Ludwigshafen, Germany/ Midland, Michigan - BASF and the Dow Chemical Co. have announced their support for the Patent Asset Index - a methodology that measures R&D effectiveness, innovation strength and "how these factors lead to sustained competitive advantage," a 12 Oct joint statement from the chemical companies said.
The Patent Asset Index, created by professor Holger Ernst of the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, overcomes limitations of current patent analytics by offering a global perspective, more transparency and a more robust quality measurement for the assessment of patent portfolios, the statement said.
"We now have an important indicator for the sustainability of innovative strength, especially with regard to technology and R&D oriented companies on a global level," Ernst said.
The index is based on two main components: "portfolio size" and "competitive impact," BASF and Dow said. BASF was the clear leader in the 2008 Patent Asset Index with Dow coming first in the Technology Relevance measurement, the statement added.
"The nature of R&D has changed significantly in the past decade, however the methods for analysing the performance of R&D organisations have not changed," said William Banholzer, Dow's executive vice president, adding that Dow is in complete support of the new method.
"The essential role that patents play in the chemical industry is often ignored, and we are happy that we now have a better method to compare the patent portfolios of global companies even more accurately," added Andreas Kreimeyer, research executive director of BASF. (RD)
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