MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC has passed the milestone of having more than 10,000 patents either issued or pending approval, making it the largest owner of intellectual property in the Middle East, as per the company's press release.
SABIC has also significantly increased the rate at which it obtains patents with 2013 seeing a record 373 patent applications filed by the company, a rise of over 300% from the figure in 2010. 2014 could see a further increase with 159 new patent applications applied for in just the first three months of the year.
On average, SABIC files a new patent application every 18 hours, each based on the work of approximately four researchers. This represents greater efficiency than any other top ten company in the chemical industry.
"Intellectual property is an important tool to help SABIC achieve its business goals," said Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation. "Our 10,400 global patent dockets are a reflection of our emphasis on innovation to support our growth," Occhiello said, pointing out that SABIC also has over 550 active disclosures under review.
As MRC wrote before, SABIC developed a new grade of high density polyethylene (HDPE) - SABIC HDPE PCG4906 - for large containers used in healthcare applications in close cooperation with Mauser, a well-known supplier of blow moulded industrial packaging solutions.
SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC