NSF PR 99-16 - March 15, 1999
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U.S. Inventors "Patently" Productive -- At Home, and
Around the World
When it comes to earning patents, United States inventors
are among the world's most active and successful -
both in the U.S. and abroad.
A new Issue Brief from the National Science Foundation
(NSF) Division of Science Resources Studies (SRS),
"U.S. Inventors Patent Technologies Around the World,"
says U.S. inventors led all other foreign inventors
in the number of patents granted in five of the 11
other nations studied. By a wide margin, they also
led all countries in the number of patents awarded
in the United States.
"Sometimes, with the widespread availability of foreign
products in the U.S. market, we lose sight of just
how much products created by U.S. inventors are in
demand all around the world," said Issue Brief author
Lawrence Rausch.
However, the "1999 Innovation Index" of the Council
on Competitiveness - which is comprised of corporate
CEOs and the research and development directors of
United States corporations and universities - warned
recently that the U.S.' status as the world's preeminent
innovator nation is in jeopardy unless changes are
made in national policy and investment choices.
In 1994, U.S. inventors received: more than half of
all foreign-origin patents issued in Canada and Mexico;
50 percent of those granted in Japan; 43 percent in
India; 42 percent in Brazil; 28 percent in Germany
and about 25 percent each in France, the United Kingdom,
and Italy.
German inventors led all foreign inventors in France,
Italy, and Russia. Japanese inventors edged out Americans
in Germany and the United Kingdom, captured nearly
half the foreign market in the U.S., and dominated
foreign patenting in South Korea.
Foreign inventors received 45 percent of U.S. patents
awarded. Only Russia (19 percent) and Japan (13 percent)
had lower percentages of patents awarded to foreign
inventors, while South Korea, at 48 percent, had about
the same percentage.
Francis Narin, president of CHI Research, Inc., and
an expert observer of patents and other technology
indicators, said, "The low percentage of patents Russia
and Japan issued to foreign inventors is the neatest
example of the insular nature of their patent systems.
Our market is one of the most open in the world; we
are both an importer and exporter of technology."
While patent data are not always complete or consistent
in quality and across industries and fields, Rausch
noted, they are a uniquely useful source of information
on national inventive activities. These activities
are economically significant, because innovations
frequently lead to new or improved products or manufacturing
processes, or even new industries.
Corporations hold the vast majority of patents issued
to foreign inventors, typically for products that
have been sold or used in the inventor's home market,
Rausch said. Since it is often much more difficult
and expensive to gain patent protection in foreign
countries, the product or process being patented must
have a perceived high market demand and/or give the
corporation a competitive business advantage.
"The large share of patents that the U.S. has in open
parts of the world is a good example of the power
of our technology," Narin said. "It implies that we're
strong, and it goes hand-in-hand with our being viewed
as a first-class technology-producing nation."
In their Chairmen's Foreword to the "1999 Innovation
Index," William R. Hambrecht of W.R. Hambrecht & Co.,
William C. Steere, Jr. of Pfizer Inc. and William
R. Brody of Johns Hopkins University wrote, "Although
the past decade has been one of the strongest periods
of U.S. macroeconomic growth since World War II, total
spending on basic research is flat or heading downward,
and the declining numbers of degrees granted in the
physical sciences and engineering offer little hope
of reversing this trend.
"These observations suggest that America's current
innovation leadership is more and more rooted in past
investment, and that the long run basis for our future
strength is being eroded - all while other nations
are accelerating their own efforts," they concluded.
Editors: Francis Narin, cited above as an expert, is
President of CHI Research, Inc., a highly specialized
citation research consulting firm. Mr. Narin is available
for comment at 609-546-0600; or at fnarin@chiresearch.com
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