Microsoft is getting more serious about investing in R&D, according to an annual study of the world's largest corporate R&D spenders Microsoft is getting more serious about investing in R&D, according to Booz Allen Hamilton’s annual study of the world’s largest corporate R&D spenders.Microsoft ranked 7th on the list for 2006, up a notch from 2005. The company devoted $6.58 billion to R&D in 2006, up 6.5 percent from the year before and representing 14.9 percent of 2006 sales.Toyota topped the list with $7.7 billion in R&D spending and Merck invested the most in R&D as a percentage of sales among the top 20 companies, at 21.1 percent. Rounding out the list among IT vendors were Siemens, which fell from No. 6 to No. 9, investing in $6.3 billion for 2006; IBM, which fell from 9th to 10th even though its $6.1 billion in R&D spending was up 4.5 percent from the year before; Samsung, which stayed in 11th place with $5.9 billion; Intel, which stayed at 12th and spent $5.8 billion on R&D; Matsushita, which fell from 15th to 17th and spent $4.99 billion on R&D in 2006; and Nokia, which fell from 17th to 18th, as its $4.89 billion in R&D spending represented just a 1.9 percent increase from 2005.Overall, R&D spending news was positive, according to Booz Allen, which monitors the 1,000 top corporate R&D spenders worldwide. The dollar increase in R&D investment in 2006 compared with 2005 was twice the increase from 2004 to 2005. North American companies led the way, with spending up 13 percent.R&D spending growth also caught up to sales growth among the top 1,000 companies for the first time in four years. Check out Network World’s Alpha Doggs blog for the latest in network research at universities and other labs.Network World is an InfoWorld affiliate. Technology Industry