91% of the most innovative products in 1977-2004 were not patented
It is well known that the authors of new inventions do not always patent them. But the question remained: how many new inventions are really patented, and how many are not. A group of researchers from the School of Economics and Management at the Technical University of Lisbon published the first of its kind research on this topic.
The main source of information for the study were the R & D 100 Awards lists, compiled annually by the scientific journal “Research and Development”. This is a list of the best new technical products that went on sale or became available for licensing for the previous year. The authors of the study did a great job, verifying each name from this list with the base of the US patent office.
In the study, all products from the R & D 100 Awards lists for the years 1977-2004 were tested, in total 2802 innovative products for 28 years. A jury of reputable experts selected products to be listed according to several criteria:
Both parameters are important and truly indicate product innovation. For example, in different years, the R & D 100 Awards list was headed by Polacolor film (1963), cubic flash (1965), ATM (1973), halogen lamp (1974), fax machine (1975), LCD display (1980), printer (1986) , anti-nicotine patch Nicoderm (1992), laboratory-on-a-chip (1996), HDTV (1998).
')
The results of the study can be called stunning. It turned out that the absolute majority of innovative products are not patented at all!
By industry, the largest share of patents is observed in chemistry (14.2%), the smallest - in tools (6.8%). Among products from different countries, inventions from Asia were most often patented (25.13% overall, 31.4% in the electrical engineering industry), almost all of them came from Japan. In the United States and Europe, the share of patented developments is below average.
This is not the first time that research shows the insignificance of the influence of patent law on the most important technical inventions. Previous studies of products presented at the technical exhibition Crystal Palace in 1851 and at the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 showed that less than 20% of “economically significant” inventions were patented.
It should be noted that in such studies it is often difficult to determine the cause and effect. Whether the authors of the best inventions are so disinterested, or whether their inventions have become popular due to the lack of a patent. In any case, it can be concluded that many inventors do not see the need to file patents.
The main source of information for the study were the R & D 100 Awards lists, compiled annually by the scientific journal “Research and Development”. This is a list of the best new technical products that went on sale or became available for licensing for the previous year. The authors of the study did a great job, verifying each name from this list with the base of the US patent office.
In the study, all products from the R & D 100 Awards lists for the years 1977-2004 were tested, in total 2802 innovative products for 28 years. A jury of reputable experts selected products to be listed according to several criteria:
- technological significance, that is, whether the product can be considered a serious achievement from a technical point of view;
- competitiveness, that is, the comparison of the product with other products on the market.
Both parameters are important and truly indicate product innovation. For example, in different years, the R & D 100 Awards list was headed by Polacolor film (1963), cubic flash (1965), ATM (1973), halogen lamp (1974), fax machine (1975), LCD display (1980), printer (1986) , anti-nicotine patch Nicoderm (1992), laboratory-on-a-chip (1996), HDTV (1998).
')
The results of the study can be called stunning. It turned out that the absolute majority of innovative products are not patented at all!
By industry, the largest share of patents is observed in chemistry (14.2%), the smallest - in tools (6.8%). Among products from different countries, inventions from Asia were most often patented (25.13% overall, 31.4% in the electrical engineering industry), almost all of them came from Japan. In the United States and Europe, the share of patented developments is below average.
This is not the first time that research shows the insignificance of the influence of patent law on the most important technical inventions. Previous studies of products presented at the technical exhibition Crystal Palace in 1851 and at the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 showed that less than 20% of “economically significant” inventions were patented.
It should be noted that in such studies it is often difficult to determine the cause and effect. Whether the authors of the best inventions are so disinterested, or whether their inventions have become popular due to the lack of a patent. In any case, it can be concluded that many inventors do not see the need to file patents.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/288388/
All Articles