IBM yesterday announced that it was granted 4,186 US patents in 2008, becoming the first company ever to earn more than 4,000 US patents in a single year.

IBM's 2008 patent issuances are nearly triple Hewlett-Packard's and exceed the issuances to Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Apple, EMC, Accenture and Google - all put together. This is the 16th consecutive year IBM has led in this measurement of innovative research.

Of those thousands of ideas, IBM says it's especially proud of two: US Patent #7,408,465 could eventually help the blind walk down the street without the help of a cane or dog. Radio-frequency tags placed on hazards like telephone poles and fences would transmit electronically voiced descriptions to a portable reader.

This patent covers the method by which users will prioritise the descriptions they receive, so that they can, for example, make an aural map of a familiar neighbourhood and walk through it unaided.

US Patent #7,321,306 could help save a toddler trapped in a sweltering car. The patent describes a system of radio-frequency chips and heat sensors, which could be attached to a child's car seat and also embedded in a vehicle.

The devices monitor the temperature inside, particularly when a child is strapped into a seat and the motor is off. If the temperature rises above an acceptable threshold, the system sets off an alarm--and rolls down the car's windows.

American firms won 49 per cent of the patents awarded to corporations by the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2008, down from 50 per cent in 2007. It appears to be the first time American companies have failed to capture a majority of the US patents granted to companies in a single year.

IBM used the occasion to announce plans to help stimulate innovation and economic growth. The company plans to increase by 50 per cent - to more than 3,000 - the number of technical inventions it publishes annually instead of seeking patent protection.

This will make these inventions freely available to others. IBM also will contribute the advanced statistical and analytical capabilities of IBM Research to a collaborative project that is developing an empirical measure of patent quality.

"IBM's leadership in the strategic use of intellectual property is based on balancing proprietary and open innovation," said Dr. John E Kelly III, IBM senior vice president and director of IBM Research. "Our goal is helping stimulate innovation as public investments in large infrastructure projects are being planned to boost global economies. 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."