CEA-Leti is CEA's leading contributor for patent applications
This ranking highlights the effectiveness of CEA’s innovation-driven strategy, with CEA-Leti playing a central role. Of the 598 patent applications filed by CEA with the INPI in 2024, approximately 293 — or around 48% — originated from CEA-Leti. These patents mainly cover breakthroughs in microelectronics, photonics, cybersecurity, and healthcare technologies.
« Patents are at the heart of CEA-Leti's strategy, » explains Thomas Ernst, Scientific Director at CEA-Leti. « They enable us to give our industrial partners a tangible competitive edge. That's why we encourage our research engineers to take this approach, by providing them with support and highlighting the importance of filing patents. »
In addition to industrial partnerships, patents are particularly important when creating a startup as a patent portfolio can be its main asset at the beginning of its activity. Examples include nawu diagnostics, iNGage, Quobly and Wormsensing. And this is just one of the possible approaches to support innovation, favored by CEA-Leti's “lab-to-fab" strategy.
« Patents are fundamental to a deep tech startup's strategy », explains Sylvain Colomb, Startup Program Manager at CEA-Leti. « As the foundation of the innovation, they often represent the first key asset and the main barrier to entry for a young company. They are essential for establishing credibility and attracting future investors. »
Innovation as measured by patents
Measuring innovation is no simple task, especially given the lack of a universally accepted definition. Since 2012, Clarivate has been identifying the world's most innovative organizations. In recent years, it has moved beyond an alphabetical list to establish a ranked Top 100 Global Innovators, offering a clearer view of how these players compare.
Clarivate's Top 100 Global Innovators list is based on a detailed analysis of global patent data, specifically from the Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI). The methodology uses the Derwent Strength Index, which evaluates the strength of inventions by considering factors like investment, impact, and patent validity. This approach focuses on early indicators of innovation rather than just financial outcomes. It identifies organizations that have consistently contributed to innovation over the past five years. The final ranking aggregates these measures to offer insights into global research and innovation dynamics.
« This ranking enables us to compare a number of global players in terms of their innovation strategies and investments. And it does so by focusing on patentable inventions, which is in line with our approach to innovation at CEA-Leti, » explains Thomas Ernst.