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World Intellectual Property Indicators 2024
World Intellectual Property Indicators is the annual survey of intellectual property (IP) activity around the world carried out by WIPO, the United Nations specialized agency for innovation and IP. This authoritative report analyzes IP activity around the globe. Drawing on 2023 filing, registration and renewals statistics from national and regional IP offices and WIPO, World Intellectual Property Indicators covers patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, microorganisms, plant variety protection and geographical indications.
Publication year: 2024
Innovation and Intellectual Property Use in the Global Video Game Industry
Economic Research Working Paper No.85
This paper is an analysis of the evolution of the global video game industry, a sector characterized by rapid technological innovation and changing business models. It builds on the work of Özalp (2024) and delves into how innovation in hardware, software, digital transformation and business models have redefined the boundaries of game development and player experiences. The paper also explores the important job roles in the industry, the role of intellectual property and end with predictions for the future of the industry. It aims to provide an accessible understanding of the industry's evolution, its current state, and its potential future directions.
Heterogeneous Development Paths to Growth and Innovation: The Evolution of the Video Game Industry across Four Hubs
Economic Research Working Paper No.84
This study explores the evolution and success drivers of the global video game industry, focusing on key hubs within Finland, Poland, Japan, and the United States. Using a qualitative methodology, the research delves into how unique capabilities and historical development have contributed to the industry's growth across these nations. The findings reveal diverse pathways to building video game industry clusters, emphasizing the role of cross-industry skill transfer, intellectual property, and government support. In traditional hubs like Japan and the United States, the crossover of capabilities from entertainment and hardware industries has been crucial, whereas, in newer hubs like Finland and Poland, the growth is attributed to unique local developments such as hobby coder communities or leveraging the initial localization efforts to build globally appealing games. It further highlights the pivotal role of education in sustaining the growth of video game industry hubs.
The Evolution of the Two-Wheeler Industry: A Comparative Study of Italy, Japan, and India
Economic Research Working Paper No.83
This study leverages secondary data to provide a comprehensive outlook on the origin and evolution of the two-wheeler industry in Italy, Japan, and India. The study reveals how different technological, design, and manufacturing capabilities, combined with specific economic and social features in the historical contexts, have contributed to determine different trajectories in the evolution of these national industries. Recent trends towards digital transformation, electric mobility, connected driving are discussed. Three main takeaways emerge from our analysis. Firstly, the local capabilities play a crucial role in shaping both the origin and progression of the technology and the industry. Secondly, the two-wheeler industry displays patterns and trajectories that mimic the automotive industry, which can thus be used to interpret and forecast past, present, and future of motorcycles. Thirdly, the two-wheeler industry has been uniquely influenced by other industries, which has enhanced the complexity and effectiveness of its products and introduced novel elements which are reshaping the international demand for two-wheelers.
Innovation Complexity in AgTech: The case of Brazil, Kenya and the United States of America
Economic Research Working Paper No.82
This paper illustrates successful policies and incentives that build on local innovation capabilities across three agricultural innovation hubs at different income levels and across different geographical regions. It makes the case for how countries highly complex innovation ecosystems, which refer to the diversity and sophistication of local innovators and the types of innovation they produce, tend to have more opportunities to shift their technological path to the frontier. The paper focuses on three agricultural hubs across different income levels and geography to illustrate how smart policies that focus on building local capabilities can help countries diversify and create their own agricultural technological paths. These hubs include: São Paulo in Brazil, Nairobi in Kenya and Colorado in the United States of America.
Can we map innovation capabilities?
Economic Research Working Paper No.81
Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of industrial policies globally. Through various industrial policy instruments, governments make critical scientific and technological choices that shape innovation paths and resource allocations. Our paper explores innovation capabilities as essential drivers of competitive outcomes, spanning science, technology, and production domains. Based on the economic complexity literature, we propose a methodological framework to measure the innovation capabilities empirically, leveraging data on scientific publications, patents, and trade. Our findings highlight the multidimensional nature of innovation capabilities and underscore the importance of understanding both the specialization and quality of these capabilities. Our results are in line with the complexity literature, as we also find: (i) positive correlations between the innovation complexity and economic growth; and, (ii) the predictive power of existing innovation capabilities for fostering new ones. Based on these findings, we propose novel indicators informing innovation policymaking on the innovation potential across science, technology, and production fields of an ecosystem. We suggest that innovation policymaking needs to be informed by deeper insights into innovation capabilities that are crucial for long-term growth and competitiveness improvement.
Global Trends in Innovation Patterns: A Complexity Approach
Economic Research Working Paper No.80
Technological know-how in a country shapes its growth potential and competitiveness. Scientific publications, patents, and international trade data offer complementary insights into how ideas from science, technology, and production evolve, combine, and are transformed into capabilities. Analyzing their trajectories enables a more comprehensive and multifaceted understanding of the whole innovation process, from generating ideas to internationally commercializing products. We analyze the production patterns in these three domains, documenting the differences between advanced and emerging market economies. We find that future income, patenting, and publishing growth correlate with the economic complexity indices calculated from these domains. Capabilities embedded in the country also shape future diversification opportunities and make the innovation process path dependent. Lastly, we also show that diversification opportunities can be inferred across innovation domains.
Innovation Policies Under Economic Complexity
Economic Research Working Paper No.79
Recent geopolitical challenges have revived the implementation of industrial and innovation policies. Ongoing discussions focus on supporting cutting-edge industries and strategic technologies but hardly pay attention to their impact on economic growth. In light of this, we discuss the design of innovation policies to address current development challenges while considering the complex nature of productive activities. Our approach conceives economic development and technological progress as a process of accumulation and diversification of knowledge. This process is limited by the tacit nature of knowledge and by countries' binding constraints to growth. Consequently, effective innovation policies should be place-based and multidimensional, leveraging countries' existing capabilities and addressing countries' current problems. This contrasts policies that lead to economic efficiencies, such as copying other countries' solutions to problems that countries do not currently have.
Access to science and innovation in the developing world
Economic Research Working Paper No.78
We examine the implications of lowering barriers to online access to scientific publications for science and innovation in developing countries. We investigate whether and how free or low-cost access to scientific publications through the UN-led Research For Life (R4L) initiative leads to more scientific publications and clinical trials of authors affiliated with research institutions in developing countries. We find that free or reduced-fee access to the health science literature through Hinari (WHO-led subprogramme) increases the scientific publication output and clinical trials output of institutions in developing countries. In contrast, once we control for selection bias, we do not find empirical support for a positive Hinari effect on knowledge spillovers and local institutions' research input into global patenting, as measured by paper citations in patent documents. Main findings can be generalized to other R4L subprogrammes and are likely to also apply to the WIPO-led Access to Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) programme.
Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: An Economic Perspective
Economic Research Working Paper No.77
The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has profound implications for intellectual property (IP) frameworks. While much of the discussion so far has focused on the legal implications, we focus on the economic dimension. We dissect AI's role as both a facilitator and disruptor of innovation and creativity. Recalling economic principles and reviewing relevant literature, we explore the evolving landscape of AI innovation incentives and the challenges it poses to existing IP frameworks. From patentability dilemmas to copyright conundrums, we find that there is a delicate balance between fostering innovation and safeguarding societal interests amidst rapid technological progress. We also point to areas where future economic research could offer valuable insights to policymakers.