Patent applicationsSiemens is European Patent Champion
With 174,317 applications, the European Patent Office reported a new record last year. The most active European company was Siemens. The last time the company led the field in Europe was in 2011.
Production methods are changing: new materials and technologies such as 3D printing allow workpieces to be manufactured more functionally and efficiently. However, conventional design software programs do not come close to exploiting this potential. Inventor of the Year Dr. Suraj Musuvathy (36) is developing new algorithms at Corporate Technology in Princeton, New Jersey, that are set to catapult design into the future. The new programs generate grid structures as a basis for design, the geometries of which are 100,000 times more complex than previously possible. The inventor was honored in the 'Talent' category.