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According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Thomson Reuters, a global information company, announced the Top 100 Global Innovators on November 6. The Korean companies on the list include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, LS Cable & System and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

Based on extensive patent-related indices, Thomson Reuters selects the top 100 innovators that have led the global innovation sector since 2011. (For the full report: http://www.top100innovators.com).

The major indices for determining an innovator include the number of patent applications, success rate of patent registration and patent portfolio accessibility.

Thomson Reuters stated that the profit increase rate and research and development (R&D) investment increase rate of innovators is more than twice that of the S&P 500 companies and NASDAQ companies.

Japan topped the list with 39 companies, including Sony, Toshiba and Toyota. Huawei, a Chinese company, and ETRI, a Korean institute, have made it onto the list for the first time.

Asian innovators accounted for the most, with 46 companies, followed by 36 North American innovators and 18 European innovators.

By industry, semiconductor and electronic components surpassed other industries with 21 innovators. However, many IT companies were on the list, including Apple and Microsoft.

Pharmaceutical companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Roche, were also included on the list.

"The term ‘innovation’ has been used so rampantly that we miss, from time to time, the true innovations. Thomson Reuters identifies the companies that invented the most products and how proactively they protect their inventions,” said Basil Moftah, president of the IP & Science business of Thomson Reuters.

whan@newsis.com

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