NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Intellectual Property
Owners Association (IPO) ranked Siemens the eighth largest recipient of
patents in the United States in 2003, making it the highest ranking
diversified company on the list. Siemens was granted 1,486 new U.S. patents.
Siemens currently holds 8,600 U.S. patents and 45,000 globally. It is the
largest patent holder in Germany and the second largest in Europe.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021029/SILOGO )
In the U.S., Siemens dedicates $700 million and 6,500 employees to
Research and Development (R&D), focusing on Information and Communications,
Automation and Control, Power, Transportation, Medical and Lighting.
"Innovation is the primary driver of Siemens' success in the U.S.," said
George Nolen, president and CEO of Siemens Corporation. "Our customers depend
on Siemens for the most sophisticated technologies to enhance their
organizations. From pattern recognition software and 3-D imaging in Medical
to computer-aided video surveillance systems and sensor technology, Siemens is
focused on developing next-generation technologies that can dramatically
improve the country's infrastructure."
Three quarters of the products and services that Siemens offers are less
than five years old. In 2003, Siemens dedicated $5.5 billion and 45,300
people to R&D, establishing Siemens as the world's third highest contributor
to R&D. Globally, Siemens produced more than 7,000 new inventions last year,
approximately 30 each business day.
Examples of Siemens U.S. patents granted in 2003:
* U.S. Patent 6,590,999, whose related technical paper received a 'best
paper award in 2000' by the IEEE Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition
conference, has significant implications for security applications.
The technology provides real-time tracking of objects based on a
statistical analysis of visual features instead of using slower,
traditional feature-matching techniques.
* U.S. Patent 6,551,243 technology contributes to Soarian(R) -- a
hospital management system from Siemens Medical Solutions that manages
transactions and data -- improving and simplifying patient treatment by
integrating all hospital processes from admission to discharge.
Soarian's improved reporting process has helped the South Carolina
Heart Center save an estimated $700,000 a year.
* U.S. Patent 6,636,792 technologies have been integrated into the airbag
control system introduced by Siemens VDO Automotive. In a crash, the
system adjusts front impact airbags' deployment according to the size
of the passenger.
* U.S. Patent 6,515,683 encompasses inventions that allow customers to
upgrade their existing automation equipment while minimizing
re-configuration costs. Not only are legacy automation systems now
compatible with newer Siemens equipment but even Siemens products can
be used on non-Siemens systems.
A complete list of the 2003 top patent owners is available at
http://www.ipo.org.
IPO's Top Ten:
1. IBM Corp. 6. Micron Technology, Inc.
2. Hitachi, Ltd. 7. Intel Corp.
3. Canon K.K. 8. Siemens AG
4. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 9. General Electric Co.
5. Hewlett-Packard Co. 10. Fujitsu Ltd.
About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is one of the largest global electronics and
engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $80.5 billion in fiscal
2003. Founded more than 150 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of
Information and Communications, Automation and Control, Power, Transportation,
Medical and Lighting. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City,
Siemens in the USA has sales of $16.6 billion and employs 65,000 people
throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Ten of Siemens' worldwide
businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in
Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 417,000 people in 192
countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States:
http://www.usa.siemens.com
SOURCE Siemens AG
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