When we talk about the region having innovative and successful countries, the list can’t go on without having Mideast on it. Apart from a major source of the world’s crude oil and petroleum exports, countries from Mideast have also earned accolades for a hub for successful startups.

The transcontinental region in the western part of the Asia joins the club of innovation with royal countries like Saudi Arabia, tech hub like Israel – with more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups – and Turkey.

To get a clearer picture of participation of Mideast countries in innovation in the USA, we studied their patent filing activities – one patent per family – with the USPTO. Our study revealed that, in the last 5 years, companies based out at Mideast have filed more than 20k patents at the USPTO.

In this post, we have provided you the top five Mideast countries filing patents with the USPTO. Other than that, you will also know the top three assignees from these countries.

But how all this helps me, you ask? The article will be of your interest if you are –

A US attorney who wants to extend his services to clients outside the US. An investor who always looks for interesting technologies for investment or licensing. A company looking for licensing with institutes from the Mideast to modify its products/technologies. A University looking for other partners working in a similar space.

So we can say that the analysis serves a range, that is, from a company who wants to set up its R&D facility in the Mideast, to an investor who is interested in finding emerging technologies in a specific country in the Mideast. Moreover, in upcoming posts of the series, we will let you know the top three technologies popular in these countries and the law firms or independent attorneys involved in patent filing.

Top Five Countries from Mideast Pushing the Innovation Envelope

The graph below gives the top ten countries from the Mideast that filed maximum number of patents with the USPTO in the last five years.

Israel

Israel, which is ranked #13 in term of scientific research tops the list with more than 15,000 patents. This isn’t surprising at all as it spends a large part of its GDP – 4.2% in 2012 – on research and development.

The top industries comprising the innovation there are related to technological and biomedical equipments.

Top Three Assignees of Israel filing Patents at the USPTO

The graph below provides the top assignees in Israel with their patent counts.

Ramot at Tel-Aviv University, with 298 patents, is the top assignee from Israel filing patents with the USPTO. Founded in 1973, the university is responsible for major innovations in Electronics, Defense and security, and biotechnology sectors. Yeda Research and Development, a company founded in 1959, is the second top assignee from Israel. The company is based on R&D and identifies the project with commercial potential. Yissum Research Development, a technology transfer company of the Hebrew University, sits in the #3 positions. It is focused on marketing and licensing the products that are developed by university researchers.

Turkey

Turkey with more than 3000 patents filed with USPTO sits in #2 positions. Steel production, agriculture and automotive industries are areas where Turkey spends most of its R&D funds.

Top Three Assignees of Turkey filing Patents at the USPTO

The above graph is of the top assignee in Turkey with their patent counts.

The top assignee in turkey is Arcelik Anonim Sirketi; the company was founded in 1955 and is known for consumer electronics and home appliances. The 2nd top assignee is Bilgic Mahmut with 124 patents. Most of the patents filed by this company are based on pharmaceutical products. The 3rd top assignee is Vestel Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS, founded in 1997. Just like Arcelik Anonim Sirketi, Vestel Beyaz is also involved in production of home appliances like refrigerator, washing machines and air conditioners.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the #3 country that has filed over 2000 patents in past five years with the USPTO. Saudi Arabian economy survives on oil and petrochemical production, which account for 92.5% of their total budget revenue. Needles to say, the research there is also focused on oil field technologies.

Top Three Assignees of Saudi Arabia filing Patents at the USPTO

The graph above shows the patent distribution by assignees in Saudi Arabia. As we discussed earlier, the economy of Saudi Arabia is based on oil production and exports, the major assignees of countries are from the oil field domain.

Saudi Aramco, founded in 1933, is on the top of the list. It was known as Arabian American Oil Company before it changed its name in 1988. As the name says, Saudi Aramco is a major oil company in Saudi Arabia.

The Second top assignee is King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals which was established in 1963 and has filed 398 patents in the past 5 years.

The third top company is Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, establish in 1976. The company is based on Petrochemicals and other petroleum products.

The UAE

The United Arab Emirates in among the most digitalized and advanced countries with minimum paperwork, says the World Bank. And by filing over 508 patents in past 5 years, at the USPTO, helps UAE to clinch the fourth spot.

Top Three Assignees of The UAE filing Patents in the USPTO

The above graph reveals that any assignee in the UAE doesn’t outrank other by a large margin. If we take the top five among them, you will find that the top 2 and last two assignees have filed the same number of patent applications. Moreover, Eida Al Muhairbi, at #5, is an independent inventor.

Below is a brief detail of the top three among them.

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation is #1 assignee from the UAE filing patents with the USPTO. The company provides the telecommunication and media services. The second one is Khalifa University of Science and Technology & Research and was founded in 2007. In 2014, it was ranked the top 441st best university in the world. The 3rd top assignee is British Telecommunications, founded in 1984. They also provide the telecommunication services worldwide.

Cyprus

The 5th ranked country in the Mideast is Cyprus. It filed 505 patents in the past 5 years, only 3 less than the UAE. Unlike Israel and Saudi Arabia, research and development isn’t a hot topic in Cyprus as it spends 0.4% – 0.5% of their GDP on it.

It was a little intro about the countries with their patent filing rate and R&D spending. Now we will see the top innovator in between each of them.

Top Three Assignees of Cyprus filing Patents at the USPTO

Like the UAE, patent filing activities in Cyprus are low and there is hardly any large gap in the patent filed by different assignees there. The top three assignees from Cyprus are as follows:

The top assignee is Scambia Holdings Cyprus with 25 patent applications. The company is based on intellectual property licensing. The second top is Bitdefender IPR Management with 21 patents. Just like the top assignee, this company is based on Intellectual property rights management. The third with 16 patents is Mobileye Technologies. The company is based on software/algorithms and manufactures integrated computer products for automobile industries i.e. DAS.