Focus on innovation and research

Prysmian focuses on innovation and research with a portfolio of over 4,000 patents

Signing of the agreement for the Patent Box regime to optimise the benefits of thepatent portfolio, an important asset for the Group

Milan, 6 March 2017 – Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, confirms its focus on technological innovation. As of December 2016, the Group’s portfolio accounted for 4,651 granted patents and pending patent applications worldwide, covering 749 inventions. In 2016, 31 new patent applications were filed and 183 patents were reviewed and granted in various countries.

Protecting its portfolio of patents and trademarks is of fundamental importance to the Group’s business, also in view of its growth strategy on market segments at the high-tech end. The most significant products — typically those with specific features or a specific production process — are protected by trademarks that identify them and ensure their uniqueness. The Group currently owns 570 trademarks, corresponding to 2,597 registrations in the various countries in which it operates, covering the names and symbols that identify its companies, operations, products and product lines.

As further evidence of the important role that research and innovation play for the Group, in December 2016 Prysmian was among the first companies in Italy to enter into the agreement with the Advance Agreements and International Disputes Office of the Italian Revenue Agency governing the methods and criteria for calculating income earned from “indirect” use of intangible assets — eligible for reduced IRES (corporate income tax) and IRAP (regional production tax) — for the purposes of the Patent Box.

The Patent Box is a regime offering lower rates to companies that earn income through the direct use or licensing to third parties of their intellectual property rights. In Prysmian’s case, the agreement extends to the portfolio of patents granted or in the process of being granted, company information subject to legal protection, and technical and operating know-how regarded as ancillary and complementary to patents.