IBM opens access to patents

By Rosalie Marshall

Jan 15 2009 6:39AM

IBM announced today that it will increase the number of technical inventions it makes freely available to others by 50 per cent, and seek less patent protection for its inventions, in an effort to stimulate worldwide innovation and economic growth.

The company successfully filed 4,186 US patents in 2008, more than any organisation has achieved before, according to the IT giant.

"IBM's leadership in the strategic use of intellectual property is based on balancing proprietary and open innovation," said IBM director of research John Kelly.

"We also anticipate that adding additional transparency to the patent system will help tackle the continuing patent quality crisis, which is impeding inventors, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes."

IBM claimed that its planned increase in publishing inventions will result in the creation of smarter infrastructure.

The company has already pledged not to assert patent rights in the areas of open-source software, healthcare, education, the environment and software interoperability in order to help stimulate innovation.

"Our goal is helping to stimulate innovation as public investments in large infrastructure projects are being planned to boost global economies," said Kelly.