Nov 7, 2011

Ecolab Moves Up Eight Spots in Patent Board Rankings

The Chemicals Patent Scorecard™ in last month’s Wall Street Journal ranked Ecolab 12 on a list of the world’s top 165 chemical companies. It’s the company’s highest ranking yet when comparing year-over-year results. Last year, Ecolab ranked 20 out of 171 companies during this same quarter.

Companies are arranged according to the relative strength of their patent portfolios as measured by the Patent Board™, a for-profit, independent organization that researches and analyzes patent activity for investors.

“Building robust intellectual property is an essential component of ensuring our competitive advantage,” said Larry Berger, senior vice president and chief technical officer. “Our RD&E teams are increasingly focused on developing proprietary, differentiated and sustainable solutions that help our customers succeed. We work hard to protect our innovations for all of our stakeholders.”

Each week the Patent Board ranks companies in one of 17 industries according to various metrics. By monitoring patent activity, the Patent Board draws conclusions on a company’s innovation, technology and science strength.

“Investors monitor the Patent Board rankings as a return on investment into research and development,” explained Andy Sorensen, chief patent counsel at Ecolab. “We’re extremely pleased with the latest results regarding Ecolab, especially given RD&E’s renewed focus on developing more game-changing innovations.”