Mr. Chair and honourable members, good morning, and thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee.
RIM is a proud Canadian company, founded in 1984, and our first BlackBerry was introduced in 1999, creating a whole new way to communicate. Our products spawned a global smart phone industry that is now estimated to be worth more than $200 billion annually. In addition to our Canadian headquarters in Waterloo, we have other operations and R and D facilities in various Canadian locations and across the globe.
RIM has been transitioning our company and we've been laser-focused on delivering our new BlackBerry 10 platform and associated products. We're on track to launch in the first quarter of next year and we've seen great support for our existing BlackBerry products across the globe. The momentum is strong and building for BlackBerry 10.
This past quarter, when many speculated we wouldn't, we grew our customers to 80 million users worldwide. We have a strong foundation operating in 178 countries, working closely with more than 600 telecommunication carriers. We have no debt on our books and we have a cash balance in excess of $2 billion.
With this backdrop, we are preparing to introduce the world to BlackBerry 10, an innovation that will usher in a new era of mobile communications and mobile computing. This innovation has been supported by a huge effort of more than $1.5 billion annually in R and D, spent primarily here in Canada, but also in places like the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere.
Innovation, intellectual property, and the IP regime in Canada, but also globally, are of critical importance for our business. In these brief opening remarks, we'd like to underscore one very fundamental point: while innovation may lead to intellectual property rights such as patents and copyrights that need to be protected in a well-functioning IP regime, a solid IP regime does not necessarily lead to innovation or innovative companies or high-quality jobs. Above all, we have to keep our eye on ensuring that we foster and sustain innovative, globally competitive Canadian-based companies.
Early in our corporate history, RIM was assisted greatly by the policies of both the federal and provincial governments, whether it was IRAP, TPC funding, tax credits derived from the SR and ED program, or the provincial co-op tax incentive programs. Public sector support played a key role in our success. Our competitors also benefit from a variety of similar supports where they do their R and D, because world economies want this work and all the benefits that come with it.
We believe that Canada's key programs in support of innovation and commercialization, particularly for the ICT sector, have to be nimble to ensure that they can address changing business models and changing global economic environments.
If we were limited to recommending just one action you take forward to strengthen the foundation for innovative companies in Canada and jobs in Canada, it would be to ensure that we maintain the right competitive incentives for investing in R and D here in Canada.
There have been numerous studies on the need to see a better ROI on government support in this area, and we concur with this need. Some good initiatives have been announced to strengthen the program supports for innovative-based SMEs and to generate more venture capital funding, and we agree with those, but the job is not done, and many of our larger innovation-based companies remain concerned about the ongoing competitiveness of Canada's tax incentives and programs to attract and support R and D. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and others have done a good job of highlighting these issues lately, and we recommend their recent reports to you.
First, we need to ensure that Canada fosters R and D, innovative global companies, and jobs, and then we need to support those with a strong intellectual property regime.
As an innovation-based company, RIM develops proprietary software, physical products, and services on a daily business. As a result, we have a substantial portfolio of intellectual property rights in Canada and elsewhere. We were granted approximately 6,000 mobile patents by the U.S. patent office and European patent office between 1995 and 2012. In 2010 alone, we filed for over 1,000 patents with the United States patent office and filed hundreds of patents in other international jurisdictions, including the Canadian patent office.
We view the IP system as a larger piece of the global puzzle. While the Canadian IPR system is generally well crafted, it must be balanced and supported in a manner that promotes innovation within the marketplace and guards against the kinds of abuses we've seen in other countries, where IPR often acts as an obstacle to innovation rather than a catalyst.
We also agree with others who have appeared before you that Canada can do more to adopt the best international practices for patent examination to increase patent examination quality and efficiency while reducing time to patent.
Finally, there are steps to take to leverage Canada's very substantial investments in public sector R and D.
RIM is passionate about nurturing new talent and technologies at the academic level, and we have first-hand experience in building and maintaining strategic partnerships with academic institutions globally, through support for university research and educational outreach activities.
There are several models that post-secondary institutions follow in commercialization, and of course we're particularly supportive of the University of Waterloo model, which I think you heard about previously. We can leverage our university students and turn them into the next generation of innovators. Co-op programs are a great asset in Canada. We'd love to answer questions about those and how RIM has benefited from co-op.
We believe that a federal tax credit that is offered to companies who employ co-op students could further accelerate commercialization models and an understanding of how business innovates. RIM also believes that companies should have access to, and be able to license, technology created in government laboratories and institutions. There is no value added and no opportunities if intellectual property sits on a shelf.
In conclusion, let me sum up by saying that the Canadian digital economy is reliant upon innovation and requires modern, competitive public policies, programs, and incentives. This is essential if we are to ensure further development of existing Canadian companies as well as lay the foundation for the future companies yet to be launched.
We do need a strong IP regime. While we believe that the Canadian IPR system is generally well crafted, as I noted earlier, we also see that there are opportunities to strengthen it. We are conscious of the delicacy of this task. New laws or polices that may be good for one company may harm another. A policy that is good for one industry might be harmful to another. This area is very complex, and we appreciate the committee's time in talking to us so that together we can help identify potential pitfalls.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear. We welcome your questions.