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Background
Patent indicators are used to map aspects of the innovative performance and technological progress of countries, regions or certain specific domains and technology fields. The use of patent statistics for monitoring developments in the field of science and technology has been expanding rapidly over the recent past. Not only have the use of patent indicators increased, but also the diversity and relevance of these indicators have progressed. The OECD has developed new and more sophisticated indicators, notably on patent families, citations, etc.
Forthcoming events
Conference on Patent Statistics for Policy Decision Making, Vienna, 3-4 September 2008
Organised by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the OECD, in co-operation with DIME Network of Excellence, Eurostat, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The goal of this conference is to reflect recent advances in the area of analysis with patent statistics. It aims at gathering original analytical investigations, which built on recent data and address policy relevant questions in the areas of innovation and S&T, such as the diffusion of technology, patenting activity by universities, and links between technology, entrepreneurship and markets. The provisional programme is available here. Click here to read the call for papers.
Previous conferences and events on patent statistics.
Methodological work
The underlying methodological information helps to design and interpret patent statistics in an accurate manner. The following issues (relating to patent statistics as S&T indicators) are being investigated:
• Criteria for counting patents
• Triadic patent families
• Nowcasting patent data
• Patents in selected technology fields: ICT and Biotechnology; nanotechnology
• Indicators of international cooperation in research activity
• Patents by regions
• Citations
OECD Patent Manual
The OECD Patent Manual (forthcoming) will capitalise on new experience on patent statistics and promote the harmonisation of methodologies. It will address issues regarding the complexity of patent data and provide statisticians and analysts with guidelines for building and analysing patent-related indicators.
Patent databases
Indicators
Predefined patent indicators are available on-line, and are regularly published in various analytical reports.
Raw data
Various sets of data are available to researchers upon request: notably raw data on OECD Triadic Patent Families, REGPAT and Citations.
Click here to access to the data.
On-going data developments: harmonisation of names
Efforts are currently undertaken to develop procedures to harmonise patent applicants’ names in order to link patent data with firm-level databases. A workshop was held on 13 March 2008 to exchange experiences on the harmonisation of applicants’ names in patent data and to promote convergence and co-ordination to make datasets compatible across countries and endeavours. The workshop agenda, summary record and presentations are available here.
Patent Statistics Task Force
The project activities are conducted in close co-operation with the members of the Patent Statistics Task Force, which gathers representatives from Eurostat, the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
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