How important are noncorporate patents? A comparative analysis using patent citations data

Abstract

This article analyses the innovative performances of noncorporate inventors using patent citations data from the European Patent Office. The results show that inventions patented outside an established corporate framework are on average less ‘important’ than corporate patents, but with large variations across technology classes. Patents applied for by independent inventors, start-ups and corporate firms are of comparable ‘quality’ in emerging technologies. The results also highlight that in these fields noncorporate patents are more ‘radical’ than corporate patents.

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Danish Research Council (Statens Samfundsvidenskabelige Forskningsråd) under the research project ‘Human Capital, Patenting Activity and Technology Spillovers’ is gratefully acknowledged. I thank Dirk Czarnitzki, Ulrich Kaiser and Thomas Rønde for their excellent comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

¹ Although the figure shows non-zero effects in these areas, the coefficients in the regressions were not significant.

²The so-called ‘Medicon Valley’ in located in the region of Copenhagen in Denmark and in southern Sweden.