PSA Leads in 2011 French Patent Filings

PARIS – PSA Peugeot Citroen again was the leading company to publish patents in France in 2011 with a total of 1,237, up 85 from a year earlier.

Auto industry research and development is heavily represented in France, and the country encourages research with tax benefits. Last year’s 20 biggest filers published 38% more patents than in 2010.

Robert Bosch filed 57% more patents in 2011 than prior-year, but Renault filings fell 56%, dropping the auto maker to 10^th place from second place in 2010.

Ranked 11^th was IFP Nouvelle Energies, the former Petroleum Institute, a research laboratory now looking at other forms of energy. The Atomic Energy Agency, which published the third-most patents, also is working on alternate-energy research for transportation, but to a lesser extent.

Glass-products manufacturer Saint Gobain, a major auto supplier in Europe, ranked 15th.

According to the National Institute of Intellectual Property, the biggest industrial sectors after the auto industry filing patents were aeronautics, telecommunications, electronics, cosmetics and chemistry. Safran, an aerospace-defense company, was the overall No.2 filer, with 573 patents.

Although the top 20 filers increased their patent production 38% last year, the total in the country, 16,750, was up only 1% from 2010. France is trying to encourage small and medium-size businesses, but the country is oriented toward large groups.

Some 300 of the PSA patents were for innovations in its diesel-hybrid program, in which the rear axle is powered by an electric motor.

The auto maker filed another 52 patents for its new 3-cyl. gasoline engines, 17 of them for the cylinder head that takes up less space under the hood.

Other patents involved a lane-keeping system using a camera, and automatic headlamps on the Citroen DS5.

"Maintaining this level of patent activity in an economic crisis demonstrates our commitment to maintain a dynamic policy of industrial property,” says Marc Duval-Destin, director-research and advanced engineering. He says PSA files patents selectively to protect technologies it deems strategic.

The patents published in 2011 were filed between June 2009 and June 2010.