Nicotine Among Fastest Growing Technologies

Nicotine products featured in the IFI Claims Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies—a ranking reflecting five-year growth rates of patent application classifications.

Electronic smoking devices rose 35.8 percent over the past five years, and conventional cigarettes increased 23.2 percent during the same period. The growth rates put them in the same league as autonomous vehicles, which topped the ranking with a 38.3 percent growth rate.

IFI Claims describes its index as “a window into which technologies are attracting R&D attention right now and which companies stand to benefit in the future from patent protection in those spaces.”

According to the firm, patent activity provides valuable insight into companies’ R&D activity for researchers, analysts and investors. “Often, the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties, so examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies,” the company wrote in press note.

“It speaks to productivity, technological efficiency and IP strategy and frequently reveals technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries.”