News Release
Awarded as Top 100 Global Innovators 2014
- Rate of success in patent registration and global improvement are evaluated -
December 19, 2014
Left: Yoshiko Tanahashi, Director, Thomson Reuters Professional Corporation
Right: Hisaharu Yanagawa, Corporate Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Research & Development Division, Furukawa Electric
Thomson Reuters (headquarters: New York, U.S.A.; Japan office: Minato-ku, Tokyo) recognized Furukawa Electric Group Co., Ltd. research and development activities, selecting them as Top 100 Global Innovators 2014, and awarding a trophy on December 18.
Furukawa Electric was selected as one of five companies in the world selected in the field of Electrical Products, as defined by Thomson Reuters. Including our company, two companies from Japan were selected in this field.
Among the four axes of evaluation for this award, the success rate based on the rate of patent registration as well as the improvement of global character seen in the balance of patent acquisition in China, the U.S.A, Europe, and Japan led to the selection of Furukawa Electric. The success rate in particular was a top class score even among the 100 companies.
Furukawa Electric Group continually strives to expand based on the vision of aiming for innovation toward becoming a highly profitable corporate group that is creative and has a global presence, and Furukawa Electric Group will take this award as an opportunity to redouble our efforts, further enhance our activities, and realize this vision.
By continuing to protect the results of research and development through intellectual property rights, Furukawa Electric Group can build business advantage while striving to enhance activities dealing with globalization.
About Thomson Reuter Top 100 Global Innovators
The Top 100 Global Innovators analyzes global patent trends based on patent data maintained by Thomson Reuters since 2011, and then selects and honors the top 100 companies and organizations. The selections for this award are based on the four evaluation axes of: quantity (number of patents), success rate (number registered), global character, and influence (number of citations).
About Furukawa Electric Group
Furukawa Electric (TSE; 5801, ISIN; JP3827200001) Group started business in 1884, when its copper-smelting facility and wire manufacturing factory was established. Since then Furukawa Electric has become pioneers in the latest technologies by addressing diverse technological issues.
Furukawa Electric has released products in a number of areas, including telecommunications, electronics, automobiles, and construction, with the three types of materials it works with at their core, namely, optics, plastics, and metals. Many of these products have attained the top global market share, and all of its products have contributed to society in numerous business areas. Furukawa Electric reported consolidated revenues of JPY 931.8 billion (approximately USD 9.3B) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
