To feed the need for advanced products like the Chevy Volt, GM is pressing to take the lead in patent work.
The Patent Board has ranked General Motors as the top innovator of 182 companies in its quarterly automotive and transportation industry scorecard.
The Board analyzes intellectual property performance across 17 industries and determines the leader in each sector based on measurements that include the number of patents, impact on the industry, and technology and science strength.
GM also ranked first in the automotive/transportation sector in the previous scorecard, published in January.
“We focus on inventions that make our vehicles more sustainable,” said Alan Taub, GM’s vice president of R&D. “Our engineers are developing advanced technologies that increase fuel efficiency and ensure safety while maintaining the excitement of personal mobility.”
The Patent Board announcement follows recent news that GM received more clean-energy patents last year than any other organization, according to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index of U.S. patents. GM also received 940 U.S. patents in 2010, which placed it in the top 25 of all companies.
Some of the technology developed by GM will be used to build a high-volume electric motor for GM’s next generation rear-wheel drive two-mode Hybrid system at the automaker’s plant in Baltimore, Md. GM is breaking ground on that new plant this week.
The new GM plant will be a first of its kind in the United States and is expected to create 200 new jobs in the region. The plant will come online in 2013 producing motors for GM’s two-mode system.
GM said that the Baltimore Transmission operation will allow the company to more efficiently control the design, materials and production processes.