Samsung booted off top spot on mobile patents list, IBM leads
Samsung no longer tops the list of mobile patents. Rather, in 2014, IBM was granted the most mobile patents, according to a report by Chetan Sharma Consulting.
The top 10 list included companies such as Sony, Google, Microsoft, Blackberry and Ericsson. Surprisingly, magnate iPhone producer, Apple, was eighth on the list.
In the US, one out of every four patents granted was mobile-related. This is up from less than 10 per cent a decade ago.
While mobile patents have grown significantly in the US, they have actually fallen in Europe, with only 10 per cent of patents being mobile related.
“US has grown to become the mecca of mobile innovation and revenue generation. While the US market represents only five per cent of the global subscription base, 22 per cent of the global data revenue is generated in the US,” Sharma wrote in the report. “Over time, many of the storied European brands like Nokia, Philips and others have disappeared or lost their influence in the changed ecosystem.”
Aside from the US, Japan and China were the two countries with the most mobile patents.