The latest Medical Devices & Services Patent Scorecard was released on February 17, 2009 and has ranked 123 of the top medical device companies according to the relative strengths of their patent portfolios.
The Patent Scorecard provides readers with deeper insight into patent portfolios as measurable financial assets and drivers of the market value. The Technology Strength indicator is the basis of the Patent Scorecard rankings and provides an overall assessment of a company’s Intellectual Property (IP) quality and quantity.
Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC) has regained the lead, but their patents will need to gain more impact if they want to stay there. BSC ranks first despite decreases in their indicator scores across the board, their rise attributable more to Medtronic’s fall.
Covidien is hot on BSC’s trail with only a small margin separating the two. Covidien Ltd. (Pembroke, Bermuda) continues their climb, moving up several positions this last period to land in 2nd due to a 36% increase in Technology Strength this quarter.
Covidien had a slight decline in patents granted; however their Industry Impact indicator score rose by 40%. When it comes to patent citations, Covidien has a substantial degree of internal dependency, although not nearly as high as Masimo or Arthrocare.
The company with the most references to Covidien’s technology is 4th-ranked Johnson & Johnson (J&J), who accounts for 22% of their cites, demonstrating the role Covidien’s patents are playing as a foundation for other patents and technologies.
J&J dropped down one spot this quarter, however less than twenty points separate them from 3rd-ranked Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA).
J&J had a 12% increase in Industry Impact while Medtronic lost traction with a 16% decline. As these top four companies continue to jockey for position, a look at their published applications may lend insight into their future movements.
Masimo Corporation maintained 5th position and continues with their lead in Industry Impact. While it is primarily internally driven, this tends to be a trend among small, niche companies with breakthrough technologies. While Masimo has been around for twenty years, they are not seeing much competition in their direct space.
The biggest competition in the market comes from Covidien who also contributes the most to Massimo’s externally driven impact. In addition, Masimo has the quickest Innovation Cycle Time among the top 10 at 7.2 years, which is over four years quicker than the industry as a whole.
Another company in the top 10 with high internal citation dependency is Arthrocare Corporation, who’s Industry Impact, continues to rise, gaining another 36% this quarter.
Arthrocare’s technology is based on using radio frequency energy to remove soft tissues from the body. Among the few companies citing them are J&J and Smith & Nephew, two of their closest competitors.
Abbott Laboratories slipped one spot this quarter, although they maintain an impressive Industry Impact twice that of the industry. Abbott’s 2004 acquisition of Therasense, a company involved in minimizing pain for blood testing, contributed greatly to the score.
The Patent Board is the world’s leading business-based patent advisor to Fortune 500 companies, technology-based start-ups, law firms, investment banks, and governments.
SOURCE:AGIPNEWS
