Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. is the most prodigious patent generator in Orange County, claiming about a third of the 2,372 issued here last year.
That totaled some 800 patents for the chipmaker, according to data collected by Bruce Itchkawitz, an intellectual property lawyer at Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP in Irvine.
Itchkawitz also runs a blog called OC TechInnovation, which reports on new patents issued to local companies. He said Broadcom is a regular at the top of the local patent list.
“By far, Broadcom is the leader in terms of issued U.S. patents coming out of Orange County for at least the last four years,” Itchkawitz said.
No. 2 in 2010 was Irvine-based drugmaker Allergan Inc.
Itchkawitz’ research shows that Broadcom and Allergan are at the front of a pack of 10 companies spread over the local technology, healthcare and apparel sectors. The 10 companies account for about half of all patents issued in the county last year (see related story, page 28).
Part of the reason Broadcom applies for so many patents is that it has a broad portfolio of products that offer possibilities for innovations, according to Jeyhan Karaoguz, vice president of intellectual property and standards for the chipmaker.
“We have a very wide-ranging number of lines of businesses,” he said. “There were 23 at last count under four major areas—infrastructure and networking, broadband communications, wireless connectivity and mobile platforms.”
Broadcom’s chips go into a wide variety of consumer electronics, including video game consoles, cell phones, computers, DVD players, television set-top boxes and others.
For Broadcom’s thousands of engineers and chip designers, “it’s part of their job responsibilities” to file patents, Karaoguz said.
“Our engineers are very imaginative and they are best in their fields,” he said. “If you give engineers fun and interesting problems, the intellectual property becomes a by-product of their work.”
Karaoguz heads an internal team that oversees Broadcom’s patent and intellectual property strategy.
The company has a software program that allows workers to submit their inventions for a review to see if they are patent-worthy.
“They can submit their idea to our IP group and we have an internal patent review committee that meets every week,” Karaoguz said. “We get both legal and technical input and we file ones that we feel are important for our business.”
Another reason Broadcom files so many patent applications is for defensive purposes. It helps fend off potential competitors and protects Broadcom against legal tangles.
Broadcom’s workers also have financial incentives, such as bonuses, to file patents. And, of course, they can call themselves inventors on their resumes.
“We understand the value of patents because of the field we are in,” Karaoguz said. “A lot of our products are firsts in their markets. Since we have so many firsts, it gives us an opportunity to invent in those spaces and build on those inventions.”
—Sarah Tolkoff
