The US Patent 100

In the course I author and sometimes teach, SANS MGT 512 Security Leadership Essentials, we have an intellectual property section. I tell people that one of my investing strategies is to bet on companies that engage in R&D and that a good proxy for that is the number of patent applications filed per year.

To be honest I have felt a little like a lone wolf in the wilderness. But tonight I learned about the US Patent 100 from a newsletter called Wall Street Daily. It appears to be the work of one guy, (Louis Basenese) and I am sure he is off sometimes, everyone is, but I find his writing style enjoyable ( stocks, after all, are rather boring, so it is nice to see someone spice it up). And I have only read one issue of his newsletter, but I have to say I agree with the majority of what he wrote.

Back to the US Patent 100, I Googled it.  This is a joint venture of MDB Capital Group ( the investment bank that tracks IP ) and IAM, the intellectual property magazine. Here are the top five ( no surprise):

• Samsung
• IBM
• Canon
• Panasonic
• Sony

I hold IBM and Canon and have an ETF that has Samsung as its largest holding ( I do not really want to trade on the London Stock Exchange just to hold Samsung). I guess I need to look into Panasonic and Sony.