Renault, Airbus and L’Oréal in top 10 patent filers at INPI
Car maker Renault, aerospace company Airbus and cosmetics producer L'Oréal were among the top ten filers of patent applications at France’s IP office last year.
However, the three brands didn’t make it into the top five at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
The top four places remain unchanged from 2016—French automotive companies Valeo and PSA took the top two places, with 1,110 and 1,021 patent applications, respectively.
Technology company Safran took third place with 795 applications, and the Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies, a government-funded research organisation, remains in fourth place with the same number of applications published as in 2016: 684.
Renault took sixth place (400), Airbus came seventh (337) and L'Oréal took ninth place (269). Tyre company Michelin moved back into the top ten with 285 applications, coming eighth.
For the first time ever, two “medium-sized” companies were among the top 50 patent filers. Drone group Parrot moved into 38th place, and electronics company Soitec Group came 46th (returning to the top 50 after a six-year absence).
“Changes in IP strategies seem to be emerging with significant increases and decreases in patent applications among the top 20 filers,” said INPI.
Among the top 20 applicants, the biggest decreases in 2017 were for telecoms company Orange (-26%), which goes from 10th to 12th place, L’Oréal (-26 %), and Renault (-21%).
INPI added that the list confirms the “ever-greater need for major groups to align innovation policy and industrial property strategy” and a “desire for increased protection” from public bodies and smaller companies.
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