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This report has been updated through 22 June 2026. The information is provided for reference only and does not represent any opinion, recommendation, or endorsement.
International Business Machines Corporation is a U.S.-based information technology company with a patent portfolio spanning enterprise computing, software, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, semiconductors, networking, cybersecurity, quantum computing, storage systems, and data analytics. Its filings cover computer hardware, enterprise software platforms, machine learning systems, cloud infrastructure, database technologies, communications systems, semiconductor manufacturing, and emerging computing architectures. The portfolio includes patents filed across multiple decades and jurisdictions covering a broad range of information technology and enterprise computing technologies.
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IBM’s portfolio comprises 290,998 patents distributed across 137,650 simple families and 135,880 extended families. The portfolio spans 72 jurisdictions and includes patents associated with computing, software, semiconductor, networking, cloud, artificial intelligence, and enterprise technology fields.
IBM’s portfolio consists of 68,864 active assets and 222,125 inactive assets. Active holdings include 53,110 granted patents and 15,754 patent applications. Inactive assets comprise expired patents, patents expired due to term or maintenance fee non-payment, withdrawn applications, and abandoned applications.
IBM’s patents span 72 jurisdictions, with the United States accounting for the largest share of filings and grants.
Total Patents: 290,998
The portfolio includes patent assets across North America, Europe, and Asia, with the largest concentration located in the United States. Additional holdings are distributed across major technology and manufacturing jurisdictions including Japan, China, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, and the European Patent Office.
IBM’s patent portfolio covers a broad range of technology categories. Software represents the largest segment, followed by computer systems and components, networking, and semiconductor technologies. Additional patent activity is present in imaging, industrial systems, healthcare technologies, consumer electronics, automotive technologies, and retail-related applications.
The technology distribution reflects patent filings across enterprise software, computing infrastructure, networking systems, semiconductor technologies, data processing systems, cloud computing platforms, artificial intelligence technologies, storage systems, and related information technology fields.
Top Citing Assignees (Forward Citations)
Top Cited Assignees (Backward Citations)
Top Cited Patents (Forward Citations)
Top Citing Patents (Backward Citations)
The citation data includes references involving major technology companies across enterprise software, computing, semiconductor, networking, and information technology sectors. The largest citation volumes are associated with IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, Alphabet, Samsung, Fujitsu, HP, Broadcom, and Dell Technologies.
IBM’s litigation dataset includes 571 patents that have been involved in litigation matters, 114 petitions, 54 reexaminations, and 236 Chinese Patent Reexamination Board proceedings. The dataset also includes 21 active cases, 398 inactive cases, 71 appeals, and 565 related parties.
Ownership Type
Sources of Acquired Patents
IBM’s patent portfolio consists primarily of originally assigned patents, representing 288,299 assets. Acquired patents account for 2,699 assets and originate from operating companies, non-practicing entities (NPEs), universities, and other sources.
IBM completed its acquisition of HashiCorp on February 27, 2025. IBM acquired all issued and outstanding shares of HashiCorp for $35 per share in cash, and the company said the transaction would add multi-cloud lifecycle management products to its hybrid cloud platform.
IBM announced the acquisition of Apptio on June 26, 2023, and completed the transaction on August 10, 2023. IBM described the deal as adding resource optimization, observability, and application management capabilities across enterprise IT.
IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire Turbonomic on April 29, 2021, and closed the acquisition on June 17, 2021. IBM said Turbonomic would add application resource management and network performance management capabilities for hybrid cloud AIOps.
IBM completed its acquisition of Red Hat on July 9, 2019, after acquiring all issued and outstanding shares for $190 per share in cash. IBM said the transaction established it as a hybrid cloud provider and expanded its open hybrid cloud platform.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) is a publicly traded technology company operating across software, consulting, infrastructure, and financing segments.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
One New Orchard Road
Armonk, New York 10504
United States
IBM’s global headquarters are located in Armonk, New York, USA.
IBM’s patent portfolio contains 290,998 patents across 72 jurisdictions. The portfolio includes 137,650 simple families and 135,880 extended families.
Software, computer systems and components, networking, and semiconductor technologies represent the largest categories within IBM’s patent portfolio.
IBM’s portfolio includes 68,864 active patent assets, consisting of 53,110 active grants and 15,754 active applications.
The United States contains the largest number of IBM patent assets, followed by Japan, the European Patent Office, Germany, China, and WIPO filings.
The litigation dataset includes 571 patents in litigation, 114 petitions, 54 reexaminations, and 236 Chinese PRB proceedings.
The portfolio contains 288,299 originally assigned patents and 2,699 acquired patents.
The citation data includes significant references involving Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, Alphabet, Samsung, Fujitsu, HP, Broadcom, and Dell Technologies.
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