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View Full Version : Over 90% Of The Most Innovative Products From The Past Few Decades Were NOT Patented




green73
05-08-2013, 06:55 AM
We've pointed out over and over and over again that patents are not a proxy for innovation. In fact, there's little to connect the two at all, except potentially for how patents can hinder and hold back the pace of innovation. A new study really helps to drive home how little patents have to do with innovation. Pointed out to us by James Bessen, the study looks at "R&D 100 Awards" from the academic journal, Research & Development from 1977 to 2004. As you might expect, the R&D 100 Awards are given out each year by the journal in an attempt to name the top 100 innovations of the year. If patents were instrumental in driving innovation, you'd certainly expect most of these innovations to be patented.

But you'd be wrong, as the reports authors, Roberto Fontana, Alessandro Nuvolari, Hiroshi Shimizu and Andrea Vezzulli, quickly discovered.

A stunning 91% of all of the technologies receiving the prize were not actually patented (http://ideas.repec.org/p/ise/isegwp/wp092013.html). That's covering approximately 3,000 technologies winning this award as the most innovative advancement of the year over a period of about three decades. What's interesting to me is that this actually matches very closely with one of my favorite studies on patents, from economist Petra Moser, who looked at historical patenting rates from the 19th century using data on products displayed at the Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 and the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, which against showed very few of the "economically useful" inventions were patented. Over 80% were not patented. Of course, you might think that back in the 1800s there was less interest in patenting, but this new study suggests a rather similar rate to what Moser found from 150 years ago.

cont
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130502/10513922919/over-90-most-innovative-products-past-few-decades-were-not-patented.shtml

liberty2897
05-08-2013, 08:25 AM
I don't understand how most patents are awarded these days. The rules don't seem to be followed at all. I also don't understand how patents can be transferred from the original holder to someone else (not that I really want to understand). To me, it appears that patents only benefit patent trolls. Innovation comes from creativity, hard work, and some luck.

My favorite response from a patent troll was " Oh, this does not just apply to products listed in the contract, any time you develop a new product, you owe us money".

jtstellar
05-08-2013, 10:17 AM
i am more and more inclined to think the technological boom we experienced in recent centuries

were due to the invention of both personal and national defensive tools that relatively deterred/shielded societies and families from immediate harm and provided environment for natural progression of technologies to take place, rather than what proponents of the staunchest forms of copyrights would like to claim

Warrior_of_Freedom
05-08-2013, 10:28 AM
I would be pissed as hell if I made an invention and somehow made use of it without compensating me