Siemens' patent portfolio now comprises 57,300 patents worldwide. The number of invention disclosures submitted also reached a new high of 8,900. Twelve particularly successful researchers and developers whom Siemens honoured as Inventors of the Year 2012 in Munich on December 13 played a leading role here.

These individuals alone account for 613 invention disclosures and 734 individual patents. "Your brilliant ideas are the basis for highly innovative products that are already driving energy efficiency and productivity in many industries," said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher at the awards ceremony. "With every invention and every patent, our researchers and developers are paving the way for Siemens' continued growth."

Siemens again pushed its power of innovation to new heights in fiscal 2012. The number of invention disclosures exceeded the prior-year figure by five percent, rising to more than 8,900 inventions or about 41 per workday. Today, each of the company's roughly 29,500 R&D employees discloses an average of more than twice as many inventions as ten years ago. As a result, the number of first patent filings in fiscal 2012 rose seven percent year-over-year, to approximately 4,600 or nearly 21 per workday.

The inventors honoured by Siemens were from all aspects of the Siemens industry portfolio and Karen Lontka was honoured for her invention for ensuring power supply to fire alarms. When fire breaks out in a building, lives are at risk. Particularly in high-rise office blocks, it is vital that fire alarm systems are 100 percent reliable, even in the event of a power failure. Karen Lontka has invented a special electrical circuit which ensures that the voltage available to a fire alarm system is always adequate — even in the event of a blackout, when the alarm system is powered by a battery. Lontka works in the Infrastructure & Cities Sector in Florham, New Jersey, U.S. Her new circuit is already in use in the fire alarm systems produced by Siemens in the U.S.