Asia companies lead global innovators list, says Clarivate
Asian companies dominated Clarivate’s 2022 “ Top 100 Global Innovators list”, making up 54 of the companies who filed the most patents last year, with US companies falling far short of their lead last year.
The growth in Asia was partly buoyed due to a “shift the new methodology” which bought about “a swing of recognition to companies in Japan,” Clarivate claimed.
Out of the 54 Asian companies on the Top 100, Japanese firms make up the vast majority with 35 ranking companies, including five first-time Japanese entrants: Screen Holdings, Shimano, Sumitomo Chemical, Konica Minolta and newly-born memory manufacturer Kioxi.
While the number of Japanese companies increased from 29 to 35 in total this year, the number of US companies on the list fell drastically from 42 to just 18.
While no reason was given for the drop off in US companies, Clarivate noted that its methodology had changed this year. Clarivate now considers “technical distinctiveness” in deciding the ranking. To decide a company's “technical distinctiveness” Clarivate considers the “rarity of the combination of technical features and use cases presented within the patented idea”.
Gordon Samson, chief product officer, Clarivate, said: “Global inventive activity today is far higher, more diverse and more complex than a decade ago when we first launched ‘Top 100 Global Innovators’”.
Sector breakdown
The number of automotive companies on the list doubled from six in 2021 to 12 this year, with General Motors, Hyundai, Ford Volkswagen, Kia and Dosa joining the list this year.
Clarivate also noted a 100% increase in the number of aerospace and defence firms year over year, with Safran, Rolls-Royce and Airbus joining the fold.
Asian companies are also responsible for the vast majority of patents filed in the electronics sector, with 26 of the top 28 top filing companies in the industry hailing from the region.
Samson concluded, “Innovators today need techniques and data to help them better understand the ecosystem and the influences so that they can thrive in the fast-paced world of modern innovation… We acknowledge them for their tireless efforts in advancing the knowledge frontier and in doing so, making the world a better place for all.”
Others Asian companies making their first appearance on the list included China’s Alibaba and digital payment company Ant-Group.
