The Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators report published by Clarivate Analytics details the most innovative companies in the world according to their IP. A range of different businesses, including Hitachi, Honda, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony provide a viewpoint on innovation and why being included in the list is important to them.
The survey looks at patents owned by companies, using four key methods for assessing the innovation of a business. The first is volume. Only organisations with 100 or more granted patents covering a new invention were analysed. The second criteria for inclusion in the list is success. This looks at the ratio in the last five years of inventions in published applications to inventions protected by granted patents. The list also considers globalisation. This is measured by looking at how many basic inventions have quadrilateral patents in their patent families. The four relevant patent authorities are the Chinese Patent Office, the European Patent Office, the Japanese Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The final factor used to establish innovation is influence. The report says: “The impact of an invention “downstream” is determined by looking at how often it is subsequently cited by other companies in the patenting of their inventions.”
The report reveals insights about the most innovative jurisdictions in the world, noting that “the epicentre of innovation continues shifting from west to east.” Indeed 48 organisations from Asia feature on the list of top 100 innovators. By comparison, 33 US companies appear and 19 from Europe. Japan and the US are home to 72% of the companies listed, while Russia makes an appearance on the list for the first time. The report also notes that “thirty-one of the companies identified…have significant numbers of AI inventions in their total portfolios” and that there continues to be a rise in the number of 5G patent families.
Seven companies are present for the first time in the list of top 100 innovators and the report includes statistics for why these organisations have been chosen. In terms of industries, hardware and electronics is responsible for the largest proportion of companies in the list, followed by the manufacturing and medical and chemicals and cosmetics sectors.
For the full report, please click here.