6,478 company-wide in 2012.
The record marks the 20th consecutive year that IBM has received the most patents out of any recipients in the United States.
Jeffrey Tieszen, a spokesman for IBM, said the company's employees have received nearly 67,000 patents during the past 20 years.
"[The patents] really reflect IBM's long-term strategic commitment to innovation," Tieszen said.
The patents were issued for inventions that will enable advancements in fields such as cybersecurity, social networking, retail, banking, health care, transportation and more.
Tieszen said the inventions are important mostly because they allow IBM to solve problems for its clients and society.
