IP benchmarking MEMS industries

Patent Portfolio Benchmarking for Top 20 MEMS companies

Flash Report August 2013

Patent & Scientific Information

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Table of Contents

The Author 3

Objectives and Methodology 4

Parameter Definition 5

Patent Portfolio Comparison 7

Patent Activity Index / Patent Quality Index for Top 20 MEMS firms 8

Patent Strength Index / 2012 MEMS Revenues for Top 20 MEMS firms 9

Bullet Point Summary 10

2 Copyrights © KnowMade SARL. All rights reserved.

Patent Portfolio Benchmarking for Top 20 MEMS companies - August 2013

The Author

KnowMade is specialized in analysis of patents and scientific information. We provide patent search, IP landscape, patent valuation, IP due diligence, scientific literature landscape, identification of technologies available for transfer/licensing/sale, alerts and updates. Our service offer consists of custom studies, analysis reports, on-demand tracking and strategy consulting. Knowmade combines information search services, scientific expertise, powerful analytics and visualization tools, and proprietary methodologies for analyzing patents and scientific information. With a solid focus on Microelectronics, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, KnowMade supports research laboratories, industrial companies and investors in their business development.

Disclaimer: Knowmade is a research firm that provides technical analysis and technical opinions. Knowmade is not a law firm. The research, technical analysis and/or work proposed or provided by Knowmade and contained herein is not a legal opinion and should not be construed as such.



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3 Patent Portfolio Benchmarking for Top 20 MEMS companies - August 2013 Copyrights © KnowMade SARL. All rights reserved.


Objectives and Methodology


Scope of the report: This flash report provides a benchmarking of patent performance of top 20 MEMS companies. Methodology: • The top 20 MEMS companies were selected from the Yole Développement’s annual ranking - April 2013 based on 2012 MEMS revenues. • The Patent Activity Index, the Patent Quality Index and the Patent Strength Index were determined for each selected MEMS company. These three parameters are based on four criteria: Number of patent families, Average size of patent families, Share of granted patents and Citation ratio. • The data were extracted from the FamPat worldwide database (Questel-ORBIT) which provides 60+ million patent documents from 92 worldwide patent offices. • A keyword based patent search was performed in title, abstract and claims: MEMS, Micro-electro-mechanical, Microelectromechanical. • Searches were performed on August 22, 2013 hence patents published after this date will not be available in the report. • The term 'Patent' has been used as a collective term for Patents and Published Applications. • According to FamPat’s family rules (variation of EPO strict family), a Patent Family comprises patents linked by exactly same priority numbers (strict family), plus comparison of priority and application numbers, specific rules by country and information gathered from other sources (national files, legal status …). • For legal status of EP/WO patents, EPO Register Plus has been used. For legal status of US patents, USPTO PAIR has been used. For legal status of other patents, information have been gotten from their respective national registers.

http://www.i-micronews.com/news/Top-30-MEMS-companies-STMicroelectronics-Robert-Bosch-rise,10320.html













Parameter Definition (1/2)

Number of Patent Families : It represents the total number of patent families currently owned by a company. Despite quality considerations, it is still reasonable to assume that the number of patent families positively affects firm performance. Large patent portfolios not only indicate stronger efforts in R&D activities and therefore a higher innovative output. Large patent portfolios are also strategically useful, for example, to block competitors (Blind et al. 2006). Additionally, larger patent portfolios increase the chance for licensing agreements or trade with other firms and can also be used to prevent smaller potential competitors from entering relevant markets. Furthermore, patent output can be seen as a positive signal to the market (Neuhäusler et al. 2011). It is an indicator of the patent activity of a company. Mean Size of Patent Families : It represents the average number of countries in which protection is sought for the same invention. Given the costs required to file and enforce patents in many countries, only those with sufficient expected value to their owners will be extended abroad, denoting an expected market for the patented technology (N. van Zeebroeck 2009). It is an indicator of the patent activity of a company. Share of Granted Patents : A patent will only be granted if the technological invention consists of new technological elements. A granted patent can be seen as more valuable than a non-granted patent as it has met the criteria of novelty, technological height and commercial applicability. Therefore, a granted patent is believed to be of higher technological capacity than the mere patent application (Basberg, 1987). A larger share of granted patent leads to an increase in market value and profit of firms. Here, the share of granted patents is measured as the number of patent families containing at least one granted patent. The share of granted patent is an indicator of the patent quality of a company. Citation Ratio : The number of citations received by a patent in subsequent patent documents can be viewed as a sign for an economically important invention (Albert et al. 1991; Narin et al. 1987). A larger average number of forward citations per patent has a positive effect on firm performance in terms of market value and ROI (Neuhäusler et al. 2011). Here, we take the citation ratio which measures the number of patent citations over the number of patent families. It reflects the mean number of citations received by the patent family. The citation ratio is an indicator of the patent quality of a company.


