A new report by 24/7 Wallstreet shows six companies commonly recognized as having close ties to the printing industry are among the 50 most innovative on the planet. The report is based on patents being granted in 2017 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
Of these six companies, which includes Apple Computer and Seiko Epson, four develop digital toner presses, including: HP, Ricoh, Canon and Xerox. These four printing powers also have significant inkjet printing interests, which is where Seiko Epson’s expertise lies, in addition to a range of imaging assets.
Canon is the top patent recipient among these six printing-industry-related companies. In January 2018, Canon reported it was among the top five companies granted U.S. patents for the 31st consecutive year, ranking third with 3,665, ahead of tech giants like Google (fifth with 2,835) and Intel (sixth with 2,784). IBM was first with 8,088 followed by Samsung with 5,518. In 2015, Canon reinvested 8.6 percent of its net sales back into research and development.
Methodology
To identify the 50 most innovative companies for its report, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 1,000 companies receiving the most PTO patent grants in 2017. These grants are based on the entity that applied for the patent, so 24/7 Wall St. combined the grants awarded to a company and also its subsidiaries to arrive at its final numbers.
24/7 Wallstreet indicates that the PTO had granted more than 320,000 patents to companies last year, which was up 5.2 percent from the previous record of 304,126 patents granted the prior year. The research organization also found that American companies accounted for 46 per cent of patents granted in 2017, companies based in Asia accounted for 31 per cent, and European companies accounted for 15 per cent.
Below are the statistics for the six printing-industry-related companies as reported by 24/7 Wallstreet, with number-one IBM included for reference:
1. International Business Machines
2017 patent grants: 9,043
2016 patent grants: 8,090
Country: United States
Products: Data management, IT services, application development
5. Canon
2017 patent grants: 3,285
2016 patent grants: 3,665
Country: Japan
Products: Cameras, camcorders, printers
12. Apple
2017 patent grants: 2,229
2016 patent grants: 2,103
Country: United States
Products: Mobile phones, computers, tablets, software
25. Seiko Epson
2017 patent grants: 1,406
2016 patent grants: 1,650
Country: Japan
Products: Printers, projectors, wearable products
30. Ricoh
2017 patent grants: 1,145
2016 patent grants: 1,412
Country: Japan
Products: Printers, cameras, watches, IT services
33. Xerox
2017 patent grants: 1,026
2016 patent grants: 1,215
Country: United States
Products: Printers
35. HP
2017 patent grants: 984
2016 patent grants: 1,051
Country: United States
Products: Computers, printers
See the full list of 50 Most Innovative Companies compiled by 24/7 Wall Street report, as highlighted in USA Today.
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