Microsoft recently rolled past the 10,000 patent mark, reports Ina Fried at CNet, saying that the lucky #10K covered natural interfaces, linking “a real-world object with a set of data or images.” Is 10,000 patents—well, 10,541 at last count— that good? Well, according to our snappy research, it’s way better than Apple, with 2,541 to date, but it’s a far cry from IBM, with 53,413. Fried reports that the US Patent Office issued IBM 4,000 of those little licenses to print money just last year. Go Big Blue! [ CNet , IBM Patents at USPTO , Apple Patents at USPTO , Microsoft Patents at USPTO ]

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Microsoft Crosses 10,000 Patent Mark [Microsoft]