"Bikkuri Shimashita Ka?" Japanese Companies Surge in Latest IEEE "Patent Power Scorecard"

IEEE Spectrum (with the help of 1790 Analytics) has released its annual "Patent Power Scorecards" measuring the relative strength of patent portfolios in various industries.  Factors that affected rankings included the number of patents issued, processed against four variables referred to as "Pipeline Growth", "Pipeline Impact", "Pipeline Generality", and "Pipeline Originality."  For more details on the methodologies used, click here (link)

What did the 2010 study find?

The surprise story of this edition of the IEEE Spectrum Patent Power Scorecards is the reemergence of Japan as a global leader in innovation. Based on data from 2009, out of the 323 leading organizations in the scorecards, 65 (20 percent) are Japanese. This percentage is markedly higher than in the 2007 scorecards, in which 45 out of 319 companies (14 percent) were Japanese.

The increasing prominence of Japanese companies is particularly clear in the electronics industry. Out of the top 10 companies in the Electronics scorecard, 7 are Japanese, headed by Hitachi, Sony, and Casio. In comparison, 5 out of the top 10 electronics companies in 2007 were Japanese. Ditto for the automotive industry, where 7 of the top 10 companies in the Automotive and Parts scorecard are Japanese, compared to five in 2007. This includes 4 of the top 5 automotive companies—Honda, Toyota, Denso, and Nissan. Honda is the big mover, improving from sixth place in 2007 to top position in 2009.

And with regards to the U.S.,

Clearly, the global recession seriously hampered innovation in the United States . . . Since the last scorecard, budget cuts across organizations both large and small have halted this trend. In 2008, the number of patent applications remained constant at 456 000, making it the first year since 1996 that there was not an increase in the number of applications filed . . .Not only did the number of U.S. organizations in the scorecards fall by almost 30 between 2007 and 2009, some household names suffered in terms of their ranking.

See IEE Spectrum: Patent Power Scorecards

See individual rankings for:

(1) Aerospace and Defense, (2) Automotive and Parts, (3) Biotech and Pharma, (4) Chemical, Computer (5) Peripherals and Storage, (6) Computer Software, (7) Computer Systems, (8) Conglomerates, (9) Electronics (10) Government Agencies, (11) Medical Equipment/Instruments, (12) Scientific Instruments, (13) Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing, (14) Semiconductor Manufacturing, (15) Telecommunication Services, (16) Telecom/Communication Equipment, (17) Universities/Education/Training

Click here (link)

Download a full PDF copy of the rankings here (link)