The U.N.’s intellectual property organization says companies in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. are the top filers of patent applications involving artificial intelligence.
It found that IBM and Microsoft have the most AI patent applications, followed by Toshiba, Samsung and NEC.
“IBM had the largest portfolio of AI patent applications with 8,290 inventions at the end of 2016, followed by U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. with 5,930,” the report notes.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has issued a first report aiming to show trends in AI, seen as a growth area in coming years, although still a tiny fraction of all patent applications each year.
“Patenting activity in the artificial intelligence realm is rising at a rapid pace, meaning we can expect a very significant number of new AI-based products, applications and techniques that will alter our daily lives – and also shape future human interaction with the machines we created,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
WIPO said Thursday that machine learning is the dominant AI technique disclosed in patents.
Key findings:
Patent families
AI patenting has grown dramatically since 2013, with U.S. and Asian companies leading the way.
AI techniques
Machine learning is the most popular AI technique being patented and includes the fastest growing technique, deep learning.
AI applications
AI for robotics and control methods to manage the behavior of devices are the AI application areas with the fastest growth.
AI in industrial sectors
Transportation is the dominant industry and is seeing the fastest growth in AI patenting.
The report provides little in the way of analysis, such as what WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry called the “huge question” about whether artificial intelligence is “replacing or displacing employment.”
It found that IBM and Microsoft have the most AI patent applications, followed by Toshiba, Samsung and NEC.
WIPO’s figures run through 2016, the most recent data available.
