IBM filed more U.S. patents than any other company in 2013, marking the 21st straight year the company has taken this honor, according to Bloomberg. The company's 6,809 patents in 2013 also created an annual record. More than 31 percent of these came from overseas, as IBM has inventors in 41 countries. The company is moving away from hardware into analytics and Web-based computing. It is also about to create a separate division for its cognitive technology named Watson, which will be able to analyze data and answer user queries about it, according to Bloomberg.

"The work on cognitive is based on numerous of the patents that were just issued related to Watson," Bernie Meyerson, vice president for innovation at IBM told the publication in an interview. "That new division is now a major commercial focus. By funding research in that area, you will fund patents in that area."

Two other U.S. companies made it onto the list of the top 10 organizations that filed the most U.S. patents last year: Microsoft and phone-chip manufacturer Qualcomm Inc. Familiar tech giants Google and Apple ranked 11th and 13th respectively.