I wanted to see how Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain did during this period. How had their numbers fared, by date-span or against each other ? Italy only joined the PCT in 1985 and Spain in 1989 and hence the data provided starts from 1990. I suspect that figures were low for these countries at least in the initial years due more to low interest or awareness of the opportunity, rather than necessarily to low innovation.
I found that during the 1980-84 period the three EU countries then in the PCT (Germany, France and the UK) together added up to 19.7% of all PCT total publications. Possibly this figure is boosted by the headquarters of the PCT being based locally, at WIPO in Geneva. The EU major countries' share rose to a high of 29.3% for the 1990-94 date-span but then declined, to just 13.6% in 2010-14. The Far East, and to some extent other countries, were fast increasing their numbers of applications, but the figures suggest that the EU is clearly in decline as a technological innovator. I am aware that EU countries such as Belgium and Sweden are missing but their inclusion would not significantly change the picture.
The first table gives the actual numbers of patent applications under the PCT within five-year date-spans from 1990 to 2014.
Germany
|
France
|
UK
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
Total
|
|
1990-94
|
14226
|
5570
|
12213
|
1441
|
351
|
33801
|
1995-99
|
34537
|
11429
|
19526
|
3454
|
1172
|
70118
|
2000-04
|
61807
|
19973
|
30108
|
6584
|
2278
|
120750
|
2005-09
|
71853
|
24358
|
28867
|
9493
|
4278
|
138849
|
2010-14
|
68888
|
28329
|
25535
|
11104
|
5657
|
139513
|
While this is of interest more analysis is needed.
The second table gives the national percentage of share of the major country EU total by date-span. This makes it clear that Germany has been the EU's powerhouse of innovation as well as of industry, and makes it clearer that the UK's performance has disastrously declined. Its "market share" has almost halved over the period. Italy and Spain greatly improved their figures, admittedly from a low base.
Germany
|
France
|
UK
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
|
1990-94
|
42.0%
|
16.4%
|
36.1%
|
4.2%
|
1.0%
|
1995-99
|
49.2%
|
16.2%
|
27.8%
|
4.9%
|
1.6%
|
2000-04
|
51.1%
|
16.5%
|
24.9%
|
5.4%
|
1.8%
|
2005-09
|
51.7%
|
17.5%
|
20.7%
|
6.8%
|
3.0%
|
2010-14
|
49.3%
|
20.3%
|
18.3%
|
7.9%
|
4.0%
|
The third table shows in a different wayt how each country has fared using 1990-94 as a baseline. Each country starts at 100 for that period, and if the number of patent applications goes up by say 20% that changes the country's number to 120.
Germany
|
France
|
UK
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
|
1995-99
|
242
|
205
|
159
|
239
|
333
|
2000-04
|
434
|
358
|
246
|
456
|
649
|
2005-10
|
505
|
437
|
236
|
658
|
1218
|
2010-14
|
484
|
508
|
209
|
770
|
1611
|
It dramatically shows Spain's rise (from a low base) but caution is needed as it may merely reflect more use of the PCT by Spanish patent attorneys rather than a rise in innovation. This is where looking at applications through the national and European Patent Convention routes may help.
The population size is important, of course. A country may be particularly large or small. The fourth and final table is in some ways the most revealing. For each nation, it shows the population and on the next line the ratio of PCT patent applications for 1990-94, 2000-04 and 2010-14. A figure of 2500 would mean that there was one application per 2500 people. The lower the figure the more innovative the population. Population statistics (for 1990, 2000 and 2010) are taken from the Geohive site.
Germany
|
France
|
UK
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
|
1990-94
|
80.4 M
|
56.8 M
|
57.2 M
|
56.8 M
|
38.8 M
|
1 to 5651
|
1 to 10197
|
1 to 4683
|
1 to 39417
|
1 to 110541
|
|
2000-04
|
83.5 M
|
59.2 M
|
58.9 M
|
56.9 M
|
40.2 M
|
1 to 1350
|
1 to 2964
|
1 to 1956
|
1 to 8642
|
1 to 17647
|
|
2010-14
|
83.0 M
|
63.2 M
|
62.0 M
|
60.5 M
|
46.1 M
|
1 to 1204
|
1 to 2230
|
1 to 2428
|
1 to 5448
|
1 to 8149
|
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