Innovation Momentum 2023:
The Global Top 100
Intellectual Property Report Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100
Foreword
The world will always need innovators. To understand
why, you need look no further than today’s shifts in
global health, economics, and geopolitics. Digitalization
is accelerating, the global population is aging rapidly,
and the legislative landscape continues to evolve. With
disruption everywhere, the spirit of innovation is critical
if we are to turn lemons into lemonade.
Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100
reflects this spirit. Using a methodology based on
the Patent Asset Index—an objective measure of
global technological strength—the Top 100 presents
the companies, industries, and regions leading the
charge. With five industries dominating the list—
Pharmaceuticals, Information Technologies, Chemicals
and Materials, Electronics, and Semiconductors—it
becomes clear that global challenges prompt innovation.
Take Semiconductors. Producing components needed for everything from smartphones to cars,
semiconductor companies have to adapt swiftly to meet supply chain bottlenecks and U.S. and EU
policy. These shifts affect the Information Technologies industry, which is also innovating rapidly
as remote working has driven up demand for platforms that connect people and as technology
permeates every aspect of daily life.
As the global population ages and evolving coronaviruses continue to evade immunization, the
R&D investments of the Pharmaceuticals industry are becoming even more critical. Meanwhile,
Chemicals and Materials companies are driving the innovation that enables other industries
to make things we use every day, whether it is the energy powering our homes or the batteries
underpinning the mobility revolution.
Of course, few businesses would say they welcome disruption. But when faced with unavoidable
change, innovation is what enables them to turn adversity into opportunity. We see this most
clearly in the cigarette industry, which has responded to global shifts in health policy to create
new devices, like e-cigarettes, thereby taking companies in a new direction that will bolster their
long-term success.
With change constantly around the corner, it is hard to predict where we will see creative
ingenuity appear next. But using the power of patent analytics, we can track Innovation
Momentum with objectivity and accuracy. And as this report demonstrates, one thing is certain:
In addressing adversity, turning disruption into opportunity, and creating the building blocks for
better lives, there is no shortage of innovators who are ready to generate value both for their
businesses and for the wider world.
“With disruption everywhere, the spirit of innovation
is critical if we are to turn lemons into lemonade.”
Marco Richter
Global Head of Customer Success
LexisNexis(R) Intellectual Property Solutions
2 Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100
Executive Summary
The innovation landscape is constantly evolving—something that is evident in Innovation
Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100. For example, this year’s Top 100 list includes 27 new
companies. The basis for the list also highlights the vast number of inventions being developed
today: About 11million active patent families were taken into account todetermine the Top 100
companies. To qualify for consideration, each of these had to have a portfolio of at least 10 active
patent families.
Now in its second edition, the 2023 report represents the world’s leading patent owners with
the highest innovation momentum, based on the Patent Asset Index—the scientifically developed
objective measure to evaluate innovative strength. The report explores the most forward-
looking technological and scientific developments and innovative industries, the regions in which
innovators are concentrated, and the companies and academic institutes that meet the criteria of
outstanding Innovation Momentum.
The report’s unique methodology captures two years of dynamic innovation. It recognizes owners
that are outperforming their peers in the Technology Relevance, the potential to lead to further
inventions, and the Market Coverage, the size of the global market a patent family protects, and
combines these two to arrive at the Competitive Impact, or the average quality of an entire patent
portfolio.
The report takes a closer look into three industries: Chemicals and Materials, Consumer Goods,
and Medical Technologies. It explores how these innovators are responding to pressing global
challenges, changes in consumer behavior, and shifts in the legislative landscape.
“Innovation leadership also means covering ground-breaking
innovations early on and being agile with regard to the ideal timing
and geographies of our patents. Both can be captured by the
PatentSight indices.”
Peter Berg
VP Intellectual Property
Infineon Technologies
LexisNexisIP 3 Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100
Key Findings
The Innovation Momentum methodology is unique in that it recognizes patent
owners with small but high-quality portfolios, as well as those with well-
maintained portfolios. >Page 6
Five industries—Pharmaceuticals, Information Technologies, Chemicals and
Materials, Electronics, and Semiconductors—dominate the Top 100. >Page 12
An aging global population and the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic are
creating demand for new pharmaceutical therapies and products. >Page 13
Most patent owners in the Top 100 are headquartered in the U.S., which is also
home to almost half of the owners in the Information Technologies industry.
>Page 14
In Asia, China, Japan, and Korea continue to demonstrate their traditional
strength in Electronics, as well as in the Chemicals and Materials industry.
>Page 14
As more consumers give up smoking and governments work toward limiting
tobacco use, cigarette companies know they must innovate to survive. >Page 18
As people live longer, medical technology companies such as Medtronic,
Masimo Corporation, and ResMed are innovating to ensure people’s lives remain
comfortable and healthy. >Page 20
Academia remains a rich source of innovation, with leading universities and
institutions found in countries across the globe, from the U.S. to China, France,
Germany, and Korea. >Page 22
LexisNexisIP 4 Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100
Contents
Foreword2
Executive Summary 3
Key Findings 4
How to Measure Innovation Momentum 6
The 2023 Global Top 100 7
The 2023 Industry Distribution of the Top 100 Companies12
Innovation in the World’s Regions14
Q&A with Liren Chen Part 115
President and Chief Executive Officer of InterDigital
Focus Technologies 2023 16
Chemicals and Materials 16
Consumer Goods 18
Medical Technologies 20
Academics and Public Research 22
Q&A with Liren Chen Part 223
President and Chief Executive Officer of InterDigital
Closing Summary 24
About the Patent Asset Index 25
About the Authors 26
About LexisNexis(R) Intellectual Property Solutions 28
About LexisNexis(R) PatentSight(R) 28
LexisNexisIP 5