IBM has once again topped the list of annual U.S. patent recipients, receiving 7,355 patents in 2015, marking the 23rd consecutive year of leadership, according to a ranking by patent analysis firm IFI Claims Patents Services. IBM's 2015 patent results represent a diverse range of inventions as well as a growing focus on cognitive solutions and the cloud platform.

There were 298,407 utility patents granted in 2015, down slightly from 2014, IFI Claims said on Wednesday.

Among the technology giants notable for their intellectual property, Alphabet's Google stepped up its patent activity, moving to the fifth position from eighth in 2014, while Apple stayed at the 11th position.

Following IBM, Samsung Electronics and Canon rounded off the top three spots, the ranking showed.

Companies such as Microsoft and Panasonic (6752.T) have assigned some patents to newly formed holding companies, which explains why several entities dropped considerably lower in the rankings, IFI said.

The Top Ten list of 2015 U.S. patent recipients includes:

• IBM - 7,355
• Samsung - 5,072
• Canon - 4,134
• Qualcomm - 2,900
• Google - 2,835
• Toshiba - 2,627
• Sony - 2,455
• LG Electronics - 2,242
• Intel - 2,048
• Microsoft - 1,956