tion, and success of inventive and innovative 

 activity of a technological nature.-' In some 

 cases, the number of patents may understate the 

 actual level of invention. For various reasons, an 

 invention may never be patented; as for exam- 

 ple, v^hen the protection afforded by a patent is 

 less important than the rapid introduction of a 

 new product into the marketplace or where the 

 expected protection does not offset the hazard of 

 disclosure. Patent output may, on the other 

 hand, overstate the level of invention to some 

 extent. This situation may arise, for example, 

 when numerous defensive patents are obtained 

 around basic inventions. Finally, of course, 

 patents vary greatly in their economic and 

 technological significance. Many patented in- 

 ventions become embodied in new and improved 

 products, processes, and services — only some of 

 which eventually lead to substantial economic 

 returns. 



The majority of patented inventions now 

 come from R&D programs in large industrial 

 laboratories. Many of the others, including some 

 of the more significant ones, come from 

 "independent" inventors. ^t' As indicated in the 

 "Basic Research" chapter of this report, major 

 patented inventions from all sources appear to 

 be based increasingly upon R&D. 



The number of U.S. patents granted increased 

 between 1960 and 1973, though fluctuating 

 from year to year-" (figure 4-11). Two principal 

 sources of patents were responsible for the 

 overall increase — U.S. corporations and 

 residents of foreign countries. The patent 

 output of U.S. individuals and the Federal 

 Government remained at relatively low and 

 constant levels during the period. The number of 

 U.S. patents granted to residents of foreign 

 countries showed the greatest overall gain, with 

 the largest increases occurring after 1968. In 



-5 A major study on this topic was published in 1966 by 

 Jacob Schmookler, Invention and Economtc Growth (Cambridge: 

 Harvard University Press). A recent reappraisal of this work 

 by Nathan Rosenberg is presented in "Science, Invention and 

 Economic Growth", Economtc journal. Vol. 84 (March 1974), pp 

 90-108. 



-'' For more detailed information on this topic, see David 

 Hamberg, "Invention in the Industrial Research 

 Laboratory", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 71 (April 1963). 

 See also, "Concentration, Invention, and Innovation", US 

 Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, 89th Congress, Part III; and 

 Technological Innaratwn: Us Environment and Management. Depart- 

 ment of Commerce, 1967. 



-" The year to year fluctuations are associated primarily 

 with the processmg and examination of patent applications 

 by the U.S. Patent Office, rather than variations in the 

 number of patent applications per $e. 



Figure 4-11 



U.S. patents granted for inventions, 

 1960-73 



(Thousands) 



All patents 



30 - 



20- 



U.S, corporations 



A. 



\-* 



All foreign residents •* 



T«>»:~^-n-rTri-r' 



1961 '63 65 



SOURCE U.S. Patent Office. 



71 73 



1973, foreign residents were granted over 30 

 percent of all U.S. patents, as compared with 16 

 percent in 1960. (The significance of foreign 

 patent activity in the U.S. is discussed in the 

 chapter entitled "International Indicators of 

 Science and Technology" in this report). 



The patent output of U.S. industry (i.e., 

 patents assigned to U.S. corporations) accounted 

 for the largest proportion of total patents 

 granted throughout the 1960-73 period. ^s The 



" A recent report, A Review of Patent Ownership, Office of 

 Technology Assessment and Forecast, U.S. Patent Office, 

 lanuary 1975, identified specific companies involved in active 

 technological areas. 



97 



