PATLIB May, Palais des Congrès, Liège Patent based economic indicators : What do they tell us ? Michele Cincera and Bruno van Pottelsberghe Université Libre de Bruxelles
OBJECTIVE Patents statistics as economic indicator: a survey.OUTLINE Pro & cons of patents data. Patents as a measure of innovative activities. Determinants of patenting activities. Patents and technological diffusion. Measuring the economic value of patents. Conclusions.
PRO & CONS of PATENTS DATA Advantages : –They are available over long time periods in many countries. –They contain detailed information (IPC classes, inventors,…). Drawbacks : –They differ greatly in their technical and economic significance. –Not all inventions are patented, nor all are patentable. –Other existing methods in appropriating an innovation such as industrial secrecy may be preferred. –The propensity to patent may change substantially over time and across countries not to mention among technological sectors.
PATENTS AS A MEASURE OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES Index of inventive activity: Source: GRILICHES (1990), p
PATENTS AS A MEASURE OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES # of EPO high tech patent applications:
PATENTS AS A MEASURE OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES Patenting activities of the top 50 Belgian firms (EPO and USPTO, )
PATENTS AS A MEASURE OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES Top 20 Belgian firms (EPO and US applications, ) Note:C% = cumulative share; the companies in italics are in only one of the top 20 rankings. Sources: EPO and USPTO databases; own calculations
PATENTS AS A MEASURE OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES Technological Revealed Comparative Advantage (TRCA):
DETERMINANTS OF PATENTING ACTIVITIES R&D and determinants of patent outcomes: –R&D-patent relationship; extended knowledge production function
DETERMINANTS OF PATENTING ACTIVITIES R&D management literature: Patenting strategies
PATENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL DIFFUSION Technological SPACE (Jaffe 1986, 88, 89) Technological position vector of firm i: Technological proximities:
PATENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL DIFFUSION Example: R&D spillovers
Internationalisation of technology o Aspects of internationalisation: – co-invention, – co-ownership – cross-border ownership
Global trends of internationalisation
Internationalisation of technology Factors explaining cross countries differences in internationalisation: Larger countries (by GDP) are less internationalised than smaller ones; Technological intensity has negative effect on SHII and SHIA
Internationalisation of technology Who mates with whom? The intensity of bilateral relationships is determined by: Technological similarity; Geographical proximity; A common language; Being an EU Member, for cross border ownership only.
MEASURING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF PATENTS The value distribution of patents is highly skewed The indicators of value are : –Patent family size, –number of claims, –designated states, –co-applicants, inventors,… –Citations –Patent renewal data –The number of opposition
Looking for high patent value
Opposition as an indicator of value