According to IFI Claims Patent Services, Samsung filed 4,952 patent applications in America last year, up 5.9 percent from 2013.
Samsung, the world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips, has been ranked No. 2 since 2006.
Samsung spent 14.78 trillion won on R&D in 2013, up from 11.89 trillion on 2012, company officials say. In the first nine months of 2014, it used 11.40 trillion won for R&D.
IBM took the top spot for the 22nd straight year in 2014 with 7,534 patent filings, up 10.6 percent from a year ago, IFI said.
Cannon placed third, followed by Sony, Microsoft, Toshiba, Qualcomm, Google, LG Electronics and Panasonic. Apple Inc. came in 11th.
Four U.S. and Japanese companies joined the ranks of the top 10 each, while two South Korean firms ranked among the top 10.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
