IBM Breaks Record in U.S. Patents With Cloud, AI and Health Bets

IBM received a record-breaking number of U.S. patents in 2016, topping the list for the 24th consecutive year, showing the efforts the company is making to expand its business into products that process and analyze vast amounts of health-care data. International Business Machines Corp. was awarded 8,088 patents in 2016, it said Monday. The top five winners remained the same as the previous year, with Samsung Electronics Co., Canon Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google nabbing those spots, according to data compiled by IFI Claims Patent Services, a unit of Fairview Research LLC. IBM has been working to turn around its business by putting more resources into cognitive computing, which adds a layer of data analytics and machine learning to software and information in order to pull out computer-generated insights and automate processes. Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty has been targeting the health-care industry specifically, which she often refers to as the company's "moonshot."