The 10 Most Inventive US Based Companies

The patent system enshrined in the Constitution is one of the most important engines of U.S. economic growth. It’s also a good indicator of corporate smarts: The U.S. companies that won the most patents last year also had high earnings and returns on capital, meaning they’ve been good at wringing profits out of the money they invest.

IBM topped the list of U.S. companies with the most patents received in 2009, with 4,914. It was the 17th consecutive year that the Armonk, N.Y., tech giant had led.

The next company was Microsoft, which received 2,906 U.S. patents. Intel, with 1,537 patents, was third. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

Other companies on the list included General Electric, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Honeywell International and Hewlett-Packard.

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