Patents, Innovation and Economic Performance

Innovation increases companies’ competitive advantage and spurs nations’ economic growth. Businesses and public research organisations now patent more inventions than they did just a few years ago, and the number of patents filed in Europe, Japan and the United States increased by more than half over the past decade. Patent regimes have also undergone major changes in recent years, most of them strengthening the rights of patent holders and extending the scope of patentable inventions to include