Inventors from India contributed a record 658 patents to IBM last year to help the software giant top the list for US patent recipients in 2016.

With 8,088 US patents, IBM's 2016 list covers a diverse range of inventions in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, cognitive health, Cloud, cybersecurity and other strategic growth areas for the company. 

"Leading the world in innovation for 24 years in a row is a result of IBM's unmatched commitment to innovation and R&D," said Ginni Rometty, IBM's Chairman, President and CEO, in a statement.

While Samsung Electronics with 5,518 US patents stood second, Canon with 3,665 patents was at the third position.

In the area of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence, IBM inventors patented more than 1,100 inventions that help machines learn, reason and efficiently process diverse data types while interacting with people in natural and familiar ways.

"IBM inventors were granted more than 22 patents per day in 2016, enabling the company to become the first to surpass 8,000 patents in a single year," the statement said. 

While Google with 2,835 patents came fifth, Microsoft with 2, 398 patents was at eighth spot.