Alcatel-Lucent Tops Patent Awarded Stats; Cisco Tops Innovation Ranking

Cisco Systems leads the telecommunications industry as the number one source of global innovation, according to a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 2006/2007 patent portfolios released in the annual Patent Scorecard.

Cisco retained its leading position in telecom despite the emergence of the powerful, newly merged entity Alcatel-Lucent. The French telecom, created when Alcatel acquired its American counterpart for $11.6 Billion late in 2006, raised its standings three spots from the 2006 Scorecard where Lucent ranked a solid 6th. Alcatel-Lucent topped the list for number of patents filed, with 896; Cisco was a distant fifth with 730 patents.

But Patent Scorecard rankings are not solely based on the number of patents filed by a company; the quality, scientific strength and impact of its patents on the industry are also calculated into its overall "Technology Strength" rating. Cisco's "Industry Impact" score, which rates the impact of its patent portfolio on the industry by measuring how frequently its patents are cited by others, is higher than any other company in the top ten.

Research in Motion (RIM), ranked 11th overall, has the highest Industry Impact of the top 50 companies, indicating that its technology is the most influential and most frequently built upon in the telecom industry. RIM's patents for wireless devices and related technology are cited 2.6 more times than the average.

"Cisco's advantage was additionally secured through their 2006 acquisition of Scientific Atlanta," said Eric Gillespie, chief operating officer of The Patent Board. "Scientific Atlanta is a leader in cable set-top box technology and has a solid patent portfolio that helped steady Cisco's position atop the Patent Scorecard for this year."

Third-ranked Motorola is notable for both the number of patents received (811, second overall) and its top rank in Science Strength, which measures the degree to which a company's total patent portfolio is linked to and built upon core science.

"Motorola's Science Strength rating increased by over 200% in the past 12 months, which really validates the credibility of its ongoing R & D," said Gillespie.

Top 10 Innovators in Telecommunications: from the 2007 Patent Scorecard

The Patent Scorecard uses The Patent Board's industry-standard data and proprietary analytical tools to assess patent value, and ranks companies worldwide in 17 industry sectors."

Posted to the site on 29th March 2007