Williams F1 Finds New Markets for its Motorsport Technology With Thomson Innovation

LONDON and WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams F1 announced it is driving intellectual property activity for its motorsport technology using Thomson Innovation®, the leading IP intelligence and collaboration workflow solution from Thomson Reuters that lets the world's most innovative companies address business, legal and research needs across the innovation life cycle. Now, through Williams F1's commercialization initiatives, the company is expanding its footprint and revenue stream into markets such as renewable energy, electric power grids, metro systems and simulator-based driver training.

"As we look into different industry segments and applications, such as electricity grids, the right tools are needed to understand them," said Damien Scott, general manager of the Williams Technology Centre in Qatar. "We turn to Thomson Innovation for the information and inspiration we need to assess new areas and determine their potential."

Williams F1 takes technology that has its origins in competitive motorsport racing to new markets by identifying, protecting, developing and capitalizing on its intellectual assets. Williams F1's commercialization efforts began in earnest with its investment in Williams Hybrid Power. The subsidiary initially developed flywheel energy storage systems based on the patented Magnetically Loaded Composite for the team's Grand Prix racing cars, but is now developing systems for an array of mobile energy storage applications. In 2009, the Williams Technology Centre was established in the Qatar Science & Technology Park to further expand the commercialization initiative.

Thomson Innovation provides the geographically-dispersed Williams F1 team with a central workflow solution. Its patent information, visualization tools, alerts, scientific literature, and new Custom Fields comprise the robust capabilities ideal for Williams F1's commercialization efforts. Mr. Scott points out that Thomson Innovation enables a collaborative work environment, expedites the identification of new markets, and helps realize new revenue streams from its motorsport-derived technology.

"Thomson Innovation has allowed us to gain insight and prompt novel thinking we otherwise might have missed. IP research that previously took hours to complete now only takes minutes," said Mr. Scott. "With Custom Fields, we are able to integrate our own research data with the global patent data in Thomson Innovation to make better competitive assessments, technology landscape analyses and licensing decisions about our patented technologies."

"The addition of Custom Fields functionality in Thomson Innovation elevates it from a research and analysis platform to one that is an enterprise-wide workflow solution," said Adam Klein, senior vice president and general manager of the patents and standards business at Thomson Reuters. "In addition to its value for IP commercialization, Williams F1 and other clients use it for competitive analysis, technology landscaping and driving IP workflows."

To learn more about how Williams F1 is using Thomson Innovation, go to http://www.thomsoninnovation.com/ti/williams.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.  We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries.  Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

SOURCE Thomson Reuters