Tempe-based Align Technology has earned a spot on LexisNexi’® Legal & Professional’s list of the “Top 100 Global Innovators” for 2026.
“Align Technology’s fifth consecutive appearance is an impressive achievement that reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to advancing the quality and impact of its innovations each year,” said Marco Richter, managing director and chief commercial officer for LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions, about Align Technology. “In medical technology, that kind of sustained excellence translates directly into better patient outcomes, while also advancing progress across the industry. Align’s innovation leadership also pays dividends for the broader Phoenix community, as it attracts and elevates scientific and technical talent in the community that will seed the next generation of Phoenix entrepreneurs and visionaries.”
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LexisNexis® Legal & Professional today announced the “Top 100 Global Innovators” for 2026, the companies around the world that are driving innovation in the global economy, based on quantifiable improvement in the patent portfolios held by those companies over the last two years. Representing 18 countries, the top 100 companies were identified through an analysis by LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions using its proven Patent Asset Index methodology across its database of more than 17 million global patent families.
“Innovation can sometimes feel like an abstract concept that is hard to measure and even harder to improve. Happily, patent analytics can provide a relevant and impactful gauge for evaluating innovation from companies across all industries, technologies, and sizes,” said Richter. “LexisNexis® Patent Asset Index provides an objective apples-to-apples framework for analyzing innovation leadership based on changes in the strength of each company’s patent assets. This goes beyond simply counting patents. The Top 100 Global Innovators have showcased true leadership by advancing the world’s knowledge and developing technologies and services that help shape a better future.”
In addition to Align Technology, other companies on the list with Arizona ties include TSMC, Intel, Amazon, Boeing and Nestlé.
Key Insights
Semiconductors Take the Lead: Having dominated the 2025 ranking by company count, pharmaceuticals cede the top position this year to the semiconductor industry, which leads with 14 honorees. Pharmaceuticals now rank second with 13 companies, followed by Chemicals and Materials with 12 entrants.
Innovators Span the Globe: For the fifth consecutive year, US-based companies dominated the Top 100 Global Innovators with 46 honorees. US-based companies on the list excel in Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technology, while Asia dominates representation in Chemicals and Materials. Notably, within the Asian region there is balanced representation from China, Korea, and Japan, each represented by seven companies. EMEA scores highest in the Automotive sector with strong representation from Germany.
Top 100 Global Innovators by Industry Sector
| Industries | Americas | Asia | EMEA | Grand Total |
| Semiconductors | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 10 | – | 3 | 13 |
| Chemicals and Materials | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| Consumer Goods | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Information Technologies | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Engineering | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Medical Technologies | 7 | – | – | 7 |
| Technology R&D | 5 | 1 | – | 6 |
| Automotive | – | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Electronics | 2 | 4 | – | 6 |
| Biotechnologies | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| Appliances | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Conglomerates | – | 1 | 1 | |
| Grand Total | 47 | 26 | 27 | 100 |
New Entrants Range from Startups to Industry Giants: The report introduces 21 new entrants to the list, reflecting the increasingly global and cross-sector nature of breakthrough innovation. From small companies to global conglomerates, those new companies include innovators such as Adeia and Flagship Pioneering (US), Airbus and Safran (EMEA), and Fujitsu and LONGi Green Energy (Asia), illustrating the breadth of momentum, as they span advanced engineering, next-generation electronics, clean energy technologies, and life sciences.
Intellectual Property Drives Corporate Strategy: The report emphasizes the importance of high-quality, impactful patent portfolios in driving competitive advantage and revenue. For example, IBM reflects a value-driven approach, while Adeia focuses on acquiring strategic portfolios for targeted growth, and Huawei and InterDigital demonstrate how strong portfolios underpin sustainable licensing revenue.
Smaller Companies Demonstrate Value of Patent Assets: Smaller, specialist players such as Acuitas Therapeutics, Strong Force IP, Ofinno, and Magic Leap illustrate how focused capabilities and high-value IP can create outsized strategic relevance. This dynamic is reinforced by the combination of two companies on this year’s Top 100 list, as Eli Lilly acquired venture-backed Orna Therapeutics in February.
US and China Dominate Academic Arena: The academic innovation leaders are mostly made up of US and Chinese institutions, highlighting their central role in high-impact research. The United States features leading research institutions such as the Broad Institute, MIT, Harvard, and the University of California, while China shows strong depth across multiple universities and research labs. Europe is solely represented by Germany’s Fraunhofer, underscoring continued strength in applied research and technology transfer.
Five-Year Innovation Momentum Shows Both Change and Continuity: Over five years, Top 100 recognitions have been awarded to 190 companies across 21 countries, led by the United States, followed by China and Germany.
Pharmaceuticals stood out with 87 recognitions, ahead of Semiconductors and Information Technologies. Biotechnologies showed the highest recurrence and stability, while Engineering reflected greater volatility with the lowest average repeat rate of companies.
