Methodology
Recognizing South Asia's most influential innovators
At Clarivate, we believe that true innovation is defined not just by volume, but by the importance and impact of inventions.
To identify the Top Innovators across South Asia, we apply a rigorous, data-driven methodology grounded in objectivity, global best practices and focused on contribution to the world’s highest-strength patented ideas. Our analysis starts with approximately 22 million patented inventions within the Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI), first published between 2019 and 2023. Using our proprietary Derwent Strength Index, we identify inventions that score within the top 15% strongest inventions within the evaluation window, and therefore inventions with the very highest global mix of influence, investment, success outcomes and technical rarity. This refines the dataset to approximately 3.3 million high-strength inventions globally.
Focusing on South Asia, we limit our analysis to inventions with an applicant address or a first patent filing within the region, excluding multinationals headquartered elsewhere. We apply a criterion of at least five inventions per organization within the high-scoring global collection. Finally, we identify the standout organizations within South Asia that contribute at the highest scale to global high-strength patented innovation.
This updated methodology reflects South Asia’s innovation prowess by revealing the region’s Top Innovators. These organizations exemplify excellence, drive progress and set new benchmarks in global innovation.
Methodology and data
The Top South Asia Innovator list is derived from a systematic and empirical analysis of global invention data. This approach leans on the unique combination of deep technical detail and commercial imperative that is provided by measuring patent filing activity.
Innovativeness is traditionally assessed by financial growth and profitability. However, this perspective overlooks crucial early indicators of future performance. Our methodology focuses on these early indicators by utilizing proprietary data from the DWPI.
The process
We apply a series of measures and metrics to global patented knowledge to identify the organizations within South Asia that lead the region as major contributors to global innovation. The Derwent Strength Index, a scoring algorithm developed by Clarivate, is applied to our proprietary DWPI data to extract transformative intelligence. This index quantitatively measures the strength of an invention and its IP rights.
Metrics and analysis
The Derwent Strength Index metrics measure several key factors that include:
- The level of investment by the applicant.
- The invention’s leadership and impact on third parties.
- The validity and economic footprint of the patents covering the invention.
- The rarity of the invention, effectively mapping its placement on its technology development curve.
When aggregated across technologies, companies and countries, these metrics provide a robust framework for comparing research and innovation dynamics, modeling performance, and benchmarking research strategy strengths and gaps. This methodology identifies organizations that have consistently contributed to high-strength global innovation over the past five years.
By deploying these models, we are able to reveal the leading innovators, providing a comprehensive view of the global innovation landscape.
Measuring the strength of inventions:
Influence
Assessed through the frequency of citations by downstream patent applications, we evaluate the impact of an invention within its technical field, normalized for differences in citation patterns across various technology disciplines (e.g., Digital Computing, Polymers, Semiconductor Fabrication) and geographic regions, as examiners more often cite documents in their own language.
Also accounting for time, we normalize for older documents that tend to accumulate more citations.
The impact measure incorporates thousands of technology-geography time distribution curves to determine the expected citation level for inventions with similar technical and geographic profiles. The algorithm calculates whether an invention’s citation count is above or below this expected level.
Success
The success metric evaluates how patent applications for specific inventions progress to granted patent rights. This measure indicates whether the invention is genuinely new and novel, as determined by the Patent Office in a given jurisdiction.
This metric also normalizes based on the economic size of the jurisdiction where the patent is granted. For example, a patent right in the United States is generally more economically significant than equivalent rights in South Korea, Brazil, and Australia combined due to the higher level of economic activity in the United States. This increased exclusionary power means more potential licensees or higher royalty potential and a greater likelihood of multiple infringers if the idea is copied.
Additionally, the success metric considers the applicant’s commitment to their invention. Globally, only 40-60% of patent applications achieve granted status. A patent application failing to grant is often because only portions of it are valid. The examination process often involves negotiations and adjustments until a core, valid idea remains. This metric reflects the applicant’s dedication to securing some form of IP right, even if it is a reduced version of their original application.
Investment
Investment in an invention is measured by the breadth of geographic patent jurisdiction filings sought by the applicant. This metric assesses the number of different geographic locations or legal jurisdictions where the patent has been applied, reflecting the strategic importance or speculative nature of the patented subject matter to the applicant.
When deciding where to file for patent protection, applicants consider several factors: their market footprint, the importance of the invention, and their confidence in the legal systems of different jurisdictions for enforcing patent rights. These considerations are balanced against the significant costs associated with filing in multiple jurisdictions.
This metric provides valuable insights into corporate decision-making, particularly as it varies across time, technical fields, and use cases. It highlights the strategic considerations and financial commitments involved in protecting IP on a global scale.
Rarity
Rarity measures the distinctiveness of an invention by evaluating the number of other inventions that share the same technology category mix. This metric indicates where an invention lies on the technology development curve, which typically progresses from early speculative interest to rapid growth and problem-solving and finally to a mature phase with iterative improvements.
To assess rarity, we count the number of similar inventions already present in the DWPI. This provides a value indicating the invention’s distinctiveness or rarity at the time it entered the DWPI database. This measure helps identify how unique an invention is within its technical field and its position in the broader landscape of technological development.
Intelligence to transform innovation
At Clarivate, we aim to provide the guidance and the clarity to understand and take advantage of the complex. To use the techniques, the information and the expertise behind the Top 100, contact us today.
