Johnson & Johnson was the top cybersecurity innovator in the medical sector in the last quarter. The company filed 45 related patents in the three months ending November. That said, that was down from 111 over the same period last year.

J&J was followed by Roche with 21 patent applications, Becton Dickinson (7 applications), and Illumina (6 applications).

Nonetheless, research and innovation in cybersecurity in the medical sector has declined in the last year.

The most recent figures show that the number of patent applications in the industry stood at 81 in the three months ending November – down from 137 over the same period last year.

Figures for patent grants related to followed a similar pattern to filings – shrinking from 89 in the three months ending November last year to 78 this year.

The figures are compiled by GlobalData, who track patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Using textual analysis, as well as official patent classifications, these patents are grouped into key thematic areas, and linked to key companies across various industries.

Cybersecurity is one of the key areas tracked by GlobalData. It has been identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years, and is one of the areas that companies investing resources in now are expected to reap rewards from.