IBM announced that its inventors received a record 5,896 U.S. patents in 2010, marking the 18th consecutive year it has topped the list of the worlds most inventive companies. IBM became the first company to be granted as many as 5,000 U.S. patents in a single year.Here is table compiled from readily available resources:
2010: 5896 2009: 4914 2008: 4186 2007: 3148 2006: 3621 2005: 2941 2004: 3248 2003: 3415 2002: 3288 2001: 3411 2000: 2886 1999: 2756 1998: 2658 1997: 1724 1996: 1867 1995: 1383 1994: 1298 1993: 1085(2) #1 US Goverment:1165 1992: 842(6) #1 Canon:1106 1991: 679(8) #1 Toshiba:1014 1990: (9)
Very interesting
2012: 6478 see more.
2011: 6180