Xerox awarded 1,215 US patents in 2012

January 28, 2013

OEM announces it is among the world’s “top innovators” after gaining 300 more patents than previous year.

The total of 1,215 US patents announced by Xerox includes patents awarded to Xerox and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, although the figure would have reached 1,900 patents had it been combined with Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd.’s 686 US patents gained in 2012, potentially putting Xerox in the top 10 on the IFI Patent Intelligence list worldwide.

Xerox states that it and Fuji Xerox invest around $1.5 billion (€1.1 billion) annually in research, development and engineering, with the company filing over 60,000 patents worldwide since 1930. Many of the OEM’s recently acquired patents have been issued in the IT services sector, including US Patent 8,234,237, which describes a workflow management system that notes when data is missing from a scanned document and returns the document to the workflow when the data is provided; and U.S Patent 8,195,474, which describes a system that scans the databases of a large number of print servers to create a profile of the customer’s needs, generating a list of the most useful marketing portals for the account.

Commenting on the company’s increasing patent acquisition rate, Sophie Vandebroek, Chief Technology Officer at Xerox and President of the Xerox Innovation Group, said: “Patents are an important measure of our continued investment in innovation but more importantly, it’s the people behind the patents who turn these inventions into powerful solutions for our clients.

“We’re tapping into the creativity and customer-focus of our scientists and engineers to apply innovation in ways that not only advance our document technology but also simplify complex business processes through Xerox’s diverse services in industries such as healthcare, finance, customer care and transportation.”

Xerox recently reported that its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012 slipped 11 percent after a fall in its printing sales, with the company continuing to shift its focus away from printing to its services business. However, CEO Ursula Burns remained optimistic that the “shift to a services-led growth portfolio is paying off”.

Categories : Products and Technology

Tags : IP North America Xerox