Siemens sees year-on-year rise in patent filings in 2014

Siemens has announced that it has filed 4,300 patent applications in the 2014 fiscal year – representing a year-on-year increase of nine percent.

During the year, research and development expenditures totaled roughly four billion euros (3.17 billion pounds). It intends to increase investment in this area by an additional 400 million euros in the coming year.

A group of key 12 Siemens researchers and developers have been credited with spearheading more than 900 inventions and 842 granted individual patents during the year, thus playing a leading role in the company's success.

As such, they were honoured by Siemens as Inventors of the Year 2014 in Munich on December 3rd. The firm has been presenting this accolade annually since 1995.

Joe Kaeser, president and chief executive officer of Siemens, said: "With their ingenuity and their drive to create new technology solutions, these 12 inventors and their 30,000 colleagues worldwide have played a key role in safeguarding our company's technological future and market success."

This comes after the firm further strengthened its research capabilities by establishing a new Siemens Technology and Innovation Council earlier this month.