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www.oecd.org/sti/ipr

The OECD explores the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in stimulating the diffusion of knowledge and fostering innovation. It studies the economic impact of IP regimes in high-tech industries and in public research; assesses policies and institutional practices for IP management and exploitation; and develops indicators to assess the effectiveness of technology transfer.

Projects have been carried out in the areas of biotechnology and the life sciences and counterfeiting. Statistical work on intellectual property is centered on the development of a statistical infrastructure and methodology to measure and map the channels through which IP contributes to innovation in firms. The OECD has published a Patent Statistics Manual,, and a database of patent families allows the calculation of patent-based indicators and provides a concordance table for patents/industries. Work has also been carried out on intellectual assets and value creation.

What's new

OECD Patent Database update
20-Oct-2011
The OECD patent database covers pre-defined sets of indicators as well as raw datasets that are made available to researchers upon request. The data was updated in July 2011 and mainly derives from EPO's Worldwide Patent Statistics Database (PATSTAT, April 2011).

Science and technology: falling patent quality hits innovation, says OECD
20-Sep-2011
The quality of patent filings has fallen dramatically over the past two decades. The rush to protect even minor improvements is overburdening patent offices and reduces the potential for breakthrough inventions, according to the Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2011.

Collaborative Mechanisms for Intellectual Property Management in the Life Sciences
12-Sep-2011
This report explores how new and evolving approaches to IP, such as licensing and auctions, patents pools, IP clearinghouses and emerging models of research collaborations are impacting the modern scientific environment in life sciences. It suggests ways in which both the public and private sectors seek to evolve from an “own and protect” model of intellectual property into an era of “own and share”, where value accrues not just to the initial owner of IP, but also to larger society as a whole.