DuPont breaks innovation record

DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Uma Chowdhry announced that the company’s innovation results set a new record in 2009 despite the global economic recession.

The record year innovation results include:

Sales from new products

DuPont sales from new products launched in the previous five years reached $10 billion in 2009, or 39% of revenue. Uma announced that in 2010 the definition of “new product” will change to products commercialized within a four-year window.

"Our market-driven science and intense customer focus helped our customers distinguish themselves vs. their competitors with our differentiated offerings. Government stimulus-related opportunities in China enabled several new launches, boosting global revenue,” Uma said.

New Product Launches

DuPont commercialized more than 1,400 new products and applications in 2009, more new products than in any prior year and a 60% increase from 2008.

Patents Filed and Granted

DuPont scientists and engineers filed 2,086 patent applications in the U.S., the highest number in the company’s history and up 8% from 2008. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted DuPont 592 patents, a 20% increase over 2008.

DuPont has the strongest patent portfolio in the chemical industry according to the Patent Scorecard™ issued on Feb. 23.  The company has received this top ranking every quarter since January 2007 when the PatentBoard™ first issued the scorecard. DuPont was rated more than twice as strong as second place BASF for “Technology Strength, an aggregate measure of the overall quality of a company’s patent strength.”  DuPont also is a sector-leading constituent of the Ocean Tomo 300® Patent Index, the industry’s first index based on the value of intellectual property, for holding the highest innovation ratio within the materials industry sector.

"Innovation is a critical lever for DuPont, whether it is at the peak of economic growth or in the midst of a recession,” Uma said.  “Our commitment to innovation did not waver, even through the worst recession in decades, and it is paying off.  Our R&D engine continues to deliver to the top and bottom line at DuPont.  New products underpin our marketing success, and volumes for our new, differentiated products were strong through the downturn, helping us to achieve outstanding results.”