With 540 patent applications,
ABB has secured second place among Swiss companies in the European Patent Office’s (EPO) Patent Index 2024, jumping from fourth place in 2023. The annual list of patent applications — published by the EPO in Munich, Germany — highlights the companies and countries with the highest number of patents across the globe and showed that ABB was the only company in the top five in Switzerland to record a year-on-year increase (+10.7%), moving up nine places from 45th to 36th place in the EPO’s global top 50 ranking.
ABB’s CEO Morten Wierod said: “At ABB, research and development is driven by the company’s 19 divisions and focuses on developing and commercialising technologies that are strategically important for future growth. ABB’s position on the European Patent Office ranking demonstrates our commitment to sustained innovation and developing world-class technologies that transform industries to reach new levels of performance and sustainability.
“The ranking is testament to the efforts of ABB’s inventors and the wider intellectual property and innovation community. ABB employs 7,800 people in R&D centres in some 30 countries on six continents, with over half dedicated to digital and software development. More than 250 projects are running related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), covering innovations across ABB’s advanced software and digital offering.”
In 2024, ABB made nine new venture investments, and eight follow-on investments totalling about $50 million across its four business areas. In 2024, ABB increased R&D and related spending by about 40% compared with 2020, investing $1,469 million — equivalent to about 4.5% of consolidated revenues and marking a 12% increase year-on-year.