Most Inventive Countries
Top 15 Global Countries with Most International Invention Patents
'Strawjet' is the History Channel's top global invention in 2006. The device produces mats for durable, low-cost building panels from wheat, flax and sunflower straw.
There were 4 other finalists in the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year competition. The hemoaccess valve system regulates blood flow in arteriorvenous grafts that connect a kidney failure patient to a dialysis machine. The illuminated nutdriver eliminates the need to hold both the tool and a flashlight. The smart shirt has embedded sensors that monitor heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature and other vital signs. The resc-hue lite line provides illuminated guidance in low-light environments, like the darkened floors in burning buildings.
But which countries are producing the biggest and best inventions around the world?
From an international trade perspective, patent applications are one statistical measure of a nation's capacity to generate new ideas with potential for global success.
Statistics
In mid-October 2006, the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) released its annual report that gives the most recent statistics on international patent filings.
Readers should carefully peruse the numbers from the most recent annual WIPO report presented below. Bear in mind that even accurate statistics can be used to bolster incorrect arguments, so it's important to consider both what these numbers do and do not prove.
Top 15 International Patent Filings by Country (2005)
- United States (46,115 international patent filings)
- Japan (24,829)
- Germany (16,002)
- France (5,736)
- United Kingdom (5,103)
- South Korea (4,686)
- Netherlands (4,530)
- Switzerland (3,264)
- Sweden (2,858)
- China (2,501)
- Italy (2,351)
- Canada (2,322)
- Australia (1,999)
- Finland (1,890)
- Israel (1,456)
International filings from northeast Asian countries showed robust growth in 2005. Global filings from Japan increased 22.5%, while applications from South Korea and China improved 31.7% and 46.6% respectively. The average annual increase for all countries in 2005 was 10.7%. Canada's filings rose 10.3% while America's increase was 6.4%.
And The Winner Is...
The most recent WIPO report introduces patent intensity indicators including population size and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by country. How meaningful these new measures are depends on the context in which they are used. These numbers refer to a one-year period only. Also, application filings do not necessarily result in granted patents. Finally, while statistics can quantify application filings at a high-level, the lists below cannot identify the countries with the most useful and potentially profitable inventions for international trade.
Resident applications refer to filings limited to those inventors who physically reside in a specific country. In addition to potential international patents, domestic applications are included for the following statistics.
Top Resident Patent Application Filings (2004) - per million population
- Japan (2,884 resident patent filings)
- South Korea (2,189)
- United States (645)
- Germany (587)
- Australia (479)
- New Zealand (402)
- Finland (385)
- Denmark (347)
- Norway (335)
- United Kingdom (320)
- Sweden (308)
- Austria (275)
- France (236)
- Israel (227)
- Switzerland (217)
These statistics show that many small industrialized countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Denmark have above average rates for filing patents. The world average was 148 patents per million inhabitants in 2004. According to this measure, Canada's score of 125 was below average.
Top Resident Patent Application Filings (2004) - per billion $ of GDP
- South Korea (116.2 resident patent filings)
- Japan (107.3)
- Germany (22.6)
- New Zealand (18.7)
- United States (17.7)
- Russia (17.6)
- Australia (17.2)
- Belarus (16.9)
- Ukraine (14.7)
- Finland (14.0)
- Denmark (11.8)
- United Kingdom (11.3)
- Sweden (11.3)
- Israel (10.1)
- Czech Republic (10.0)
The above numbers are in billion dollars of GDP, where GDP is measured in constant year 2000 U.S. currency at purchasing power parity.
Per dollar of GDP, Japan and South Korea file 5 times as many patent applications as do the industrialized nations of Europe and North America. Canada's score of 4.3 is far behind the world average of 19.0.
The question is, is there a strict relationship between the number of patent applications and a nation's population or GDP? And if so, how important are those relationships in helping a country improve its status in international trade?
Sources: World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.int)
