Focus on innovation at Xerox produces more than 500 patents in 2004

This unflagging commitment to innovation fueled by the brainpower of Xerox scientists and engineers has netted more than 16,000 patents since Xerox was founded and is the launch pad for future growth.

"These patents typify the creative brilliance that's enriching existing products, developing next-generation product platforms, and exploring potentially disruptive technologies for new growth opportunities. The innovations they represent are at the heart of Xerox's future success; they are the way Xerox creates shareholder value," said Hervé Gallaire, chief technology officer and president, Xerox Innovation Group.

Through the third quarter of last year, about two-thirds of the company's equipment sales were generated from products launched in the last two years. "Our intellectual property process identifies ideas that will spawn the coming waves of document services and technologies - ones that customers in the Middle East can utilize for new levels of productivity," he added.

Ben Gale, MEA General Manager Sales & Marketing, Distributor Operations of Xerox International noted that Xerox introduced 40 new products in 2004, and as part of an expansion drive in the Middle East, 30 of these were launched at GITEX 2004, the leading Middle East IT exhibition. The newly launched products in the region included a variety of printers, faxes, scanners and multifunction systems.

"The new patents are symbolic of Xerox's commitment to office innovation and its ability to continue delivering cutting edge products to market," commented Gale. "The Middle East is a key market for Xerox International and we are working hard to further understand its requirements so we can utilize such patents to deliver better products to the area. As an example, we are currently working on an Arabic Morphological Analyzer that translates from Arabic to English as the person types as well as by cutting and pasting."

Xerox provides unmatched expertise in document systems, services and solutions. Its 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 Xerox research is tightly coordinated with business units, ensuring that Xerox can take on board the requirements of markets such as the Middle East and meet them; the remainder is aimed at developing future opportunities both in its core business and in related areas of expertise.

In addition to the patents granted to Xerox last year, its joint-venture partner in Japan, Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd., was awarded 202 patents, raising the overall patent total for the Xerox Group to 717. The combined total ranks the Xerox Group among the top 25 U.S. patent winners in 2004. With more than 16,000 U.S. patents granted since the company's founding, Xerox is one of the country's most prolific generators of inventions.

Xerox Corporation operates research and technology centers in the United States, Canada and France that conduct work in color science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials and other disciplines connected to Xerox's expertise in printing and document management. 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 licensing or selling them to other entities.