Dialog^® Analysis Shows Emergence of Chinese Manufacturers in Medical Devices

Analysis of trademark activity shows American firms still dominate, but China is becoming more active

Morrisville, NC (January 11, 2010)

A new report on trademark activity by Dialog^®, a leader in online information services for professional searchers, explores the worldwide growth of the medical device market. The results, published in Dialog’s Eye on Innovation, suggest that while American manufacturers continue to be the center of innovation and dominate the global market, Chinese manufacturers are increasing their activity and are poised for continuing growth.

“Many studies highlight p oor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyles that are contributing to an increase in cardiovascular diseases in the developed and developing world. The industry outlook suggests the cardiovascular medical products industry will continue to be one of the fastest growing industries within the healthcare sector throughout the world,” said Suzanne BeDell, Dialog General Manager. “This report aims to provide clues as to which companies will drive growth and innovation.”

Dialog’s analysis focused on “intent to use" trademark filings for cardiovascular medical devices. These applications identify upcoming use of brand names, logos or taglines for a new business, product launch or ad campaign. The results reveal that in the U.S. Minnesota-based Medtronic has the most sustained trademark activity in cardiovascular medical devices, with an average of five trademarks filings per year for the past five years. However, Biotronik has been particularly active in the past year suggesting plans for aggressive growth. Bethlehem, PA-based Invatec Technology Center and Abbott Park, IL Abbott Cardiovascular Systems are emerging as strong market contenders.

The analysis also shows that Chinese trademarks for medical devices are increasing, which may impact such American firms as New Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson & Johnson, Medtronics, and Irvine, CA-based Edwards LifeSciences, which have had an active presence in China. Chinese companies showing rapid, aggressive activity include Zhe Jiang Hao Zhong Hao Jian Kang Chan Pin You, which has filed for 83 trademarks this year alone. Ha Er Bin Le Tai Yao Ye You Xian Gong Si filed 20 new trademarks in 2009 for a total of 98 in the last five years.

“We applied Dialog search tools on Dialog content to chart possible next steps in a hot industry,” said Ms. BeDell. “Analysis such as this can reveal a great deal about the quality of a competitor’s incremental innovations. Observing trademarks are great clues to a companies’ behavior on branding strategies as well as signaling introductions of new goods and services.”

Dialog creates content and technology to help organizations drive innovation. Users rely on Dialog to discover, validate and market. To see the complete list of companies most active in cardiovascular medical devices visit dialog.com to read the article in Eye on Innovation.

About Dialog
Dialog (www.dialog.com), a pioneer of online searching in advance of the internet, is the global leader in providing mission-critical information that drives research in science, engineering, business and intellectual property. The online services provided by Dialog — offered through the Dialog^® and DataStar^® brands — give users the ability to search through more than 1.5 billion unique records from the world's most authoritative publishers. Sources include in-depth, deep web repositories of scientific, technical and biomedical data, patents and trademarks, and thousands of industry, news and company information sources. Librarians, researchers and information users from corporate, professional and government organizations in more than 100 countries prize Dialog for depth of content, precision searching and the ability to provide complete solutions.

Dialog, LLC, part of the ProQuest (www.proquest.com) family of brands, is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, with offices in Sunnyvale, California, and London.

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