BlackBerry Named One of World’s Top 100 Most Innovative Organizations of 2013
Last month, Interbrand knocked BlackBerry off its list of world’s most powerful brands, despite technology overall rising significantly. It summed up the Waterloo-based company’s recent struggles neatly.
Today, though, BlackBerry got some rare positive recognition. Thomson Reuters recognized the smartphone pioneer as one of the world’s top 100 most innovative organizations of 2013.
It is BlackBerry’s first appearance on the list. BlackBerry is the only Canadian company on the third-annual list, next to 45 US companies. According to Thomson Reuters, BlackBerry’s innovation was “driven by a 38 percent surge in patent filings between 2010 and 2011, and 17 percent growth in patent filings between 2011 and 2012.”
“Now in its third year, the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators study provides further evidence that innovative organizations—those that secure global patent protection for their intellectual property, continue to push the envelope with new technologies and invest more in R&D—are those that outperform the S&P 500 on virtually every measure of business success,” noted David Brown, managing director, Thomson Reuters IP Solutions.
“These are the companies that are driving growth, creating jobs and pioneering new products and services; we are honored to recognize their efforts through this annual program,” he added.
The 100 organizations in the 2013 study outperformed the S&P 500 for the third consecutive year. This year’s winners also outspent the S&P 500 by 8.8 percent on R&D; collectively they invested $223 billion in their research and development efforts.
