STUTTGART, Germany – Last year, researchers and developers from the Bosch Group registered more patents than ever before. The number of first-filed patents rose by seven percent to a total of 3,281 – equaling an average of 14 developments submitted to the patent offices for first filing every working day. The number of patents granted and inventions registered to the company in 2007 also rose by eight percent to 6,560. The only Bosch developments that are filed are those that the company feels are sufficiently significant.
In total, the number of patents, patent registrations, and utility models held by the Bosch Group amounts to around 77,000. "These figures are impressive evidence of the innovative strength of the Bosch Group," said Dr. Siegfried Dais, whose responsibilities as deputy chairman of the board of management include research and development.
In the past year, Bosch increased its expenditure on research and development by nine percent to 3.6 billion euros. In other words, investment in this field accounted for just under eight percent of the company's sales of roughly $63 billion. Approximately 30,000 associates work in research and development worldwide.
