IBM is planning to double the number of inventions it gives away each year to 3,000, says the company. Big Blue patented over 4,000 items last year, the 16th consecutive year that IBM has achieved US patent leadership.  IBM's 2008 patent tally nearly tripled Hewlett-Packard's and exceeds those of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Apple, EMC, Accenture and Google put together.
 
The company says it will publish details of 3,000 technical inventions this year instead of seeking patent protection, making them freely available to others. IBM Research will also begin a collaborative project aimed at measuring 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." X