Instacart Acquires More Than 250 Patents From IBM: What's Next?

Instacart, the online grocery platform, has acquired more than 250 IBM IBM patents.

What Happened: IBM and Instacart also entered into a mutual patent cross-license that will provide Instacart with freedom of action to use IBM patents in growing its business.

The financial terms of the transaction announced Tuesday were not disclosed, nor did the companies identify which patents were acquired.

"This acquisition of patents from IBM and licensing agreement provides us with stronger intellectual property protection and gives us even more freedom to innovate for all the customers, shoppers and retailers who rely on our platform," said Edison Lin, intellectual property counsel at San Francisco-based Instacart.

Related Link: IBM Teams With Palantir On AI Product For Data-Intensive Industries

Patents Galore: Last month, IBM announced its scientists and researchers received 9,130 U.S. patents in 2020, marking the 28th consecutive year the Armonk, New York-headquartered company led the nation for the most patents granted during a single year. More than 2,300 patents were granted last year to IBM for artificial intelligence technologies, while more than 3,000 patents were related to cloud and hybrid cloud technologies and more than 1,400 were for security-related technologies.

IBM has received more than 150,000 U.S. patents since 1920.

"IBM has had a long-standing commitment to innovation and the sharing of our patented inventions within the industry, especially high-growth technology companies like Instacart that are establishing innovative solutions for critically needed food delivery during these challenging times," said William LaFontaine, general manager of intellectual property for IBM. "We look forward to a long-term innovation partnership with Instacart."

Photo courtesy of Instacart.