USPTO to Cease Top 10 List
In a move to emphasize quality over quantity, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday said that it will no longer release its annual Top 10 list of the organizations or corporations who receive the most patents in a calendar year. The agency will release its last list in April, and will list the top organizations from 2006.
The annual "Patenting By Organizations" list profiles organizations who receive at least forty patents each year. IBM has topped the list for the past two years, with other firms Canon, HP, and Matsushita close behind.
posted by Patents+TMS, P.C. at 3:47 PM
1 Comments:
Considering the fact that many consumer and trade watchdog groups utilize the USPTO numerical rankings lists to determine who may be currently abusing the U.S. patent system to file numerous, potentially frivolous patents, this is not a particularly happy event for the consumer.
Does anyone know if the USPTO is just publically discontinuing the press announcement for the Top 10 list alone, or is the USPTO dicontinuing numerical rankings entirely?
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