Taiwan's ITRI, Hon Hai on Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators list

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, were named among the Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators 2018-2019 and were presented with awards in Taipei on Friday.

It was the third time since 2014 that the ITRI, Taiwan's top technology research and development institute, has been honored, making it the most awarded research institute among the top 100 in Asia.

The ITRI was also one of only three government-sponsored research institutes to make the 2019 list, it said in a statement. The other two were Germany's Fraunhofer and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.

The Hsinchu County-based research institute said it was proud of its high patent grant rate of 81.53 percent over the past five years and of being honored alongside such innovative international enterprises such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Now in its eighth year, the Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators list identifies and celebrates the world's most innovative organizations that successfully develop valuable patented inventions with strong commercialization potential based on originality, market reach, and opportunities for spin-off inventions.

"We are pleased to see that ITRI has been nominated again as it has well demonstrated its impact in driving industrial innovation," said Nathan Fan, head of Derwent in Greater China and general manager of Clarivate Analytics Taiwan, during the award presentation ceremony.

"We sincerely hope more Taiwanese organizations can show their innovation capabilities to the world in the future," Fan added.

ITRI President Edwin Liu (劉文雄) described being cited among the Top 100 Global Innovators as "a great acknowledgement of ITRI's constant efforts in intellectual property (IP) value creation."

The institute has adopted global patent strategies that reflect future market demand and generated high-quality patent portfolios to assist Taiwan's industries in leveraging the value of IP assets and creating blue oceans.

"By 2018, ITRI has accumulated 17,303 valid patents, 98 percent of which are invention patents, showing its substantial R&D capacity and IP legal expertise," Liu said.

The Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators are selected for their excellent patent performance across four criteria: volume, success, globalization and influence.

Marking Hon Hai's second consecutive year to be on the top 100, Lee Xiang-lan (李香蘭), head of ScienBiziP Japan's IP Consulting Center, a Hon Hai affiliate, said at the Taipei ceremony that Hon Hai has put a premium on patent protection, which helps increase an enterprise's value.

The Hon Hai Group, which is investing in the development of 5G and artificial intelligence of things (AioT) technologies, is thinking how to change the lives of the next generations with new technologies and an international patent portfolio, Lee said.