SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions is one of the most innovative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) 2021/2022. That ist the result of a survey conducted by the independent Deutsche Gesellschaft für Verbraucherstudien (DtGV). The evaluation was based on all patent applications filed by German SMEs in 2020. Specifically, the number of patents granted to companies in 2020 was examined based on the Corporate Patent Classification (CPC) system. The search included the data generation of all patent offices worldwide. The basic parameter of number of patents was rounded off and condensed into a score value by the qualitative indicator of citation frequency.
SCHWIND was successful in one of the most innovative fields of investigation, healthcare and lifesaving, securing a top spot among the top 10 % of SMEs in their industry. The company scored particularly well due to granted patents for its SCHWIND ATOS femtosecond laser. “The continuous aspiration for innovation leadership is part of the SCHWIND DNA. We are proud to have received an official testimony of our innovative strength”, says CEO Rolf Schwind. “Patents are an expression of inventiveness, protect intellectual achievements in the process of developing innovative products and prove that a novel approach has been found. That is why we are particularly pleased about this award”, comments Thomas Wendler, Head of R&D.
With the SME Innovation Award 2021/2022, the DtGV explicitly honours these companies for their extraordinary innovative strength for the first time. The stated objective of the evaluation is to highlight small and medium sized enterprises as the backbone of the German economy and to include patents as basic unit of innovative strength. The division into industry-related main classes ensured that only companies with similar fields of innovation competed against each other.