PATENTS AND INNOVATION : TRENDS AND POLICY CHALLENGES ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14 th December 1960, and which came into force on 30 th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: To achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy. • • • To contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and To contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Patents play an increasingly important role in innovation and economic performance. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of patent applications filed in Europe, Japan and the United States increased by more than 40%. The increasing use of patents to protect inventions by businesses and public research organisations is closely connected to recent evolutions in innovation processes, the economy and patent regimes. Scientific and technological advances have created new waves of innovation, notably in information and communications technology (ICT) and biotechnology, and innovation processes themselves have become centred less on individual firms and more dependent on interactions among global networks of actors in the public and private sectors. Shifts in the legal and regulatory framework of patent regimes have resulted in more expansive domains of patentable subject matter (patent regimes in many countries now include biotechnology and software), and more robust and more valuable patents. Changes in patent policy in OECD countries over the past two decades have fostered the use and enforcement of patents with the aim of encouraging investments in innovation and enhancing the dissemination of knowledge. Despite these reforms, few systematic economic evaluations have been carried out to better inform policy choices. To what extent have changes in patent policies over the past two decades been beneficial to innovation and technology diffusion? What particular aspects of patent policy in OECD countries can be seen as successful, or have failures occurred? These questions are central to this report, which covers a range of areas, and highlights some unresolved issues that policy makers should address in the near future: Markets for technology are increasingly important for …