ABB has announced that last year it registered more patent applications with the European Patent Office (EPO) than any other company based in Switzerland. Of the total 6651 patent applications from Switzerland, 455 were made by ABB, followed b Nestle, Alstom and Roche.
ABB invests approximately US$ 1.5 billion a year in R&D and is considered a technology innovation leader in its main fields of activity. Its 125 year heritage of innovation was further underlined in 2013 when Thomson Reuters and the MIT Technology Review recognised ABB as one of the world’s top innovators.
Comments
ABB Chief Technology Officer, Claes Rytoft said, ‘ABB is world renowned as a technology innovation and for the quality of its products. I am happy to see ABB at the top of the patent application list as it is a confirmation of our efforts to serve the market with innovative products and solutions.’
The technology
ABB’s achievements include the invention of self blast circuit breaker technology, the first fibre laser based pressure sensor, and the world’s leading generator breaker. Recently ABB has announced several innovation milestones including a combined low voltage circuit breaker and energy manager, a new direct current fast charger for electric cars and a flash charging technology for electric buses and the development of hybrid high voltage direct current breaker.
Adapted from press release by Claira Lloyd