With 1548 patent applications at the European Patent Office, Siemens demonstrated its leadership in filing European patent applications.
"With 207 key patents registered, Medical Technology played a special role among our applications," said Professor Winfried Büttner, head of Siemens Intellectual Property.
Prime examples that these investments pay off include the 'Somatom Definition' dual-source CAT scanner that produces images of even fast-beating hearts with a previously unknown level of detail while emitting 50% less radiation, and the Quicklab, which Siemens recently unveiled at the Intellectual Property Day of the Federal Association of the German Industry (BDI).
During the most recently completed fiscal year, Siemens AG spent 5,2 billion Euros on research and development, making the company the global industry leader.
"This investment produces results, ideas and inventions that will further enhance our competitive advantage, an advantage we protect with intellectual property rights," said Professor Winfried Büttner, head of Intellectual Property at Siemens. "Once again, our innovative strength makes us No. 1 in registrations with the German Patent Office, No. 2 at the European Patent Office, and among the top-10 in the US."
The company is highly selective when it comes to determining which inventions are worthy of a patent application. The focus is on patent quality.
"We increasingly apply for intellectual property protection rights for key technologies which we filter out of the totality of our employees' invention reports," said Büttner.
Most of this year's registered key patents were in the field of medical technology. The division managed to make a huge technological leap with its 'Somatom Definition' dual-source CAT scanner. Recently, the first of the new machines was installed at the Ludwig Maximilian University's teaching clinic in Grosshadern, Munich. It is the first such system in the world to use two parallel-rotating X-ray emitters that speeds up the examination while reducing the radiation exposition for patients and raising the image quality and the number of images per second. Experts predict that this machine will be able to replace a large portion of the about 600 000 heart catheter exams which are performed each year with much faster and much less intrusive computerised imaging technology.
Another innovation is Quicklab, a credit card-sized mini-lab with which any doctor can reliably identify pathogens in only one hour. The electronic bio-chip automatically extracts and analyses the genetic information of viruses and bacteria from blood samples or other bodily fluids. It outputs the diagnostic information in the form of an electrical signal, which makes it much faster, simpler, more robust and more affordable than optical procedures. Currently, testing for pathogens requires large labs with complex analytical equipment; a process which often takes days and is very expensive.
For more information contact Keshin Govender, Siemens Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 652 2412, [email protected], www.siemens.co.za
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