The technology industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the escalating demand for secure communication, stringent data privacy regulations, and the rising need to safeguard intellectual property rights, as well as growing importance of technologies such as advanced encryption algorithms, watermarking techniques, digital rights management (DRM) systems, and secure communication protocols to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of multimedia content, addressing the evolving cybersecurity challenges in a digitally driven world. In the last three years alone, there have been over 3.6 million patents filed and granted in the technology industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Cybersecurity: Multimedia signal encryption. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
300+ innovations will shape the technology industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the technology industry using innovation intensity models built on over 2.5 million patents, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, byzantine fault tolerant blockchain, secure multi-party computing, and decentralised identity framework are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Secure hash algorithms (SHA), zero knowledge proof, and private blockchains are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are firmware security and multimedia signal encryption, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for cybersecurity in the technology industry
Multimedia signal encryption is a key innovation area in cybersecurity
Multimedia signal encryption involves encrypting or encoding multimedia signals, including audio, video, and images, to render them inaccessible to unauthorised individuals. The primary objective of multimedia signal encryption is to safeguard sensitive data or information by thwarting unauthorised access. This is achieved by employing robust encryption algorithms that ensure the secure transformation of multimedia signals.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 20+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established technology companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of multimedia signal encryption.
Key players in multimedia signal encryption – a disruptive innovation in the technology industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to multimedia signal encryption
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Sony Group | 105 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Xperi | 85 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Panasonic | 63 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Intertrust Technologies | 23 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitsubishi Electric | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nokia | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| MultiChoice Group | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cisco Systems | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Furukawa | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Orange | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Monroe Capital Management Advisors | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Western Digital | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nippon Telegraph and Telephone | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Verance | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ntt Docomo | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Walt Disney | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Broadcom | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Empire Technologies | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsung Group | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Smith And Perry | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Sony Group is a leading patent filer in multimedia signal encryption. The company’s patents are aimed at invention describing a data transmission method and apparatus for transmitting encrypted content data. A device that is to be a destination of transmission is authenticated. If the device has not been authenticated, encrypted data read out from a storage unit is decrypted to give decoded data which then is re-encrypted based on innate key data acquired from the device. The re-encrypted data is then transmitted to the device that is to be a destination of transmission.
Other prominent patent filers in the space include Xperi and Panasonic.
By geographic reach, Intertrust Technologies leads the pack, followed by Nokia and NTT DOCOMO. In terms of application diversity, Nokia holds the top position, followed by Empire Technologies and Intertrust Technologies.
Multimedia signal encryption can improve the protection of sensitive multimedia data. With the increasing prevalence of multimedia content, encryption technologies have advanced to secure audio, video, and image data from unauthorised access and tampering.
By implementing robust encryption measures, organisations can safeguard intellectual property, protect sensitive information, and mitigate the risks of unauthorised distribution or manipulation of multimedia content, bolstering cybersecurity defences in the digital age.
To further understand how cybersecurity is disrupting the technology industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cybersecurity – Thematic Research.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
