Final answer:
The company receiving the most U.S. patents in 2009 was IBM.
Step-by-step explanation:
The company receiving the most U.S. patents in 2009 was IBM. According to the data provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the number of patent applications filed and granted surged in the mid-1990s with the invention of the internet, and this trend has continued. Patents provide protection to innovators, but inventors often receive only a portion of the economic value of their inventions.