ML Patent Apps Still Soaring

Intellectual property continues to be the coin of the realm for technology companies, and in few data-driven industries is this truer than the booming field of machine learning. In its annual canvas of the fastest growing technologies, IFI Claims Patent Services reports that machine learning was again among the hottest commodities based on the number of patent applications. The patent tracker said ML applications jumped 116 percent in 2018 to 2,498. Machine learning is defined as "computer systems based on biological models.") As it has for decades, IBM (NYSE: IBM) remained the leader in the number of patents granted last year with 9,100, a 1 percent annual increase, followed by Samsung Electronics (OTCMKTS: SSNLF), which remained flat at 5,850 patent awards.