KUALA LUMPUR – Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s research and development (R&D) arm, Top Glove International Sdn Bhd, had the second-most number of patent applications to the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) last year.
It said although patent filings had traditionally been dominated by universities, this development reflected a growing trend of industry-based R&D.
“Top Glove will continue to intensify its investment in R&D, artificial intelligence and digitalisation in view of which the company will continue to recruit more talents for its growing R&D team to advance its journey towards Industry 4.0,” it said in a statement today.
Last year, the group’s R&D centres filed 52 patent applications in Malaysia and 97 patent applications overseas related to gloves and glove formers, dental dams, chemicals used in the glove industry and automation systems, which enhance product quality and improve the production efficiency.
Top Glove, which owns more than 300 intellectual property protections (IPs) locally and globally, currently has nine R&D centres throughout Malaysia and Thailand with each focusing and specialising in different areas of research development.
It said these centres collectively employed about 1,000 researchers mainly engineers, chemists and scientists, comprising over 40 PhD graduates, over 100 master’s degree holders and over 700 bachelor’s degree holders.
“These centres continue to spearhead ongoing multidisciplinary research to consolidate and adapt to the rapidly shifting global market trends while creating new developments for its high quality and lifesaving gloves, and other personal protective equipment,” it said.
According to MyIPO, the top five Malaysian patent applicants in Malaysia for 2020 are Mimos Bhd, Top Glove International, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, University Malaya, and Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas). – Bernama, February 15, 2021
