

7.
CONSTANTLY AHEAD IN INNOVATION
PRYSMIAN GROUP
2015
YEARLY OVERVIEW
WORKING ON
RESEARCH,
ALWAYS
Prysmian generates innovation, quality and
know-how to develop innovative products
with lower environmental impacts and
high value added for customers. Prysmian's
spending on Research, Development and
Innovation totalled approximately Euro 73
million in 2015, confirming its steadfast
commitment to and focus on sustainable
long-term growth. Activities to optimise
costs via the Design To Cost (DTC) program
have also continued. Design To Cost is
a methodology used in order to lower
production costs, both when developing a
new product and when re-engineering an
existing one. Thanks to DTC, Prysmian has
reduced its costs by almost Euro 14 million.
The Group's continuous drive for innovation
is supported by 17 Centres of Excellence, with
Headquarters inMilan, employingmore than
550 experienced professionals.
Being leader means knowing
how to innovate.
The Group's intense R&D activities,
in the Energy Projects, Energy Products
and Telecom operating segments, have
allowed it to continue to add to its patent
portfolio, especially in high-tech and higher
value-added areas.
As at 31 December 2015, the Prysmian
Group had 4,785 patents and pending patent
applications throughout the world, covering
771 inventions, of which 228 in the Energy
Projects and Energy Products segments and
543 in the Telecom segment. During 2015,
45 new patent applications were filed, of
which 20 in the Telecom area and 9 in the
Energy area, and 164 patents were granted
after examination, of which 17 by the
European Patent Office and 34 in the United
States. As at 31 December 2015, the Prysmian
Group owned 589 trademarks, corresponding
to 2,762 trademark registrations in its
countries of operation, covering the names
and identifying symbols of its companies,
activities, products and product lines.
The value
of intellectual property
”Prysmian Group is highly focused on
innovation, we believe that materials
knowledge is fundamental to the
development of high performing products”.
Senior Vice President
Research and Development
Marcelo Andrade