IBM has secured the most number of patents in a single year for the 19th year in a row. Microsoft, the only other U.S. company in the top 10, fell from third place to sixth place according to IFI Claims Patent Services. IBM secured 6,180 patents in the last year, which is up about 5% from 5,896 in 2010. In second place, Samsung received 4,894 patents in 2011. The rest of the top 10 include Canon (2,821), Panasonic (2,559), Toshiba (2,483), Sony (2,286), Epson (1,533), Hon Hai Precision (1,514), and Hitachi (1,465). [PCWorld]

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has recently acquired supply chain analytics company Emptoris shortly after acquiring DemandTec for $440 million. Emptoris is cloud and on-premise analytics software that is used for procurement and retail supply chain operations. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has made an agreement to buy DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMAN) for $440 million. DemandTec is a company that helps businesses adjust promotions based on buying patterns. This all-cash transaction amounts to $13.20 per share. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2012. This is IBM’s largest transaction since the company acquired analytics company Netezza Corp. last year for around $1.7 billion. DemandTec will be rolled into IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative. DemandTec is based in San Mateo, California and employs about 350 people. They have about 450 customers worldwide including Best Buy and Target. [BusinessWeek]

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired Toronto-based analytics software company Algorithmics for $387 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of October.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired i2, a company that develops analytic software for local and state governments. Corporate security departments and law enforcement agencies uses i2 software to discover illegal activity on operational data logs.

Google has acquired more than a thousand patents from IBM, for an undisclosed sum of money. CNET reports that the patents cover things like web searching, memory and microprocessing chips, servers, routers and probably much more. Google recently lost a bid for 6,000 Nortel patents to a group of companies including Apple, Microsoft and RIM. A Google representative explained to CNET that “like many tech companies, at times we’ll acquire patents that are relevant to our business needs.”

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired real estate management software company Tririga. The financial details of the deal was undisclosed. Tririga’s software allows clients to make decisions about real estate initiatives, space usage, and analyzing environmental impact investments.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has agreed to pay $10 million to settle with the U.S. SEC. Apparently IBM bribed officials in China and South Korea for computer contracts according to a source with BusinessWeek.