Parameter Definition (2/2)

Degree of Specialization The specialization degree of a company represents the percentage of patents filed in a specific field over the whole patent portfolio of the company. It is an indicator of the patenting activity on a specific field.

number of patent families

mean number of patent families over all 20 companies

mean size of patent families

mean size of patent families over all 20 companies + Patent Activity Index =

share of granted patents

mean share of granted patents over all 20 companies

citation ratio

citation ratio over all 20 companies + Patent Quality Index =

Patent Activity Index + Patent Quality Index Patent Strength Index =


Patent Portfolio Comparison

Assignee Number of

Patent Families Average size of Patent Families

Share of Granted Patents

Citation-Ratio Patent Quality Index

Patent Activity Index

Patent Strength

Index

Degree of Specialization

in MEMS

2012 MEMS

Revenues* (US$ M)

STMICROELECTRONICS 219 3.9 39% 3.2 1.2 -0.1 1.1 low 1000

ROBERT BOSCH 206 4.1 28% 3.4 1.2 -0.4 0.7 low 842

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 181 2.8 50% 8.3 0.5 1.3 1.8 low 825

HEWLETT PACKARD 209 4.4 41% 6.5 1.3 0.6 1.9 low 645

KNOWLES ELECTRONICS 40 6.1 15% 6.9 0.2 -0.1 0.1 medium 440

PANASONIC 232 3.4 37% 2.1 1.2 -0.4 0.8 low 386

DENSO 31 1.7 46% 3.4 -1.2 0.1 -1.1 low 356

CANON 40 4.2 40% 7.1 -0.4 0.7 0.4 low 279

AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES 52 2.7 42% 6.9 -0.7 0.8 0.1 low 276

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR 131 3.8 36% 9.4 0.4 1.1 1.5 low 268

ANALOG DEVICES 208 3.9 36% 7.0 1.1 0.6 1.7 medium 266

AKM (Asahi Kasei Microdevices) 0 0.0 0% 0.0 -2.0 -2.0 -4.0 low 249

SEIKO EPSON 163 2.2 40% 2.2 0.2 -0.3 -0.1 low 247

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES 66 2.3 37% 2.5 -0.7 -0.3 -1.0 low 187

INVENSENSE 36 2.6 35% 9.4 -0.9 1.1 0.2 high 187

MURATA 36 4.4 19% 2.3 -0.3 -0.9 -1.3 low 179

SENSATA 3 2.0 33% 2.7 -1.4 -0.4 -1.8 low 178

HONEYWELL 301 6.2 29% 4.8 2.6 -0.1 2.6 low 161

GE SENSING 1 1.0 0% 0.0 -1.7 -2.0 -3.7 low 152

TRIQUINT 4 1.3 20% 1.0 -1.6 -1.2 -2.8 low 130

7 Patent Portfolio Benchmarking for Top 20 MEMS companies - August 2013

* Yole Développement’s annual ranking - April 2013

Copyrights © KnowMade SARL. All rights reserved.









Patent Activity Index / Patent Quality Index for Top 20 MEMS firms

Texas Instruments

Freescale

Hewlett Packard

STMicroelectronics

Bosch Seiko Epson Panasonic

Denso

Canon

Avago Technologies Analog Devices

AKM

Knowles Electronics

Infineon

Invensense

Murata

Sensata

GE Sensing

Honeywell

Triquint

Patent Activity Index

Patent Quality Index

High quality index over the average of all 20 companies High activity index over the average of all 20 companies

High quality index over the average of all 20 companies Low activity index over the average of all 20 companies

Average of over all 20 companies KnowMade© August 2013

High Low Medium Degree of specialization in MEMS:

Low quality index over the average of all 20 companies High activity index over the average of all 20 companies

Low quality index over the average of all 20 companies Low activity index over the average of all 20 companies

Patent Strength Index / 2012 MEMS Revenues for Top 20 MEMS firms

Patent Strength Index

2012 MEMS Revenues*

(US$ M) STMicroelectronics

Bosch

Freescale

Hewlett Packard

Seiko Epson

Panasonic Denso

Canon Avago

Technologies

Analog Devices AKM

Knowles Electronics

Infineon Invensense

Murata

Sensata GE Sensing

Honeywell Triquint

* Yole Développement’s annual ranking - April 2013

KnowMade© August 2013


A positive Patent Strength Index seems

to be a necessary condition to generate high MEMS revenues

Quite old MEMS technologies. Positioned in low-growth markets.

Medium

High

Low

Degree of specialization in MEMS:

0

200

400

600

800

1000

-4,0 -3,0 -2,0 -1,0 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0

Texas Instruments








Bullet Point Summary


• Texas Instruments, Hewlett Packard, Analog Devices and Freescale Semiconductor have the highest patent

activity/quality index in MEMS technology.

• Invensense has the highest degree of specialization in MEMS with more than 50% of its patent portfolio related to MEMS

technology, followed by Knowles Electronics (12%) and Analog Devices (8%). The most of top 20 MEMS companies have a

low degree of specialization. Indeed, the patents related to MEMS technology only account for less than 2% of the whole of

their patent filings.

• A positive Patent Strength Index seems to be a necessary condition to generate high revenues. Thus, this index may be

used as a quite good indicator for potential revenue generation. Despite an equivalent Patent Strength Index, Panasonic,

Freescale, Analog Devices and Honeywell generated less MEMS revenues in 2012 than STMicroelectronics, Texas

Instruments, Bosch and Hewlett Packard. This may be due to oldest MEMS technologies and/or a position in low-growth

markets.

• The degree of specialization in MEMS has no influence neither on Patent Strength Index nor revenue generation.



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IP benchmarking MEMS industries