2 Chicago-area companies make Global Innovators list

Two companies based in the Chicago area are included in a new list of the top 100 innovative firms worldwide.

Abbott Laboratories and Boeing Co. made the new Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators report. North Chicago-based Abbott and Chicago-based Boeing are among 35 U.S. companies included in the report.

Thomson Reuters developed its fourth annual list by looking at patent activity worldwide, then assessing the reach of the inventions and peer recognition of the inventions’ value.

Innovation also means different things to different people, but in the context of economic growth, it refers specifically to the conversion of good ideas into tangible assets – essentially the creation of jobs and wealth from creative thinking.

Asia, for the first time, had the most companies included in the report, with 46. North America was second with 36 companies.

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