IBM Israel was the largest recipient of U.S. patents among Israeli companies in 2009, filing 50 different patents. Within IBM, the Israel unit filed the sixth largest amount of patents, beating out units in Japan, China, France, and other research labs. The Israeli unit filed a total of 135 patent requests last year, many of which are still waiting approval.
Altogether, IBM received 4,914 U.S. patents last year, making it the largest patent recipient – for the 17h straight year.