Xerox Research Centre of Canada achieves 1,000th patent
The Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) today announced it has been awarded its 1,000th U.S.
patent, surpassing a key milestone in the facility's 30+ year record of innovation responsible for
piquing the interest of, amongst others, the Canadian federal and provincial governments and global
research community.
With only 120 scientists, XRCC has generated approximately 160 potentially commercial technology ideas every year in the past several years, working at breakneck speed to pursue almost four novel scientific ideas per week. This has resulted in 40-60 patents on average per year.
"Achieving our 1,000th patent is testament to the innovative prowess and productivity of XRCC people," says Hadi Mahabadi, Xerox vice president and director of the Centre. "It emphasizes that building a research facility in a location rich with creative talent, a diversity of cultures and knowledge, and a multi-disciplinary scientific focus is a recipe for innovation success."
XRCC's reputation for turning fundamental research concept into tangible, commercial product or service innovations has led to the heightened visibility of the centre and recent visits by key government officials. These include Arthur Carty, national science advisor to the prime minister, who sought to identify where Canadian industry in general might learn from XRCC on how to foster innovation at a similar pace.
Today XRCC continues its mandate of developing imaging and consumable materials for Xerox globally - the same work that won XRCC the 2005 Innovation and Leadership Award for Best Emerging Technology from the CATAAlliance. This was for the development of Emulsion Aggregation (EA) Toner technology -- a scientific breakthrough based on nanotechnology that now is the core of Xerox's products -- which enables significantly less toner usage and is made using a more organic, environmentally-friendly process than traditional methods.
XRCC researchers have also been instrumental in designing key proprietary materials and production processes that have enabled Xerox products to achieve market leadership. Among XRCC's many innovations are the photoreceptor pigment and toner resin for the iGen3 Digital Production Press.
U.S. patent number 6,985,690 for "Fuser and Fixing Members Containing PEI-PDMS Block Copolymers" is the 1,000th patent awarded to XRCC scientists since the lab received its first patent in 1979. Says Mahabadi about the most recent patent: "This invention is part of the portfolio of patents that further enhance print image quality and fuser cost-effectiveness, both in direct response to Xerox customer needs. And, as proud as we are to have 1,000 patents under our collective belt, everyone at XRCC is focused on the future inventions that will underwrite Xerox's technology leadership in the year to come."
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