Unilever : innovation recognised as it tops European patents list

26/02/2015

In 2014, Unilever - which has three global research and development facilities located in the UK, for refreshments, home care, personal care and deodorants - submitted 226 applications with the EPO, followed by Rolls Royce and British Telecom.

Patent filings at the European Patent Office (EPO) grew by 3.1% in 2014, hitting a new record high. Companies from the UK filed 6,823 patents at the EPO last year, well above the 1.2% average increase of the 38 EPO member states, reaching the highest growth rate since 2011. Besides the UK, other countries with a strong growth in filings compared to the previous year were the Netherlands and France.

-Ends-

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with operations in over 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. We have more than 171,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €46.5 billion in 2011.

Working to create a better future every day, we help people to feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Our portfolio includes some of the world's best known and most loved brands including thirteen €1 billion brands, and global leadership in most categories in which we operate. The portfolio features iconic brands such as: Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Persil, Cif, Marmite, Flora, Wall's, Lynx, Sure, Cif, Domestos and Pot Noodle.

Unilever's ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. All of these goals are itemised in around 60 time-based commitments in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Unilever has led the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 13 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and was named #1 in the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders according to the latest survey findings from GlobeScan Inc. and SustainAbility Ltd.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.co.uk.