50 patents earn scientists elite status during Xerox’s 50th year in Canada

Mississauga, ON October 30, 2003 This year, Xerox is celebrating 50 years in Canada. At the same time, researchers and scientists at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada are marking another milestone. They are celebrating the fact that 50 US patents were gained by more than a dozen of the centre’s scientists; 160 inventions were submitted in 2002; and 72 patents more than 10% of the company’s yearly patent total were issued to the centre’s scientists.

“One technology patent in today’s world is difficult for an individual to obtain, and reaching 50 is an achievement that few researchers at Canadian technology companies can claim,” says Rafik Loutfy, director, Xerox Research Centre of Canada. “Xerox is fortunate to have so many leading scientific minds innovating and shaping technologies for the rest of the world right from our doorstep.”

Peter Kazmaier is the centre’s most recent scientist to achieve 50 patents and has spent more than two decades of innovation with the company. Additionally, five of his research colleagues also achieved the 50-patent milestone in 2002 and were recognized last night for their accomplishment. The scientists were:

– Jim Duff (October 2002)
– Stephen Drappel (July 2002)
– Cheng-Kuo Hsiao (September 2002)
– Rick Veregin (March 2002)
– Raymond Wong (April 2002)

Other XRCC researchers achieving 50 patents in the past five years are:

– Raj Patel (June 1998)
– Hadi Mahabadi (December 1998)
– Marcel Breton (February 2000)
– Ah Mee Hor (May 2001)

In addition to the scientists who have achieved 50 patents, three of the centre’s researchers Beng Ong (1999), Shadi Malhotra (2000) and Guerino Sacripante (2001) recently reached the milestone of attaining 100 patents, a highlight achieved only nine times in Xerox’s nearly 100-year history.

The Xerox Research Centre of Canada was founded in 1974 in Mississauga, with a global mandate for materials development. Since its inception the centre has been awarded more than 890 US patents. The company says innovations generated recently include EA toner that narrows the gap between colour- and monochrome-printing costs, and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display device with the potential to replace liquid-crystal display screens.