A visitor to the Canon Expo on Sept 9, 2015,...

A visitor to the Canon Expo on Sept 9, 2015, at the Javits Center in Manhattan tries Canon's mixed reality system. Credit: Nicole Horton

Canon, the photo and imaging giant whose headquarters for the Americas is in Melville, was granted more U.S. patents last year than technology giants Google and Amazon.

The Japanese company ranked No. 3, with 4,134 patents on a listing from IFI Claims Patent Service. Canon executives said it had never before secured so many patents in a single year, breaking the record it set in 2014, when the company also ranked No. 3.

IBM topped the 2015 list of patents, receiving 7,355, according to IFI. Korean electronics giant Samsung was No. 2, with 5,072, and San Diego, California-based software developer Qualcomm Inc. was No. 4, with 2,900.

Google placed No. 5, with 2,835 patents granted last year. Amazon was No. 26, with 1,136.

Seymour Liebman, executive vice president of Canon U.S.A., said, “Research and development play a vital role to the innovation and growth of our company.”

Canon has placed among the top five holders of U.S. patents for 30 straight years, he said.

The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.  Credit: Newsday/Belisa Morillo, Drew Singh; File Footage

'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.  Credit: Newsday/Belisa Morillo, Drew Singh; File Footage

'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

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