In a recent report titled “U.S. and China Drive International Patent Filing Growth in Record Setting Year,” published on March 13, 2014, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Francis Gurry, reports “the new records of international intellectual property (IP) filings attest to the importance of IP in the global innovation ecosystem.” It is common to hear that the United States is losing ground in technology innovation when compared with countries like China. Indeed, China has made tremendous progress in the last few years. However, the leadership of the United States is unquestionable according to the data shown in this report.
WIPO reports a growth of 5.1% of applications filed through the WIPO’s Patent and Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from 2012 to 2013. Indeed, out of the 205,300 applications filed in 2013, the “United States of America (US) saw double digit growth in PCT filings and together with China accounted for 56% and 29% of the total PCT growth, respectively” as stated in the report.
The United States leads with 57,239 applications in 2013, surpassing its previous filing peak of 54,046 applications reached prior to the global financial crisis in 2007. Japan holds second place with 43,918 applications. China advanced to third place with 21,516 over Germany, which shows 17,927 applications. Although this is a ranking of the most active users of the system, the United States leads with more than twice the number of applications of China.
Another measure of success in innovation and the generation of new knowledge is the Nobel Prize. Once again the United States leads with more than 350 individual laureates out of 889 Nobel awards given since 1901. The European Union as a block leads with 462 and the United Kingdom has the lead in the region with 123.
Both outcomes, patent filings and Nobel Laureates, are the result of very long-term efforts that rely heavily on the strength of the countries’ education system, particularly post-secondary education. The new Common Core Standards in mathematics and English language arts adopted by 48 states and the District of Columbia have been benchmarked with the educational standards in high performing nations. Countries like Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea joined the ranks of developed countries in the last 50 years by investing heavily in education at all levels with a particular emphasis on state-sponsored research and development. In the last few years, the record high influx of international student to the United States to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees is a testament to the high level and quality of our higher education system. It is a true competitive advantage upstream in the value chain of this global innovation ecosystem.
Penn State Berks is proud to be part of that global innovation ecosystem as attested by our intellectual contributions, some of which are portrayed in this magazine. It is vital for the United States to increasingly invest in strengthening colleges like ours so that we continue to be world leaders
in innovation.
Paul D. Esqueda,
Ph.D. Professor of Engineering and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Penn State Berks