Identify the problem, create the solution

5,896. A record number of U.S. patents, more than any other company, for the 18th year in a row. The total exceeds those of Microsoft, HP, Oracle, EMC and Google combined.More than 7,000 IBM inventors residing in 46 different U.S. states and 29 countries produced the wide range of inventions in myriad technology categories. Like the first IBM patent for data recording technology in 1911, many of these inventions work behind the scenes in data centers and labs, and beyond the average person's radar.For example, news of the patent about enabling computer chips to communicate with light pulses instead of the standard electrical signals might not be the subject of your next Twitter message... but it could help you post that tweet much faster.Here, we look at five examples of IBM patents we can all understand. They're designed to improve healthcare, disaster response, and traffic and transport—and can benefit our everyday lives, every day.