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Transnational patents and international markets

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Abstract

Patent statistics are a frequently used innovation indicator for the description and analysis of technological strengths and weaknesses, both on the macro and the micro level. Patent data has a broad coverage, high reliability, allows a very differentiated perspective and the data has become easier in availability and accessibility. Especially when cross country comparisons and comparative assessments are intended, a deep knowledge and understanding of patent systems is required. In the 1990s Triadic patents, which were able to balance the home advantage of domestic applicants/inventors. An increasing internationalisation and globalisation makes it also necessary to adapt the patent analyses to this new world order. In this paper the so called Transnational patents are suggested, which allows to grasp the new relations and relative positions between the industrialised, industrialising and emerging countries. The existing concepts are presented and discussed and contrasted against the concept of Transnational Patents.

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Notes

  1. TRIPS = Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

  2. For further details see also Nesta and Patel (2004).

  3. For a list of member countries see http://www.epo.org/about-us/epo/member-states.html.

  4. For more details see OECD (2009).

  5. The PCT system is explained in the next section in more detail.

  6. Most patents are filed within half a year after the invention, as a pre-publication before the filing can imply a rejection of the grant due to lack of novelty.

  7. For a list of countries see http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=6.

  8. For a more detailed description of the method, refer to Frietsch and Schmoch (2006).

  9. However all direct EPO applications with national precursor application are included.

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  1. Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Rainer Frietsch & Ulrich Schmoch

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  1. Rainer Frietsch
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  2. Ulrich Schmoch
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Correspondence to Ulrich Schmoch.

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Frietsch, R., Schmoch, U. Transnational patents and international markets. Scientometrics 82, 185–200 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0082-2

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