Below chart represents the top patent filer of Medical Devices in the US:
You might wonder that among the top 10 patent filers only three are the US companies (as Medtronic shifted its headquarter to Ireland), which are Boston Scientific (5th), Ethicon (7th), and General Electric (10th).
The top patent filer Olympus Corporation has patents filed in almost all segments of the medical device industry and the company is leading patent filer in Endoscopic Devices segment. Olympus has a total of 3603 patents in endoscopic devices followed by Fujifilm with 819 patents.
Similarly, Covidien is also a leading patent filer in multiple segments of medical device technologies such as surgical devices and consumable and disposable. In consumable and disposable, Covidien is a little ahead (195 patents) than the Uni-charm Corporations (165 patents) and P&G (162 patent). However, in surgical devices, the company leads with a huge margin – Covidien has 2137 patents in surgical devices followed by Ethicon (1196 patents) and Boston Scientific (977 patents).
Medtronic is a leading player in the biggest segment of medical devices i.e. Assistive Care Devices. Medtronic also is the top patent filer in Treatment Equipment and second top patent filer in Telehealth Equipment and the third top patent filer for Measuring Device.
Since the company holds Covidien assets now, we can say that Medtronic is the top patent filer in the US medical device industry.
Philips leads in four sub-areas of Assistive Care Device – Infant Care, Respiratory Equipment, Measuring Devices, and Telehealth Equipment. That makes Philips the second top patent filers in Assistive Care Devices and the fourth top patent filers in the whole US medical device industry.
Besides, Philips is also a top patent filer in Wireless Medical Devices segment with 361 patents followed by Samsung (328 patents).
Boston Scientific is the top US Company with most patents filed in medical devices. The company hasn’t been top in any areas or sub-areas except for Prosthetic Devices. However, Medtronic works in many segments of the industry. It is the third top patent filer in Electrosurgical Devices, Sutures & Staples, and Treatment Equipment. The company is also among the top 10 patent filers of Endoscopic Devices, Handheld Surgical Devices, and Implantable Devices.
Analysis By: Vipin Singh, Marketing