3. Citation status
Looking at the citation status, 90% of patents have
been cited as worth of AAA grade, and about 13,373 patents have been cited in
more than 10 documents. As for the applicants of patents cited in more than 10
documents, top companies such as Ethicon, Qualcomm, and Microsoft were
included. In addition to AT&T, the world's largest telecommunications
company, DexCom, a monopoly in the diabetes-related market, has also been listed.
It clearly shows that high-quality patents are the basic conditions for market
leaders.
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🔺 citation status of AAA-graded patents
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4. Application Status by IPC
You can see that the fields where many patents have
been applied are concentrated in the data processing, telecommunication
technology, and medicine.
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🔺 application status by IPC
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Among the AAA-grade patents, the G06F technology was
the highest with 2,882 applications. G06F technology is related to electronic
digital data processing. Microsoft holds the most patents with 367 cases
followed by Apple 238 (patents), Google 157, and Facebook 151.
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🔺 Sonos.com
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Level 3 Communications is also noticeable. Level 3 Communications operates large Internet networks
in cities in the United States, South America, Europe, and parts of Asia. It
was once America's most influential network operator and Internet access
provider. In 2017, US multinational telecommunications company CenturyLink
acquired Level 3 Communications for approx. $34 billion.
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🔺 AAA-graded patents in the G06F technology
|
The 2nd most technology is A61K with 2,088,
which is related to pharmaceutical, dental or cosmetic products. Abbvie is the
top ranked with 96 patents followed by Purdue Pharma 89 (patents), Genentech
and Vertex Pharmaceuticals 46, and Gilead, MERCK, Bristol-Myers, Celgene are
following next.
Founded in 1991, Purdue Pharma was focused on
manufacturing drugs for pain relief. Most of the pending patents also focus on
narcotic analgesics (opioids) that have a morphine-like effect. In 2007, in a
lawsuit involving OxyContin, an opioid, three executives of the Purdue Pharma were
convicted and fined.
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| 🔺 flickr.com ©Mike Licht |
Since then, negative public opinion has spread over the
use of opioids in the U.S., and lawsuits including compensation for abuse of
opioids continued until President Trump banned the import of opioids in
September 2019. In 2019, 36 states, including Florida, Nevada, and North
Carolina, fought in court with Purdue Pharma, and eventually faced a lot of
damages. Purdue Pharma, incapable of paying damages, eventually filed for
bankruptcy in New York in September of the same year.
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🔺 Gene.com
|
Genentech, an American genetic engineering company,
developed the first genetically engineered synthetic human insulin using
Escherichia coli instead of extracting from the pancreas of animals in 1978,
and began selling it as a product named “Humulin” in 1982. Since then, it has
grown rapidly with the development of heart treatments and growth hormones, and
in 1990 the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann Laroche acquired Genentech
for $2.1 billion.
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🔺 Vrtx.com
|
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is founded in 1989. Currently,
three drugs approved by the U.S. FDA, Kalydeco, Orkambi, and Symdeko, have
exclusive rights in the treatment of cystic fibrosis. These three drugs had a
significant impact on sales growth in 2018 by 22%. US patents of Kalydeco and
Symdeko will expire in 2027 and Orkambi's in 2030, which is expected to grow
further without concerns about competition for a while.
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🔺 AAA-graded patents in the A61K technology
|
The next is also medical field, 1,881 cases of which
have been filed with A61B classified as diagnosis and surgery. Ethicon was the
most overwhelmingly with 631 cases, followed by DexCom 108 cases, ConforMIS 41
cases, and DePuy Synthes 40 cases. Ethicon and DePuy Synthes are subsidiaries
of Johnson & Johnson, so in fact Johnson & Johnson holds the most
AAA-rated patents in the field.
DePuy Synthes, established in 1895, started
manufacturing fibrous splints for the treatment of fractures, and now sells
products for reconstruction of damaged joints and skeletal damage. Johnson
& Johnson acquired the company in 1998, and since 2010, it has been known
to have suffered large and small lawsuits as problems with hip joints and jaw
implants have been discovered but it has grown to become the world's largest
company in their field with annual sales of over 10 billion dollars.
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🔺 Dexcom.com
|
Founded in 1999, DexCom is a company that develops
glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management. It has an overwhelming
share of the diabetes market in the U.S. and is expanding its business to the
type 2 diabetes market, which has a larger patient size than type 1. DexCom's
AAA-grade patents, as well as their unique position in the relevant market, are
also dominating the market with glucose measurement sensors and systems & methods
for measurement data.
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🔺 Conformis.com
|
Founded in 2004, ConforMIS is a company that
researches, develops, manufactures and sells patient-specific knee (artificial knee
joint) through its own platform. Looking at the AAA-grade patents that they
have, most of the technologies include manufacturing customized joint implants
and devices for joint surgery. In 2015, it was listed on NASDAQ with the
development of joint implant manufacturing technology using 3D printers. Every
year more than 600,000 knee replacement surgeries being performed in the United
States, it is expected to grow further in the future.
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🔺 AAA-graded-patents in the A61B technology
|
The fourth most filed technology field is H04W, which
is a wireless communication network related field. Intel 316 cases, Qualcomm
306 cases, and InterDigital 202 cases appear in the chart. In particular, in
the case of InterDigital, which is called NPE, about 50% of its AAA grade
patents have been filed in the H04W. As a company that has been carrying out
patent litigation and licensing with mobile related companies before, it seems
that their goal is clear.
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| 🔺 AAA-graded-patents in the H04W technology |
5. Current assignee status
Let's take a look at the current status of AAA patent
right holders.
Unlike actual filings, the company that currently holds
the most AAA-grade patents is Apple. The reason why Apple's AAA-grade patents
have increased is that they have received 306 patents from Intel. Most of the
transferred patents are about wireless communication networks, which appear to
have been transferred in 2019 when Apple signed an agreement to acquire a
majority stake in Intel's smartphone modem business.
According to the $1 billion agreement, about 2,200
employees will join Apple, and Intel said it plans to continue developing
modems in areas such as PCs, IoT devices, and autonomous vehicles other than
smartphones.
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🔺 flickr.com ©Tech.co
|
Currently, Dolby stands out as the top company with AAA
grade patents. Dolby, well known to us as a sound company, was founded in the
UK in 1965 and is now headquartered in the United States. Starting with technology for
removing noise from audio tapes, it is currently being serviced in a variety of
fields, including multi-channel audio formats for theater screenings, TVs,
mobile devices and PCs.
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🔺 application of AAA-graded-patents v current assignee
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As we have seen above, we can see that companies with
many high-rated patents are playing market leaders in their field. The more
high-quality patents they have, the greater their influence will be. In order
to occupy an advantageous position in the ever-increasing disputes such as
patent litigation, or to secure better economic value through technology, the
best way to secure better economic value is to create 'high quality patents',
so companies also continue to endeavor to research and develop for it.