New: Inventor Network Analysis: This year’s report introduces a new framework for analyzing inventor networks, showing how collaboration patterns drive innovation performance. By mapping co-invention relationships, it identifies teams, key connectors, and knowledge flows. For IP professionals, this framework provides actionable insights to support competitive intelligence, identification of critical inventors, organizational benchmarking, and enhanced M&A due diligence.
The Top 100 Global Innovators list was released as part of the Innovation Momentum 2026: The Global Top 100 report.
Top 100 Global Innovators in Alphabetical Order with Global Headquarters and Industry Sector
| Patent Owner | HQ | Industry |
| 10x Genomics | US | Biotechnologies |
| Acuitas Therapeutics | CA | Pharmaceuticals |
| Adeia* | US | Technology R&D |
| AGCO* | US | Engineering |
| Airbus Group* | NL | Engineering |
| Align Technology | US | Medical Technologies |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Alphabet | US | Information Technologies |
| Amazon | US | Information Technologies |
| Amgen | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Apple | US | Electronics |
| Applied Materials | US | Semiconductors |
| ARAMCO | SA | Chemicals and Materials |
| ASM | NL | Semiconductors |
| ASML | NL | Semiconductors |
| AutoStore | NO | Information Technologies |
| BASF | DE | Chemicals and Materials |
| Becton, Dickinson | US | Medical Technologies |
| BioNTech | DE | Pharmaceuticals |
| Boeing | US | Engineering |
| Bosch | DE | Automotive |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| British American Tobacco | GB | Consumer Goods |
| CATL | CN | Chemicals and Materials |
| Chengdu Qinchuan IoT | CN | Technology R&D |
| Coupang | US | Information Technologies |
| Daikin | JP | Appliances |
| Deere & Co | US | Engineering |
| Dyson* | SG | Consumer Goods |
| E Ink* | TW | Electronics |
| Edwards Lifesciences | US | Medical Technologies |
| Eli Lilly | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Ericsson | SE | Information Technologies |
| Flagship Pioneering* | US | Technology R&D |
| Fujitsu* | JP | Conglomerates |
| Gilead Sciences | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Honor Device* | CN | Electronics |
| Huawei | CN | Information Technologies |
| Hyundai Motor | KR | Automotive |
| IBM | US | Information Technologies |
| Illumina | US | Biotechnologies |
| Intel | US | Semiconductors |
| InterDigital | US | Technology R&D |
| Intl. Flavors & Fragrances | US | Chemicals and Materials |
| Intuitive Surgical | US | Medical Technologies |
| Japan Tobacco | JP | Consumer Goods |
| JFE Holdings | JP | Engineering |
| JinkoSolar* | CN | Semiconductors |
| Johnson & Johnson | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| KLA | US | Semiconductors |
| Krones* | DE | Engineering |
| KT&G | KR | Consumer Goods |
| Lam Research | US | Semiconductors |
| LG Chem | KR | Chemicals and Materials |
| LG Electronics | KR | Electronics |
| LONGi Green Energy* | CN | Semiconductors |
| Magic Leap | US | Electronics |
| Masimo | US | Medical Technologies |
| MediaTek | TW | Semiconductors |
| Meta | US | Information Technologies |
| Moderna Therapeutics | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Nestlé | CH | Consumer Goods |
| Nike | US | Consumer Goods |
| Nippon Steel* | JP | Chemicals and Materials |
| Nvidia | US | Semiconductors |
| Ocado | GB | Information Technologies |
| Ofinno | US | Technology R&D |
| OMV Group | AT | Chemicals and Materials |
| Orna Therapeutics* | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| P&G | US | Consumer Goods |
| Philip Morris | US | Consumer Goods |
| Qualcomm | US | Semiconductors |
| Regeneron | US | Pharmaceuticals |
| Roche | CH | Pharmaceuticals |
| Rolls-Royce | GB | Engineering |
| ROMTech* | US | Medical Technologies |
| RTX | US | Engineering |
| Safran* | FR | Engineering |
| Saint-Gobain | FR | Chemicals and Materials |
| Samsung | KR | Electronics |
| Samsung SDI | KR | Chemicals and Materials |
| Sanofi | FR | Pharmaceuticals |
| Schaeffler* | DE | Automotive |
| SharkNinja* | US | Consumer Goods |
| Shin-Etsu* | JP | Chemicals and Materials |
| SK Innovation | KR | Chemicals and Materials |
| Snap | US | Information Technologies |
| Strong Force Innovation* | US | Technology R&D |
| Stryker | US | Medical Technologies |
| Techtronic | HK | Consumer Goods |
| Tetra Laval* | CH | Consumer Goods |
| thyssenkrupp | DE | Engineering |
| Tokyo Electron | JP | Semiconductors |
| Topsoe | DK | Chemicals and Materials |
| TSMC | TW | Semiconductors |
| Valeo* | FR | Automotive |
| VW Group | DE | Automotive |
| ZEISS | DE | Semiconductors |
| ZF | DE | Automotive |
| ZTE | CN | Information Technologies |
* Denotes first-time inclusion in the Global Top 100 Innovators list.
The full report is available for download at http://www.lexisnexisip.com/most-innovative-companies-2026
