IBM is again the leader in patents issued. That's 28 years and running. IBM had 9,130 patents issued in 2020, compared to the next highest, Samsung with 6,416. There's about 15 electronic and manufacturing companies with 2,000 to 3,000 patents issued. Note that all the top 10 are electronics and/or chip makers. Forbes has a nice article by Roberts about the top 20 patent recipients of 2020.
Apple, the largest company by market cap ($2.1T), is 8th with 2,792 patents. Apple is starting to get serious about batteries and autos.
