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Measuring Innovation in the Autonomous Vehicle Technology
Economic Research Working Paper No. 60
Automotive industry is going through a technological shock. Multiple intertwined technological advances (autonomous vehicle, connect vehicles and mobility-as-a-Service) are creating new rules for an industry that had not changed its way of doing business for almost a century. Key players from the tech and traditional automobile sectors – although with different incentives – are pooling resources to realize the goal of self-driving cars. AV innovation by auto and tech companies' innovation is still largely home based, however, there is some shifting geography at the margin. AV and other related technologies are broadening the automotive innovation landscape, with several IT-focused hotspots – which traditionally were not at the center of automotive innovation – gaining prominence.
Publication year: 2019
Global Roots of Innovation in Plant Biotechnology
Economic Research Working Paper No. 59
Innovation in agricultural biotechnology has the potential to increase agricultural productivity and quality, ultimately raising incomes for farmers across the world. Advances in the field have produced crops that are resistant to certain diseases, that result in higher yield than before, that can grow in extreme soil conditions, such as in arid and salty environments and even those that are infused with nutrients. Moreover, the technology has been hailed as a potential solution to addressing global issues of hunger and poverty. It therefore follows that innovation in this field finds strong support from the public sector as well as the private sector. This paper traces the evolution of the global innovation landscape of plant biotechnology over the past couple of decades. Drawing on information contained in patent documents and scientific publications, it identifies the sources of innovation in the field, where they are located and demonstrates how these innovative centers connect to one another. There are three important findings. First, the global innovation network of agricultural biotechnology showcases a prime example of how innovation activities spread to many parts of the world. Second, while there are more countries participating in the innovation network, most of these innovation centers are concentrated in the urban areas and away from the rural where most of the transgenic crops are harvested. Third, the increasing need for collaboration between the private and public sectors to bring the invention to the market may have effect on how the returns to innovation are appropriated.
Tied In: The Global Network of Local Innovation
Economic Research Working Paper No. 58
In this paper we exploit a unique and rich dataset of patent applications and scientific publications in order to answer several questions concerned with two current phenomena on the way knowledge is produced and shared worldwide: its geographical spread at the international level and its spatial concentration in few worldwide geographical hotspots. We find that the production of patents and scientific publications has spread geographically to several countries, and has not kept within the traditional knowledge producing economies (Western Europe, Japan and the U.S.). We observe that part of this partial geographical spread of knowledge activities is due to the setting up of Global Innovation Networks, first toward more traditional innovative countries, and then towards emerging economies too. Yet, despite the increasing worldwide spread of knowledge production, we do not see the same spreading process within countries, and even we see some increased concentration in some of them. This may have, of course, important distributional consequences within countries. Moreover, these selected areas also concentrate a large and increasing connectivity, within their own country to other hotspots, and across countries through Global Innovation Networks.
The Geography of Innovation: Local Hotspots and Global Innovation Networks
Economic Research Working Paper No. 57
Through successive industrial revolutions, the geography of innovation around the globe has changed radically, and with it the geography of wealth creation and prosperity. Since the Third Industrial Revolution, high incomes are increasingly metropolitan, leading to a renewal of inter-regional divergence within countries. These metropolitan areas are also hotbeds of innovation. At the same time, global networks for the production and delivery of goods and services have expanded greatly in recent decades. The globalization of production is mirrored in the globalization of innovation. This paper argues that the emerging geography of innovation can be characterised as a globalized hub-to-hub system, rather than a geography of overall spread of innovation. Although much attention has been given to explaining the rise and growth of innovation clusters, there is as yet no unified framework for the micro-foundations of the agglomeration and dispersion of innovation. In addition, there appear to be strong links between growing geographical inequality of innovation and prosperity, particularly within countries. This is particularly relevant in the context of declining overall research productivity, which could be driving growing geographical concentration. All in all, there is a rich agenda for continuing to investigate the relationship between the geography of innovation, economic development and income distribution.
WIPO Magazine, Special Issue 11/2019
The WIPO Magazine explores intellectual property, creativity and innovation in action across the world.
Environmental responsibility on the WIPO Campus
WIPO launched its Carbon Neutrality Project in 2009 and has been carbon neutral since 2014. This brochure highlights the Organization's commitment to climate action with examples of green innovation on the WIPO Campus.
Pat-INFORMED - A global gateway to patent information about medicines
The Patent Information Initiative for Medicines (Pat-INFORMED) is an initiative of WIPO, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and 20 leading,innovative biopharmaceutical companies. The initiative is built upon the belief that the patent system stimulates innovation while making patent information available and accessible.
World Intellectual Property Report 2019 – The Geography of Innovation: Local Hotspots, Global Networks
Where exactly is innovation taking place? Relying on millions of patent and scientific publication records, the World Intellectual Property Report 2019 documents how the geography of innovation has evolved over the past few decades.
When Private International Law Meets Intellectual Property Law
A Guide for Judges
Co-published by WIPO and the Hague Conference on Private International Law, this guide is a pragmatic tool, written by judges, for judges, examining how private international law operates in intellectual property (IP) matters. Using illustrative references to selected international and regional instruments and national laws, the guide aims to help judges apply the laws of their own jurisdiction, supported by an awareness of key issues concerning jurisdiction of the courts, applicable law, the recognition and enforcement of judgments, and judicial cooperation in cross-border IP disputes.