Xerox`s 2004 research and development investment has resulted in the addition of 520 US utility patents, taking the number of patents the company has registered since inception to over 16 000.
The 2004 patents were registered in areas ranging from mobile document imaging to colour print reproduction, management of print shops, and advanced materials that can improve the performance of printers and copiers.
"These patents typify the creativeness that is enriching existing products, developing next-generation product platforms, and exploring technologies for new growth opportunities," says Rob Abraham, MD of Bytes Document Solutions, the sole authorised distributor of Xerox products in southern Africa. "The innovations they represent are at the heart of Xerox`s future success; they are the way Xerox creates shareholder value."
Abraham notes that Xerox introduced 40 new products in 2004. Through the third quarter of last year, two-thirds of the company`s equipment sales were generated from products launched in the last two years.
The company`s research helps customers in workplaces and commercial printing environments increase the intelligence, quality and productivity of their documents and work processes and build new businesses.
"Much of Xerox`s research is tightly co-ordinated with business units; the remainder is aimed at developing future opportunities in core business and in related areas of expertise," Abraham says. "Our intellectual property process identifies ideas that will spawn the coming waves of document services and technologies - those that our customers can ride to new levels of productivity."
Xerox was awarded a number of strategic patents in 2004 that strengthened its intellectual property portfolio. Included were patents in the areas of capturing and converting documents from hard copy to digital form using a mobile phone or phone camera; streamlining production printing shop operations to become more productive; and achieving more accurate colour reproduction from one printer to the next.
Other key patents include those that help make printer parts such as photoreceptors last longer; belt coatings that improve product performance; and a flexible and efficient way to compress and decompress digital documents, allowing print professionals to produce high-resolution colour prints with fully personalised content and images at speeds of 100 pages per minute.
"Xerox operates research and technology centres in the US, Canada and Europe where work is conducted in colour science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials, and other disciplines connected to our expertise in printing and document management," Abraham adds. "The company consistently builds its inventions into business by embedding them in Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation of new businesses, or selling them to other entities."
In addition to the patents granted to Xerox last year, its joint-venture partner in Japan, Fuji Xerox, was awarded 202 patents, raising the overall patent total for the Xerox Group in 2004 to 717. The combined total ranks the Xerox Group among the top 25 US patent winners in 2004, as one of the US`s most prolific generators of inventions.
Share
Bytes Document Solutions, previously known as Xerox South Africa (Pty) Ltd, is a South African company engaged in the marketing and servicing of a complete range of Xerox document equipment software, solutions and services. The Bytes Technology Group Limited, as a listed entity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, wholly owns Bytes Document Solutions, the Xerox distributor in 25 African countries. For more information on Xerox, visit www.xerox.com/news.
Editorial contacts