Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Each year, the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark Office awards hundreds of thousands of patents to American and global companies. Last week, IFI Claims Patent Services, a producer of patent databases, released its top 50 ranking of the global companies awarded the most U.S. utility patents in 2011.
24/7 Wall St.’s review of the IFI list finds that producing the most patents does not ensure a successful business — frequently, it can mean the exact opposite. These are the top 10 biggest patent producing companies for 2011.
Most of the corporations in the top 10 are among the most worst performers across all industries. Share prices of seven of them plunged more than 40% in 2011. Five of the companies also lost money last year. Hitachi and Panasonic, both in the top 10, each lost more than $1 billion.
Of the top 10 recipients, only three are particularly successful companies. For years, they have held the largest market share in highly profitable businesses. Korean giant Toshiba has been extremely successful in consumer electronics, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) dominates the operating system market and IBM (NYSE: IBM) is the market leader in enterprise computing. These companies have been able to rely on their constant revenue streams to support heavy investment in research and development.
Some incredibly successful tech companies are not even in the top 25. Companies like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), which is only 39th on the list, have been extremely profitable as a result of a small number of highly successful products. Kodak (NYSE: EK), meanwhile, is filing for bankruptcy, despite being one of the top patent recipients for years.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed top U.S. patent recipients for the past five years according to IFI’s annual reports. To illustrate how patent awards relate to company performance, we examined sales, profit and change in share price over the past five years for the top 10. We also examined how these companies compared within their industry and among the largest companies in the world based on the Forbes Global 2,000. Rankings for profit and sales are out of the largest 2,000 companies.
10. Hitachi Ltd. JP
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
2011 patent grants: 1,465
Country: Japan
Profits: $-1.1 billion (25th biggest loss)
Sales: $96 billion (49th most)
5-yr. stock price change: -47.7%
Value: 473rd largest
Hitachi is the 38th-largest company in Japan. It is a massive and incredibly diversified corporation, with major stakes in 11 separate industries, including electronics, construction, automotive systems and telecommunications. With such an array of businesses, the company is involved in a great many research and patent applications. It was awarded 1,465 U.S. patents in 2011. But the company’s shares are down 47.7% in the past five years, an under-performance of roughly 40 percentage points compared to the S&P 500 over the same period.
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
9. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. TW
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
2011 patent grants: 1,514
Country: Taiwan
Profits: $2.4 billion (233rd most)
Sales: $61.2 billion (106th most)
5-yr. stock price change: -63.69%
Value: 189th largest in world
Hon Hai Precision Industry is the largest company in Taiwan, with more than $60 billion in sales last year. While this company name may be unfamiliar to some, most will recognize Foxconn, the company it purchased in 2010. Foxconn is the largest contract electronic manufacturer in the world. Shares of Hon Hai are down 63% in the past five years. Since 2009, the company’s annual patent rate has doubled.
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
8. Seiko Epson Corp. JP
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
2011 patent grants: 1,533
Country: Japan
Profits: -$211.8 million (66th biggest loss)
Sales: $10.5 billion (740th most)
5-yr. stock price change: -68.25%
Value: 1,596th largest in world
Seiko Epson, known as just Epson by most Americans, is a manufacturer of printers and other consumer electronics devices, including LCD televisions and personal computers. Last year, the U.S. Patent Office granted the company more than 1,500 patents. One of Epson’s primary businesses was inkjet printers, which have been rendered nearly obsolete by laser printers and a lower demand for printing in general due to cloud computing. Over the past five years, the company has ramped up its R&D department, generating approximately 100 more patents each consecutive year than the previous one. At the same time, the company shares have plummeted nearly 70%. Last year, the company lost $211 million.
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.
See Also:
- 10 Big Companies That Have Terrible Reputations
- Here Are 4 Tips For Making A Successful Cold Call
- Multitasking Can Threaten Lives And Productivity
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.