SRI on 'top innovators' list again

KOBE, Japan (Nov. 12, 2014) — Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) has earned a spot on the 2014 “Top 100 Global Innovators,” a compilation of the world's most innovative companies and institutes as determined by global information services company Thomson Reuters.

The list was compiled using objective data and rigorous analysis methods based on each organization's performance over a five-year period in terms of four evaluation criteria: patent volume; overall patent grant success rate; patent grant success rate of intellectual property-related activities; and global reach of patent portfolio.

This is Sumitomo Rubber's second appearance on the list, which Thomson Reuters started publishing in 2011, and is the only rubber industry representative.

SRI noted that the ranking reflects its development of proprietary technologies and products aimed at combining environmental friendliness with “safety and peace of mind.” Among these are the Enasave 100, a 100-percent fossil resource-free tire, and Enasave Next, a further development that received the highest possible AAA-a rating for fuel efficiency and wet grip performance under Japan's tire labeling standard.

Thomson Reuters noted that the companies on the 2014 innovators list outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 for the fourth consecutive year, achieving year-over-year market cap weighted revenue growth of 12.6 percent, roughly double the 6.85 percent annual revenue growth generated by S&P 500 companies.

The 2014 Top 100 Global Innovators also generated the equivalent of $3.69 trillion in revenue last year and increased their R&D investment at more than double the rate of their NASDAQ counterparts — the Top 100 increased R&D spending by 16.9 percent, whereas NASDAQ's R&D investment jumped by 8.18 percent and S&P 500 by only 3.97 percent.

“The term innovation has become such an overused buzzword that it's easy to lose sight of what real innovation looks like,” said Basil Moftah, president of Thomson Reuters IP & Science. “By focusing exclusively on quantitative analysis of global business' intellectual property portfolios, we are able to identify not only what companies are inventing the most, but also how aggressively they are protecting those inventions.

“This list of 100 companies represents the absolute vanguard of innovation — the organizations that are driving new breakthroughs, creating new jobs and igniting the global economy; we are honored to recognize their efforts.”

The semiconductor and electronic components industry led all other industry sectors in 2014, with 21 representative companies making the list, followed by computer hardware with 13 companies, industrial sector with eight and automotive with six.

Forty-six of the companies are headquartered in Asia, Thomson Reuters said, including 39 in Japan, four in South Korea, two from Taiwan and one from China. North America is home to 36 companies, while 18 are based in Europe.