What defines
the next level?

The methodology of measuring difference.

Download the 2024 report

What makes you
stand out?

Measuring and ranking innovative performance is not just a volume game.

To overcome its complexities, we use live thresholds of differentiation – updated daily, as every record enters the measurement pool. We measure the quality of patented ideas, the potency of their contribution and their effect on their field.

We have combined modern analytical architecture with our 60 years of experience measuring global innovation, providing immediate and strategic implications. Our analysis comprises:

1.1 million innovators and organizations over
61 million inventions

3,500 qualifying companies and institutions

100 ranks
The top 0.001%

Innovation Ranking Methodology

Innovation performance is a multi-faceted measurement. The following criteria inform how we rank each invention.





International factor

The scale and ratio of two-country protection of the
same invention, measured at the entity level

Invention strength

The combined score across the four factors for the invention:

  • Influence
    the level of technical leadership of the
    invention, via its effect on the ideas of other
  • Success
    the level of economic asset the invention
    produced as a valid, novel idea
  • Investment
    the level of monetary and geographic
    investment in the invention
  • Rarity
    where the invention sits on the development curve

Global Innovator Score

International factor x median invention strength

Defining ideas

Behind any meaningful measure of innovation must sit
authoritative and robust data. 

Top 100 Global Innovators is powered by deep analysis of core Clarivate™ research and innovation data that records and structures the available technical knowledge of humanity. That adds layers of data science in measurement and that embeds diligence and expertise in its creation.

Derwent World Patents Index™ (DWPI™)

A database of the patented ideas, DWPI records where and when inventions are protected across 60 patent-issuing states and authorities, with each idea distilled into English-language summaries and categorized into the industry, the technology and the need.

Created by thousands of Clarivate science and engineering expert editors, DWPI acts as the library of global human invention and patented problem solving.

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Derwent Patents Citation Index™

A sister database to DWPI, Derwent Patents Citation Index focuses on inventions that have been referenced by applicants and patent examiners in later, downstream patent applications.

Emulating DWPI invention-level structure, Derwent Patents Citation Index automatically removes double, triple (or more) counting of
citation events between the same patented ideas. Accessing the same distillation of industry and technology, it provides a record of the links between ideas as they develop.

Learn more

More on Top 100 Global Innovators 2024

Will your next move
be decisive?

Think forward to an IP-empowered tomorrow.

At Clarivate, we help you put your intangible assets — your intellectual property — at the heart of your business. With every solution we offer and every insight we deliver, we aim to help you anticipate and navigate the ever-evolving challenges and trends that impact innovation and the global IP ecosystem.

This is our Think forward™ promise — connecting you to intelligence you can trust to ensure an IP-empowered tomorrow.

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