Patent & trademark trends: Thomson Reuters evaluates the state of global IP
Innovation is often viewed as the key to global economic prosperity. In all corners of the earth, executives, policy makers, government officials, politicians, teachers and entrepreneurs are talking about their hope for “innovation.” The topic is of equal interest to Thomson Reuters, and after tracking corporate and industry-specific innovation activity for several years we recently released two free reports that showcase twelve technology areas and profile their innovation activity as measured through patent analysis.
Two key findings from the report include:
- Domestic Appliance & Medical Device Patent Volumes Rise: Patent volume in the domestic appliances and medical devices technology sectors both grew by 12 percent from 2010 and 2011, with a total of 41,189 and 58,592 inventions, respectively, in the last year alone. The next largest growth sector was in Telecommunications, which grew by five percent.
- Biotech Debuts on Top Twelve List: Researchers at Thomson Reuters identified the biotech sector as a hot growth area, adding the category to their list of bellwether technology areas for the first time in 2011. Over 25,000 biotech patents were filed worldwide in 2011 in categories that include drug discovery, cancer treatment, diagnosis of diseases and genetically modified crops.
To read the detailed executive summaries and full reports created by using Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) databases and SAEFI on SERION trademark research system, go to 2011 State of Innovation: Twelve Key Technology Areas and their States of Innovation and 2011 Trademark Report: Trademark Activity, Evolution and Important Changes
