Foreigners won nearly half the patents awarded...

Foreigners won nearly half the patents awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office last year, the agency reported. Residents of other countries collected 46.6% of the 89,385 patents awarded. Japan led the list, as it has for several years, claiming 17,288 patents, up from 13,857 in 1986. West Germany was second, again, with 8,030, France was third with 2,990 patents, followed by Great Britain with 2,967 and Canada with 1,769. The U.S. state with the greatest number of patents was California, with 7,083, up from 5,967 a year earlier.