Quarterly newsletter from the Office of the Chief Economist

Published on: 08/03/2022 9:57 AM

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United States Patent and Trademark Office

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST

Quarterly Newsletter, Summer 2022

Latest updates from the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE):

1 RESEARCH FINDINGS

IP Economic Note: Exports and imports by U.S. IP-intensive industries

In this IP Economic Note, we complement the results of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) recently released Intellectual property and the U.S. economy: Third edition, with a look at the foreign trade activities of U.S. industries that most intensively use IP. We find that these industries accounted for nearly 80% of all commodity exports in 2019 and nearly 85% of services exports in 2017. The aerospace products and parts manufacturing industry was the leading commodity exporter in 2019, accounting for $140 billion, while the software publishing industry was the leading services exporter in 2017, accounting for $43 billion.

For more information, read the IP Economic Note.

The MINER Act of 2006: Innovating for Safety and Health in U.S. Mining

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently published an open access book, Global Challenges for Innovation in Mining Industries. The OCE authored the chapter, “The MINER Act of 2006: Innovating for Safety and Health in U.S. Mining”. The chapter uses patent data to explore trends in technological innovations in U.S. mineral mining with a particular focus on the impact of the 2006 MINER Act on health and safety. The results point to a positive and significant effect of the MINER Act on patenting in safety-related mineral mining technologies as well as reduced injuries and lost workdays among mine workers.

To learn more, read the book, Global Challenges for Innovation in Mining Industries and our chapter, “The MINER Act of 2006: Innovating for Safety and Health in U.S. Mining”.

Using Intellectual Property Data to Measure Cross-border Knowledge Flows

The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently published a book titled Trade in Knowledge: Intellectual Property, Trade and Development in a Transformed Global Economy. The OCE contributed the chapter, “Using Intellectual Property Data to Measure Cross-border Knowledge Flows". The chapter surveys the landscape of empirical studies on cross-border trade in knowledge that use intellectual property rights (IPR) data, identifying where these data are particularly useful and where they have limitations.

To learn more, read the book, Trade in Knowledge: Intellectual Property, Trade and Development in a Transformed Global Economy and our chapter, “Using Intellectual Property Data to Measure Cross-border Knowledge Flows”.

Resilience and Ingenuity: Global Innovation Responses to COVID-19

A new e-book, Resilience and Ingenuity: Global Innovation Responses to COVID-19, explores how the COVID-19 shock shaped the innovation landscape of the world’s major economies, and how scientists, entrepreneurs and creative professionals responded to the crisis. Published by the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), in conjunction with the WIPO, EPO, and USPTO, the e-book’s 19 chapters paint a picture of resilience and ingenuity. They not only document that innovation was at the center of addressing the public health emergency, but also how the COVID-19 shock has unleashed a new entrepreneurship wave driven by digital technologies that has reshaped economic activity.


2 DATA RESOURCES

Trademark Case File Dataset update

The OCE released an update to the Trademark Case Files Dataset. The 2021 update contains detailed information on 11.6 million trademark applications filed with or registrations issued by the USPTO between January 1870 and February 2022.

For more information, visit the Trademark Case Files Dataset webpage.

Patent Assignment Dataset update

The OCE released an update to the Patent Assignment Dataset. The 2021 update contains detailed information on 9.6 million patent assignments and other transactions recorded at the USPTO since 1970 and involving roughly 16.5 million patents and patent applications. 

For more information, visit the Patent Assignment Dataset webpage.


3 NEWS

Upcoming event: Advancing research on inventor demographics

Understanding the demographic makeup of inventors who apply for patents is a critical first step for characterizing who participates in the IP ecosystem and for identifying policies that will expand participation. The USPTO is organizing a one-day symposium that will bring together economists, computer scientists, and others to discuss research methods, applied examples, and new ideas. The symposium will:

  • Provide an overview of current approaches from leading scholars in the field
  • Build knowledge
  • Identify a community of practitioners
  • Facilitate the application of common approaches

This program will be of interest to all researchers engaged in inventor demographics based on administrative and other records. There is no charge to attend, but registration in advance is required.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the conference page on the USPTO website.

Chief Economist Speaker Series

The OCE hosted Professor Neel Sukhatme (Georgetown University Law Center) and Brian Wright (University of California at Berkeley) for the OCE Chief Economist Speaker Series. More information about the speakers is available on our events page on the USPTO website.

Additional updates are available at the USPTO Economic research webpage.

Thank you,
The OCE team

Office of the Chief Economist
Office of Policy and International Affairs
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Department of Commerce
Phone: 571-272-6900
economics@uspto.gov

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