Focus on colleague-led innovation strengthens the Bank's position as the leading F.I. patent filer in Canada

TORONTO, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - TD Bank Group (TD) today announced their North American patent inventor base has grown more than 40% over three years to reach over 1,000 colleagues. The ingenuity and creativity of the Bank's patent inventor community has helped to expand the TD patent portfolio to over 2,500 patent filings – an increase of over 110% – since 2020, with one-in-five patents filed related to AI innovation. In addition to being the number one Canadian financial institution patent filer, TD has been named amongst the top three patent filers across all Canadian companies.¹

"Our colleagues are the backbone of our culture of innovation, ensuring we're not just keeping up, but setting the pace and maintaining a forward focus in an ever-changing landscape," said Rizwan Khalfan, Chief Digital and Payments Officer, TD Bank Group. "Behind every patent, every idea and every innovation at TD, stands a team of inventors who are building new and increasingly personalized ways to help serve our customers."

Through TD Invent, the Bank's enterprise approach to innovation, TD has cultivated its focus on colleague-led innovation by placing a consistent and dynamic spotlight on harnessing the collective ideation power of TD colleagues. For example, TD Invent's internal ideation program, iD8, encourages colleagues to submit ideas that are focused on improving the lives of customers, colleagues and communities. Last year, TD achieved record engagement with over 18,000 ideas internally crowdsourced through the iD8 program. TD Invent has also launched an 'Elite Inventor Program' to reward and recognize award-winning TD inventors, some of whom are listed on over 100 patent filings. Through the program, Elite Inventors share innovation knowledge and thought leadership, acting as mentors for patent inventors at the Bank.

"As someone who's been named as an inventor on more than 100 TD patent applications, I've been consistently empowered to think differently and tap into my experience to patent ideas that can help make a difference for our customers," said Jon Prendergast, Head, US Payments Strategy, TD Bank America's Most Convenient Bank^®. "Through the enterprise's innovator network, I have found a community of likeminded innovators across TD that have helped to support my own growth as an innovator."

The TD Patent Journey

In 2024, the TD Inventor community celebrated the 8^th Annual Patent Awards to recognize inventors from across the Bank for their outstanding patent accomplishments. The 'Elite Inventor' mentorship program was launched at the event to reward individuals with over 100 patent applications and 'Inventor of the Year' award winners.
In 2022, TD announced a second round of funding for the Bank's unique, invitation only, Patents for Startups program to help early innovators focused on clean technology, health technology and sustainability solutions protect their investments on new and existing inventions.
In 2021, TD was the first Canadian bank to join the Low Carbon Patent Pledge. The initiative helps support a more sustainable future by making low-carbon technology patents freely available.
In 2021, TD continued its commitment to help safeguard open-source software (OSS) and patent non-aggression through joining the Open Invention Network, building on TD's previous engagement with the LOTNetwork.
In 2020, TD announced that it had acquired several U.S. patent assets from IBM, directed at foundational cheque imaging, authentication and insurance technologies.

"Innovation at TD isn't just about coming up with new ideas or methods; it's a mindset, a way of thinking differently," said Joshua Death, Vice President, Intellectual Property & Ideation, TD Invent. "Our inventors have championed this mindset and invented patentable solutions related to artificial intelligence, data and analytics, digital and mobile banking, cybersecurity, and more to help better serve our customers, colleagues and communities."

Today's announcement is part of TD Tech and Innovation Day, an annual event showcasing the Bank's unique technology and innovation story. This year's theme is Human-Centered Innovation, which highlights the people behind our innovation and the customers, colleagues and communities we innovate for.

About TD Invent

TD Invent drives innovation at the Bank. Through our three areas of focus— Colleague Ideation, Human-Centered Design and Innovation Acceleration —we work across our innovation ecosystem to help meet the evolving needs of our customers, colleagues and communities, accelerating future growth opportunities. To learn more about how we're helping to shape the future of banking at TD, visit tdinvent.td.com.

About TD Bank Group

The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves over 27.5 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank^®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation; Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 17 million active online and mobile customers. TD had $1.91 trillion in assets on January 31, 2024. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank^®

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S. by assets, providing over 10.0 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,100 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, N.A., offers vehicle financing and dealer commercial services. TD Bank and its subsidiaries also offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth^®. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.td.com/us. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/TDBank_US/.

TD Bank is a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, a top 10 North American bank. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com/us.

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¹ https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canadian-intellectual-property-office/en/canadian-intellectual-property-statistics/patent-statistics-2022-2023

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SOURCE TD Bank Group

TD grows its patent inventor base by more than 40% in three years