The worldwide count of priority patents: A new indicator of inventive activity

How can we effectively measure inventive activity across countries using a new priority patent indicator?

Traditional patent indicators often suffer from significant biases that limit their utility in accurately assessing a country's innovative performance. For instance, many patent counts rely heavily on patents filed in specific jurisdictions, creating a geographic bias that underestimates the true inventive activity of small and emerging economies. Developing a more comprehensive and less biased patent indicator is crucial for understanding innovation trends, especially in a globalized economy where patents are increasingly filed internationally and do not conform to traditional patterns.

We developed a new methodology to create a priority patent count indicator that aggregates all priority patent applications filed by inventors from a country regardless of the patent office used. This approach utilizes the EPO Patstat database and involves recovering missing inventor information by exploiting patent family linkages. The sample includes worldwide patent applications filed up until 2008, with a focus on analyzing the robustness and reliability of the indicator across various economies.

The new indicator reveals that emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, and China significantly improve their standings in inventive activity rankings when assessed using this worldwide priority count compared to traditional indicators. Specifically, the worldwide count captures an increase in local inventiveness, and its methodology allows for more accurate tracking of emerging technologies. Furthermore, detailed comparisons emphasize the indicator's utility in identifying technological dynamics in specific fields such as renewable energy, enabling better assessments of innovation potential and performance across diverse economies.

• EPO Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (Patstat, April 2011 edition), covering patent applications from over 70 patent offices worldwide.

• The methodology assumes priority filings can be reliably assigned to the corresponding inventor's country.
• It relies on the completeness and accuracy of the Patstat database to draw meaningful conclusions about inventive activity.
• The study presupposes that priority patent applications serve as a valid proxy for measuring a country's overall inventive performance.