IBM still tops the list and is ahead by a relatively wide margin but "the scales of patent-quantity supremacy may be shifting away from corporate America in favor of companies overseas, especially to those in Asia," the firm said. IBM set a new all-time record of 4,186 patents, up 33 percent over 2007. Samsung was in second place with 3,515, up 29 percent; followed by Canon at number three, with 2,114. Microsoft ranked fourth with 2,030, up 24 percent over the prior year. Other notable companies include Intel, Broadcom, Cisco, Hon Hai of Taiwan, Fujifilm and LG Philips LCD.

"American companies garnered a minority share of the total number of corporate U.S. patents last year, it's important not to confuse quantity with quality," IFI's Darlene Slaughter said in a press release. "Many of the world's largest companies are placing a higher priority on protecting their intellectual property. Securing patents may be even more important in a down economy, since it gives patent-holders an edge over their competitors." She noted that many of the patents granted in 2008 were applied for in 2005 and 2006, so the economy had little, if any, effect on approvals.

Alexander Graham Bell on average filed 1 patent for almost every day of his life (some days 20-30), and he paid around $0.05 per patent, and that was just a processing fee.

We're are falling behind the technological edge.  America MUST upgrade it's infrastructure, we MUST upgrade our education system, we MUST upgrade our way of thinking and move ahead FASTER or Asia will pass us by and we'll be left wondering why...