PROVIDENCE – Bank of America Corp. reported a record 722 patent applications filed by company inventors in 2020, including 10 in Rhode Island, according to the company.
The patent filings continue a trend of “record-setting innovation” in the company, which was granted 444 patents in 2020.
The record year comes despite a 1% year-over-year decline nationwide in the number of U.S. patents granted, the company stated.
Katherine Dintenfass, senior vice president of digital banking and the company’s No. 2 patent holder, credited the rise in patent filings to the company’s increasing focus, including through financial investment, on technology and innovation. Dintenfass, who is based in Rhode Island, filed six new applications in 2020 and had 14 patents issued. In total, she has filed 189 applications and holds 69 patents.
The 2020 patents filed focused on digital and security and fraud innovations, all of which were important but even more so because of the pandemic, Dintenfass said. Security and privacy-related patents comprised 20% of all patents filed in 2020, closely followed by those relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning at 19%.
The bank’s portfolio includes more than 4,400 approved and filed patents, representing innovations from 5,700 investors across 42 states and 12 countries. Just over a quarter, or 26%, of inventors are women – more than double the global average, the company said.
Nancy Lavin is PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
