This is absolutely correct - at IBM, successful patent applications based on any idea you could come up with directly affected your reviews, ability to get prom

This is absolutely correct - at IBM, successful patent applications based on any idea you could come up with directly affected your reviews, ability to get promoted, and general perception of worker bees by the management chain. Patents incentives were also roundly ridiculed by lower band and longterm employees at IBM. For individual contributor types, there was some expectation that patents were part of the job description.